Tag: architecture

Early Morning In Waterfront Park

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Big Four Morning
Big Four Morning

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I shot this image on Saturday morning last week before the crowds arrived. The morning was relatively calm and the park had only a few people in it at that time. There were many people walking up on the bridge to catch the first moments of the day as others were busy exercising on the lawn around the swing garden. I like the peaceful feeling that the early morning light gives the image.

Saturday Morning Boot Camp
Saturday Morning Boot Camp

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This is one of my favorite angles to photograph the Swing Garden and the Louisville Skyline from the Big Four Bridge. I like the way the geometric layout of the park comes out from this vantage point. On the right can be seen the barges and equipment that are being used to build the piers for the new Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing. Walsh Construction seems to be taking great pains to keep the job site clean and orderly which is their way of showing respect for the Louisville Waterfront Park and it’s wonderful features such as the Swing Garden and the Lincoln Memorial with the wonderful sculptures by Louisville’s native son and nationally renowned sculptor, Mr. Ed Hamilton.

This image is a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and -2 EV HDR image created using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and Aperture 3. After merging in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I returned the HDR image to Aperture 3 for additional adjustment to the contrast, color channels, sharpening and minor cropping. I also added a slight vignette to the final image to lead the viewer’s eye into the frame.

In the coming months I will be sharing images from the Ohio River Bridges Project as I shoot it from inside the actual job sites. I will be sharing photos of not only the physical progress of the project; I will also be showing the men and women who are doing the work to build this much anticipated bridge and it’s transformation of the Louisville waterfront. I hope you will follow along as work progresses and sign up for email announcements when I post new work; to do that simply follow SpeedDemon2.com via the sign up box at the top of the page.

 

HDR Ohio River Bridges Project

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span #2
Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span #2

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 After a couple meetings with Walsh Construction I have been granted access to the construction sites after I complete the required safety training.  This week I will be going through safety training with Walsh Construction to familiarize myself with the safety procedures that I will need to follow while shooting the Ohio River Bridges Project.

I am excited and honored that they are allowing me to shoot onsite and really looking forward to getting started. It is a huge project and has over 50 individual spans that I will be following for the next three years as the project proceeds. I will be able to document the progress and the men and women who are building the bridges from now until the completion of the project.

I hope you will stick around as I record the day to day work that goes into a project of this scale and the men and women who will be doing the work. I intend to show as many facets of the job as possible from the construction workers to the engineering support teams and the folks who run the office side too. I’ll be shooting most of the work in HDR and I’m sure that there will be many discoveries as I try new software and new camera techniques throughout the next three years.

Moon Over Angel’s Envy

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Moon Over Angel's Envy
Moon Over Angel’s Envy

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This image is a single frame from my exploration of the Vermont American Building last week. I used Topaz Clarity to process it before returning it to Aperture 3 for cropping, sharpening and color channel adjustments.

Angel’s Envy

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Office of the Angels
Office of the Angels

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I really like to shoot buildings that are in a state of deterioration and neglect because they contain so many textures and interesting details. I enjoy the beauty of things as they weather and deteriorate and I strive to share that beauty with the world. The Japanese term Wabi-sabi, which means to appreciate and accept the forces of transience and imperfection and find the beauty that exists in the state of impermanence, is often applied to this type of photography. 

I was down on Main Street last week to photograph the construction taking place as the Ohio River Bridges Project begins to take shape along I-65. While shooting the cranes and the activity around them I also started shooting the Vermont America Building as it exists today. This image is from above the door at the old Vermont America Building which has been closed for many years but will be reopened in the future as Angel’s Envy Distillery. This building is slated be renovated as the main headquarters for Angel’s Envy Distillery.

I used a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and – 2 EV at ISO 200 to create this HDR image. I processed it in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to merge and tone map the image. I also created my own preset from these adjustments so that I could experiment with other versions such as monotone or black and white without having to go through the merging process again if I wanted to try applying them to the image. In the end I settled on this version as the one that best captured my vision for the image. I then returned the merged image to Aperture 3 where I completed the finishing touches such a sharpening and straightening.

 

 

 

 

Big Four Bridge Silhouette

Posted on by Nick Roberts
Louisville's Big Four Bridge after a day of thunderstorms and rain.
Big Four Bridge Sunset

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Not much to say about this image except that I like the bridge silhouette against the remnants of a summer storm that was passing through Louisville. I captured the image from the east side of the ramp leading up onto the Big Four Bridge. It’s from a single frame and simple processing in Aperture 3 was all that it needed to finish it.