Week #4- Upstairs at the Ace Hotel- Tasha Spear

I took this picture last night at the rooftop bar at the Ace Hotel in Downtown LA. I took the picture looking through the tress because I thought the trees added a different dimension to the already beautiful light coming from the top of the building. The light used on the building was pretty yellow looking, but at the right angle, it made the building look very red/ orange. It reminded me of fire, or more specifically, because of the architecture, it reminded me of torch lighting. There was very little light other than this at the bar outside, only small hanging lamps on the trees that didn’t produce much light, so this light really stood out and drew your attention. When I looked closely, it seemed like the light was coming from the bottom most part of each window, shining upward, and then there was light shining from the top most part down, but those lights weren’t as strong as the ones coming from below.

Looking at the contrast between the black night and the light in this building, the building is very prominent in the picture and makes a statement. Because of the beautiful and ornate architecture, I would imagine whoever designed this wanted the attention to be directed at the fine details put into making the building, especially at night. Looking at the light through the trees gave the source of light a more mysterious and romantic atmosphere. The source of light was well hidden by the architecture, so it almost looked like the structure was glowing rather than being lit. This glowing effect also played into the romantic feel. As far as function is concerned, the light didn’t seem like it was to help the patrons to see, and it was more for a visually dramatic effect, which I think it achieves well.