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The Surveyor in this image is William Moylan. I met William last year while he was surveying the placement of a caisson in pier 6 during it’s installation. I shot some photos of him that morning and ultimately chose one for a blog post. William saw the photo and thanked me for sharing it with the world. At the time he said to me that no one ever takes pictures of the surveyor. Later as we got to know each other he told me that his Mom in Ireland was able to see what he did for a living and the job he was working on because of that photo.
I was waiting for the crew boat yesterday when I saw William and a Carpenter working together. I liked the angle that I had and started shooting them discussing the task they were both working on. In this image they are making plans for William to ride up in the aerial lift to check the platform being placed for a hammerhead form that the carpenters are building on pier 8.
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In this image you can see the floor of the hammerhead form that William and the Carpenter are leveling. William has climbed out onto the form floor with his measuring equipment and the Carpenter is moving into place underneath the form to make leveling adjustments.
Both of these images are three frame bracket sets of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures that have been merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and finished in Aperture 3. For the top image I had to sue 100% anti-ghosting to eliminate the ghosting of the figures. In the second image I was able to get by with only 60% anti-ghosting. My advice regarding anti-ghosting is to strive for the lowest amount you can use in order to minimize halos and still achieve a reasonable final result.
I know I sound like a broken record Nick. Your photography stands purely on it’s own. It is beautiful and vivid and expressive. But the real power I see in your work on the bridge, is that you care about the people. The power of William showing that photograph to his mother in Ireland…..unbelievable……you created a family treasure. There are connections in photographs…..we all know that….but it isn’t easy to create. I can take a hundred pictures if my new baby grandson…and one or two may reach into my heart and touch it….but will it have the same effect on my family…. you never know. You create some heirloom images because of your respect for people and what they do…….well done.
Thank you for such a kind comment. You are right when you say I care about the people in my images. I believe in the dignity of people and that everyone deserves respect for their contribution to society. I hope I make a difference in the attitudes of those who view these images and that in so doing they too will see what a gift the work these men and women do truly is.