A place for a photographic journey back in time is the
Denver Union Station

There are still a few places today where, once you enter them, you feel like brought back some ten years in time. Places, which seems to be islands in the time. Usually these places are somewhere remote and they are more or less difficult to reach. Amazingly one of this places is located very centrally in the Lower Downtown (LoDo) area of Denver: The Denver Union Station is a place to visit for all who want to capture the spirit of yesterdays traveling even today. I would like to introduce here both, the inside and outside views of the Denver Union Station. 

Denver Union Station - Inside

Initially opened in 1881, a fire burned down a significant part of the union station building in 1894. It was rebuild soon but in order to match the increased rail road traffic, it was decided to demolish and rebuild the central part of the building in 1912. The building of the Denver Union Station like we can see it today, was reopened in 1914. The centennial anniversary is just around the corner.
I doubt that all interior is also from the time of the reopening, but it is at least old enough to give you a feeling of the traveling in the early mid days of the past century.

When you are in Travel-Photography, this place can be a tiny juwel to you.

Which time is best?
Since this is an indoor shot, you are more or less independent from the weather. Nevertheless, there will be windows in your picture and as brighter the light will be on the outside the more difficult it will be to deal with the exposure. From this point of view, an overcast day works slightly better than a sunny day.
Independent from the weather, and upon your preference of having people in the picture or not, you should be there when most people leave or arrive (morning and evening) respective outside of the peak times. For a shot with less people in the image, 2 pm has worked well during my visit.

What else do I need?
To photograph inside Denver Union Station, you should make sure to bring the following things (beside your camera):

• A solid tripod since the exposure time indoors can be out of the range for a hand held picture.
• A cable release in order to prevent camera shake when pressing the shutter button.
• As trains come in, people rush through the hallway. Plan some additional time to wait until the hallway has filled (or emptied) to the level you need for your picture. In the shot above, I had preferred to show the hallway as empty as possible. It took me some time for waiting until the hallway was (nearly unfrequented).
• Another way of getting images without people is using the fact that moving subjects will not appear in your image when the shutter time is long enough (bigger than 2s for single pedestrians, bigger than 5s for a bulk of pedestrians). A Neutral Density Filter can help to “erase” moving people from the picture by prolonging the shutter time. A 64x ND Filter will work well here.

Is there anything else I should know?
Yes, there is on important thing:

The Denver Union Station is private property of the RTD. This means you have to ask for permission before you take the very first shot and even before you set up your equipment. When entering the Denver Union Station for taking pictures, your first way should be to the station masters office or to one of the guards. Explain what you want to do and get their approval.

Denver Union Station - Outside (The 5$ shot)

Taking a picture from the outside of the Denver Union Station sounds more easy than it is, at least if you like to have a view of the building which shows a perspective others than that of a frog. The reason is, that you need to be higher than the ground level of the building to show the entire building with unbiased geometric scales.
One, and I would say without having special connections to one of the owners of the houses around the Denver Union Station, the only place where such a shot can be done, is from the 5th floor of the parking garage across the road. Unfortunately you are not allowed to enter the parking garage just for taking a picture of the surrounding area. The guard will not let you pass if you intention is different from bringing in or picking up your car. To stay within the rules, simply proceed as follows:

1. Enter the parking garage with your car, pick up the ticket.
2. Drive up to the 5th floor and park you car
3. Take your shot from the Denver Union Station
4. Enter your car and leave the garage again
5. Pay at the exit :-)

Which time is best?
To display the building during twilight, you should be there around sun set. The best light for this is probably when the sun just went down below the horizon, but the sky is still lit.
But timing is critical here for another reason: If you take a closer look at the picture above, you will maybe notice that there is a bus stop directly in front of the main entrance (right in front of the two taxi cabs). What makes sense from a public transport point of view is not working well for your picture, because usually a bus is waiting in front of the building for the most time. In the evening, the bus leaves every 30 minutes. You have then a generous time window of approximately two minutes until the next bus stops in front of the building. So, set up your equipment and make sure you are ready to shoot as soon as the bus leaves.

What else do I need?
Photographing the Denver Union Station from the outside at dusk is not much different from every outside shot during sun set. What you need is:

• A solid tripod since the exposure time can get critical for doing hand held shots
• A cable release in order to prevent camera shake when pressing the shutter button.
• Use a ND-Gray Fading filter in case you are earlier there than sun set and the sky is still to bright compared to the front side of the building.
   

The Spots on a Map

I have no doubt, that you will be able to find the Denver Union Station by yourself. The reason why I display the map here is mainly for the indication of the parking garage which is on 1660 Wynkoop Street.

How to get there?
To get there by car:

• Exit I 25 on 2th Street
• Turn right on Blake Street
• Turn right on 18th Street
• Turn left on Wynkoop Street and proceed one block until you are in front of the Denver Union Station

To get there by bus or by train, please refer to the schedule of the RTD. 

Further Information and What is around?

Of course, Denver is around :-).

But in case you are there a little too early for the sun set, you may visit the Tattered Cover Book Store, which is right beside the Parking Garage. Or you proceed to 16th Street mall, just around the corner.).

I hope this location description is helpful to you. I wish you the best possible light when you are going to take pictures there and simply let me know, if you miss some information.

Michael