I suspect this falls into the category of “Seen so often it’s not even noticed”.
I’d entered the new ‘traffic free’ Kelvin Way when I happened to turn around and notice the large sculpture decorating one aspect of the University’s Rankine Building.
Although it’s a feature I’ve seen many times before, I’ve never really noticed it in any detail – never having even stopped to grab a pic in passing – and had no idea what it was about (fortunately, it has a plaque below).
I took a snap as nothing more than a memory jogger, intending to return with a decent camera for a proper pic. Of course, it’s rained since then, or at least made serious threats to, so I’ve not been out for a while.
I looked at the snap I’d grabbed, and found it to be underexposed, skewed, and far off vertical.
Challenge accepted!
It’s probably the first pic I’ve seriously reworked using the GIMP, and I wouldn’t have been able to carry out the free distortion/perspective correction and alignment needed with my usual editors. While they may be good, they don’t allow any changes outside the constraints they work within. In this case, the old one kept changing the aspect ratio of the original, making edits hard to complete without losing the original’s proportions.
I think the GIMP rescued this one, and saved the shot.
While I didn’t need the GIMP for the plaque, it needed some extensive retouching as the “Morons with Stickers” had decided it needed their rubbish stuck to it to ‘Make it Better’.
Fortunately, I was able to remove their additions, and restore the plaque to it original condition, with weathering.
Unfortunately, it’s one of those plaques which has a light relief engraving, making it difficult to read, especially in a flat photograph.
It’s a pity the whole text wasn’t given a black infill, like the title.
This can usually be cured by choosing a time when the subject is lit at an angle, but in the dark corner where this plaque reside, that’s not happening any time soon.
I put it through an edge detecting filter, which may make it a little more readable,
Footnote
As I was tweaking the sculpture image, I noticed a detail rising from the mush.
If you look at the area near the centre of each of the concrete cladding panels attached to the building, a light mark becomes apparent.
As this was not a high resolution original (worst camera) I couldn’t make out any detail in the small square that showed up when this was examined.
I will have to look closer next time I’m passing, but I do recall seeing yellow retroreflective survey targets attached to other parts of the building, near the bottom. I almost grabbed a pic, wish I had now. See this post for earlier observations.
I suspect these have been attached to each cladding panel, to allow their position to be monitored, and give an early indication of any movement, which may indicate they are coming loose and may fall off – not something that would be particularly popular with anyone passing below at the time.
Secret Scotland 