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Cellpic Sunday – Mobile Alabama Skyscrapers

Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) Skyscrapers.

September 2023.
Mobile, Alabama.

While traveling along the Interstate in Mobile, I came across a complex of modern buildings. Identifying the buildings was a futile exercise in AI research. I use Copilot from Microsoft and cross-check it with Gemini. Most of the time, the two apps agree, but in this case, I got two different answers from the apps. I was surprised at the disagreement, as two of the three tallest buildings are quite striking in design. Part of the disagreement stems from the fact that Copilot identified the three buildings as RSA, but differed in the specific names from Gemini. A little “old-fashioned” Internet research brought me to a page featuring the three buildings from a different viewpoint. You can find that reference here.

Even with that identification, I couldn’t find one for the shorter blue building. The building on the right is the Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel, a 28-story structure. The spire was added in 2008, bringing its total height to 374 feet (114 meters). The similarly designed building in the center is the Battle House Tower, the tallest building in Alabama, standing 745 feet (227 m) with 35 stories. Finally, the more conventionally designed RSA Trustmark Building is a 34-story office tower on the far left.

About the photo: We were traveling to the Gulf Coast Maritime Museum in Mobile when I saw the skyline pierced by these skyscrapers. I took two shots in succession with my Samsung S23U and combined the images using Adobe Lightroom Classic’s panorama merge tool. After cropping, I sent the photo to Luminar Neo for two applications of Enhance AI. I used the tool in two processes. First, I masked the sky and inverted the mask, then tweaked the Accent AI slider only on the terrain. Finally, I closed the Enhance AI tool to remove the mask, reopened it, and used the Sky AI slider to adjust only the sky. I use this two-step process because I seldom find the best setting for terrain to be the best setting for the sky. I returned the photo to Lightroom Classic to add my logo and create the 2K HD JPG file for my Flickr site. You can click on the image to view it in 2K HD.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never assign a specific theme to this feature—the primary rule is that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or other mobile device. The second rule: link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post. Oh, and there’s no penalty if you don’t post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

37 comments

  13. Very eye-catching, John! I would have snapped them too! How funny the AIs didn’t agree…we have a long way to go with AI tools. I use both of these as well. They need more training 😀 Here is mine coming from WA and WY. While many were shot with my trusty S23U phone, a few were also taken with my camera.

    https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/09/14/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-vibrant-yellow-and-orange-hues-with-hints-of-yellowstone/

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  20. Mobile skyscrapers taken on a mobile phone, where has all the movement gone? I never equated Mobile, AL with skyscrapers, which shows how behind the times I am. It seems when you live in or near the mountains that sky scrapers aren’t the big show stopper – the mountains are. Then Scottsdale calls me a liar. I’m with your other viewers in that I love the spiral buildings. It is odd that your AIs couldn’t agree on a name for the buildings. LOL. Maybe they were mobile and slipped away from them, just like some of the thoughts in my human flawed intelligence system. 🙂

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    • Indeed. I use AI lately a lot to research buildings and places I see. I’ve learned to use two sources, and confirm with a third source if there is a disagreement. People make AI, people are flawed, therefore AI is flawed. That’s my logic. >grin<

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