Although we still get out on occasion, we are trying to be good citizens and spend as much time inside as is bearable. Of course, this means fewer opportunities for taking pictures while outside.
Of course, I still can take pictures of outside through our windows. We’re lucky to have a pretty nice view looking out to the western part of Philadelphia.
We also live on a somewhat busy street with a fair amount of people walking by.
I’ve taken many pictures out of the top part of our large windows which do not open and so do not have screens. I always assumed that taking pictures through the screen would be futile but had never tried it.
Until I self-isolated for seven weeks.
I was pleasantly surprised that some were salvageable. It took a little work in Lightroom to get them to look half-decent, but they came out OK.
These were all taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.
More conventionally, I took pictures of a post-storm sunset one night last week, also with my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.
We’ve been living in our apartment for nearly nine years. During that time, the view out our window has changed rather dramatically since there has been a lot of building construction.
I’ve been thinking for a while about posting pictures of this changing view. I figure this is the perfect time to do so since I’m not taking a lot of new pictures.
2011
We moved into our apartment in October of 2011. This is the first picture I ever took out our window.
And here are a few more from that year.
Certainly, I didn’t take pictures out our window thinking that one day I would want to show the progress of our view, but I tried to find pictures of similar views.
It’s amazing to look at these original pictures knowing how many new buildings would rise from this western view.
All of the photos through 2017 were taken with my Canon EOS Rebel T3.
2012
By 2012, the view hadn’t changed that much.
2013
The first major change was the demolition of an apartment complex across the street.
2014
By 2014, the apartment complex was gone, and they started building townhouses.
The shiny building off in the distance is the Cira Centre. In 2014, they started building a second Cira Centre, known as Cira Centre South. It was completed in the fall of 2014. By the end of the year, the townhouses across the street started looking like something.
2015
In 2015, construction began on a third Cira Centre and would eventually be known as the FMC Tower at Cira Centre South.
2016
The FMC Tower was completed by the end of 2016. The southwest view from our apartment had remained unchanged up until that year, but then construction of the Roberts Center for Pediatric Research had begun.
2017
By 2017, the Roberts Center for Pediatric Research was nearly done, and the three Cira Centres dominated our northwest view.
2018
After the townhouses across the street were completed, I didn’t take many more pictures of them, but I did in 2018 (with my Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus). By 2018, I had moved on from my Canon EOS Rebel T3 to my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. There wasn’t any notable new construction that year, at least that we could see from our window.
2019
By 2019, we had the view we have today, although there are some new smaller buildings which aren’t as obvious.
2020
And, finally, our current view. I tried to take pictures similar to a couple of the ones from 2011 for comparison.
Depending on how often I get out to take new pictures, I may continue to mine older ones. I have plenty that I took before I got more serious about photography and editing. There may be some photos of interest that could be enhanced now that I know a thing or two about how to edit them.
Leave a Reply