Tag: Louisville

Using Photoshop CC For HDR images

Louisville, Kentucky cityscape at sunset.
Sunset cityscape of Louisville, Kentucky as fall approaches.

With the approach of Fall, I have started photographing Waterfront Park and the Louisville cityscape as the season progresses. I am also experimenting with using Photoshop CC to merge my bracket sets because Google is no longer supporting the NIK HDR eFex 2 software. Even though I have used NIK HDR eFex 2 for nearly ten years I realize that it will eventually be obsolete due to advances in both computers and operating systems. Rather than continue to work in NIK HDR eFex 2 I know it is time for me to find a viable solution to my desire to shoot and process HDR images. Adobe Photoshop CC does an excellent job of merging bracketed images.

For these images, I am using Photoshop CC layers and Topaz Clarity as a final layer to fine tune the contrast and color in the finished images.

Abraham Lincoln Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky.
Piers under the Abraham Lincoln Bridge at sunset. The shoreline is Waterfront Park in Louisville, Kentucky.

In this image I wanted to shoot from Indiana back across the river to Kentucky under the Abraham Lincoln Bridge. I set up my tripod just before the sun dropped below the horizon and hoped to get some good light on the piers that support the bridge. I was also taken by the rose color of the light and how it lit the forms of the piers. The sky was very pastel along the southern side of the river and I wanted to capture that feature of the sunset; as an additional element I felt it was important to include the clouds on the left to balance the composition.

This image too is a three frame bracket merged in Photoshop CC and then opened in Adobe Camera Raw to make most of my basic image adjustments. Once that was done I returned it to Photoshop CC and added an additional layer that I used Topaz Clarity as a filter to fine tune the final contrast and color.

2015 Ohio River Bridges Project Commemorative Print

2015 Commemorative Print Now On Sale
2015 Commemorative Print 

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Today I am releasing my 2015 Ohio River Bridges Project Commemorative Print of the nearly completed  downtown span in time for you to get it before Christmas. It is available in two sizes 13.25″ X 10.5″ size is $100 and the “20 X 16” size is $230. the finished ready to hang print is on .040″ Aluminum with mounting black attached.

The men and women building the Ohio River Bridges Project downtown span are nearly finished and in just a few days the first vehicular traffic will be allowed on the new bridge. On Saturday December 5, the public will be given the opportunity to walk out on the bridge and see the result of two and a half years of construction.

Being able to be a part of this project is one of the most rewarding things I have done in my photographic career. The decision to photograph the construction is also the most ambitious single project I have undertaken in over forty years as a photographer.

I have seen the bridge emerge from the river as the towers were constructed, then seeing the first steel girders installed, seeing the cable stays as they were installed to suspend the bridge across the Ohio River and just last week being there as the final pavement was laid in place.

I have witnessed first hand the dedication and pride that every tradesperson brought to the job. There were many long days where they worked from sunup until late in the night to make sure that the job was done correctly and on time. Along the way I have made many new friends in all the trades that it takes to accomplish something of this scale.

As the embedded photographer it has been an honor to be a part of this incredible addition to the Louisville infrastructure. As the project winds down I will miss many of these men and women who will now move on to other jobs as the “Build America”.

All orders received before December 12, 2015 will be ready for local delivery before Christmas. Shipping is available for orders from outside the Louisville area.

 

The Ohio River Bridges Downtown Span August 24-29, 2015

The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. HDR Version
The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. HDR Version

Last week the Ohio River Bridges Downtown Span grew another 180 feet in length. The cable stays on Tower Five were completed and the scaffolding to the top of the towers was removed. One of the cranes being used to build the bridge structure blew an engine but that didn’t keep the structural gang from completing the building of another 45 feet of bridge.

The photos in this post are both three frame HDR mergers and single frame images. In all cases the image was first adjusted for sharpness and color saturation in Adobe Camera Raw followed by a trip into Photoshop CS5 for lens correction when needed. I also used Topaz Clarity to bring out the texture and contrast which I applied to a separate layer; in several cases the opacity of the Topaz Clarity layer was reduced to between 25 -75%.

Progress of the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

This group of images shows the progress of the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. The bridge deck is nearing completion as the Ironworker’s Structural Gang and Cable Stay Gangs extend the bridge decks on all three towers toward one another. It won’t be long until all the structural steel and cables are in place and the bridge will be one piece from shore to shore.

Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup.
Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup.

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The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup #2
The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup #2

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The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup
The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup.

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Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. #4
Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. #4

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The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup from Waterfront Park.
The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup from Waterfront Park.

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Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. onOne Perfect B&W Version
Panorama of The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup. onOne Perfect B&W Version

For this final panorama I decided to convert the scene to black and white simply to see what effect it would have on the image when compared to the color images.

 

Photographing Louisville at Night From The Ohio River Bridges Project, Downtown Span, Tower Three

Louisville's spaghetti junction at night from atop the western tower on pier three of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Louisville’s spaghetti junction at night from atop the western tower on pier three of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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A couple of weeks ago I climbed up on the western tower on Pier Three to shoot the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span and Louisville at night. I was 300 feet above the river standing on the top of the tower and decided to use long shutter speeds to capture the light trails of the traffic moving through Spaghetti Junction. I really like the way the colors of the light change across the images especially the green of work areas vs the orange of the existing sodium lights along the roadways. I was also interested in the flow of the roads and the way the light trails emphasized their paths.

Louisville's spaghetti junction at night from atop the western tower on pier three of the Ohio River Bridges Project. #2
Louisville’s spaghetti junction at night from atop the western tower on pier three of the Ohio River Bridges Project. #2

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In this version I purposely emphasized the orange lighted areas to contrast them with the deep blues in the darker areas. The little hits of green around the construction offices really popped and added another dimension to the image.

 

Kennedy Bridge on I-65 at night seen from above .
Kennedy Bridge on I-65 at night seen from above.

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This shot above the Kennedy Bridge uses the orange of the roadway and along the river’s shore as unifying elements to integrate the foreground with the distant skyline.

Night in Waterfront Park as seen from atop the western tower on pier three of the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Night in Waterfront Park as seen from atop the western tower on pier three of the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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The final pair of images in this post show Waterfront Park and the Big Four Bridge lit up. I used the contrast of the straight lines of the bridge tower and crane boom as counterpoints to the arcing curves of the park to create this composition.

Night in Waterfront Park as seen from atop the western tower on pier three of the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project. #2
Night in Waterfront Park as seen from atop the western tower on pier three of the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project. #2

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In this final image the Big Four Bridge in the background and the lights in the park really stand out from the reflected light on the concrete tower and the yellow crane boom. The purple of the Big Four Bridge lighting is a great compliment to the green and aqua of the park lights.

I shot in three frame bracket sets of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures for HDR merging into single images. I used NIK HDR eFex Pro 2 and Adobe Camera Raw to do most of the processing as well as Photoshop CS5 to do some lens correction.