551 - Kauffman Center
Tonight my tire blew out in the vast cornfields of Kansas.
It was 9:03PM when my steel rim suddenly began dragging along the asphalt like a hot blender of nails. The sultry smell of burning rubber drifted into my cabin, and I pulled over onto the shoulder.
A semi truck whizzed by, honking its horn into the night like some kind of monstrous wolf from the future.
Fuck.
I got out of my car, dreading what lay outside. Completely torched. There was a gaping hole the size of a pickle on the tire’s side, and the rim had torn through the rubber. I wasn’t going anywhere tonight. But I didn’t really care.
See, the thing is, flat tires are like laundry to me. Every other week something goes out, and at this point, it’s just another errand to run. The only problem was that this one was a little different. So sure, I’ll admit I was a little bit concerned once I realized the gravity of this particular situation.
Normally, most of the tires I deal with are simply deflated. As in, there’s a nail or small tear that can be fixed as long as I drive to a shop in the next 24 hours. This one was completely gone. If I drove on this thing, my shiny rim would be gone in minutes.
I pulled up Google Maps. Nearest town was 3 miles away. But it was a micro small town. Even worse than a small town. Nearest big town was 50 miles away. Schnitzel.
Well, I had one ace up my sleeve. A spare in the back.
Which was crazy. Because for years I swore against having a spare. I even defended it to people on multiple occasions. I always wanted that extra little bit of space in the car.
But I finally caved a few months ago before my Utah trip, because it felt a little insane to that far out in 100°F heat without one.
I guess my instinct wasn’t too bad. Cool. So I spent about 30 minutes trying to get the spare out of my trunk (I’m a dumbass) and another 15 minutes replacing it.
Then I took a step back and looked at my new tire with delight. My first spare fix ever! Honestly not as hard as I thought it would be.
Next stop, a tire shop. (That’s a nice rhyme actually…)
Which turned out to be a Midwest nightmare. Turns out people in Kansas don’t drive Priuses, so my tires mind as well have never existed. I drove to almost every tire shop in Hays before finally finding one that fit. It also didn’t occur to me that I could just call these places and ask instead of driving to each one.
Apparently my tire wasn’t the only thing blown.
So finally, around 1PM, everything was fixed up, and I was good to go. It’d been a doozy of a day so far. And I still had a photoshoot to attend.
I say that like someone was expecting me, but no. It was just my gorgeous camera. We had a date set for The Kauffman of Performing Arts Center in Kansas City. It was a modern marvel of architecture.
And I’m not kidding when I say that. This thing was an absolute masterpiece. But I can’t show you until the end of this write-up.
I mean, I guess you could technically just scroll to the bottom, but that’d be cheating.
So first things first. I needed to warm up. My first shot was of a trippy sidewalk:
“Edge Game”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 1000 ~ 30mm ~ f/7.1 ~ 1/400s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
So many shapes. So little time.
I’m still in love with aligning corners perfectly. As you can see in the top left and the bottom right of that corner. There’s something so satisfying about it. I’M NEVER GONNA STOP.
I kept walking, and around the corner I found another shot I enjoyed. It presented a neat framing opportunity:
“Triangular Illusion”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 1000 ~ 45mm ~ f/13 ~ 1/200s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
And no, that’s not the building I came for.
I think my favorite thing about architecture photography is finding a way to present patterns in a refreshing way. Because anyone can get a shot of simple repeating windows (like on the right side here,) and call it a day. But figuring out how to layer complexity into a shot is exciting for me… Especially because there’s so many simple elements you can work with here.
Unlike landscapes (where things are inherently unpredictable and messy,) civilization is orderly for the most part- allowing more elements to play together without the image being too messy.
Alright. You’ve waited long enough. I’ll premiere the real reason I came here. Check out the beauty that is the Kauffman Center, from two different angles:
“Oblivion Split”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 2000 ~ 12mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/100s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
“Spotlight”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 5000 ~ 15mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/100s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
What an absolute stunner. It’s moments like these where I realize I need to hunt down more architectural wonders. Most big cities usually have at least one or two buildings of this caliber laying around somewhere…
Also the lighting was on point for this building. Just and all around masterful design.
So yeah, that’s it for this shoot. Blown tire and building that looks like a tire.
Oh wait! I got one more shot:
“Harp of the Night”
Taken with Sony a7rIV + Sony 24-105mm f/4 G
[ISO 2500 ~ 37mm ~ f/7.1 ~ 1/160s]
(Want a Print? Get one here.)
That’s on the other side of the building. Reminded me of a giant harp. I know the perspective is wack, but those beams are 100+ feet each.
Anyway. Stay tuned. My next shoot is in an old penitentiary that’s falling apart. Some crazy urban exploration coming up.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
*Please note this page contains affiliate links.
