Cincinnati Union Terminal
Cincinnati Union Terminal is the Art Deco former railway station that opened in 1933 and now houses the Cincinnati Museum Center. The draw for photographers is the facade. A massive limestone half-dome, one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere, frames a recessed bank of tall windows divided by slim vertical mullions, with a clock set dead center above the entrance. The whole thing is symmetrical, so the obvious shot is head-on from the plaza, lining up the clock and the arch of the dome. Stand back far enough on the forecourt and you can use the cascading fountain and curved steps as a foreground layer leading up to the building. The facade faces roughly west, so late afternoon and golden hour put direct light across the stone and bring out the texture in the masonry and the depth in the window recesses. A clear sky reads cleanly against the curve, but a bit of cloud gives you something to work with up top. Go wide to fit the full dome, or move in tight on the columns and clock for cleaner graphic compositions. Worth shooting at blue hour too, when the windows light up from inside. (Cincinnati, Ohio, USA)
