Tag: Construction Cranes

On Top of the Tower Four Crane with Marcus Jones

A few shots from my last trip up on the Tower Four crane. The crane is down now and Marcus has retired to Arizona. It sure was fun to be up there with him and to get a chance to see the world from his vantage point.

The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup #2
The Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span at sunup #2
Inside the tower crane cab with Marcus "BigIron" Jones.
Inside the tower crane cab with Marcus “BigIron” Jones.

 

Looking south over the Kentucky approach to the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Looking south over the Kentucky approach to the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

 

Looking north from inside the tower crane mast on pier four.
Looking north from inside the tower crane mast on pier four.

 

 

Looking northwest from inside the tower crane mast on pier four.
Looking northwest from inside the tower crane mast on pier four.

 

Marcus "BigIron" Jone Operating Engineer on tower four tower crane deck looking east upriver on the Ohio River.
Marcus “BigIron” Jone Operating Engineer on tower four tower crane deck looking east upriver on the Ohio River.

 

Looking east from the motor deck on the tower crane on pier four.
Looking east from the motor deck on the tower crane on pier four.

 

Looking over the top of the tower crane on pier four at the Louisville skyline.
Looking over the top of the tower crane on pier four at the Louisville skyline.

 

Marcus Jones taking my picture on top of the tower crane.
Marcus Jones taking my picture on top of the tower crane.

 

Looking down the boom of the tower crane.
Looking down the boom of the tower crane.

HDR Image of 127 Feet Tall Caisson

This caisson is 127 feet tall and weighs over 170,000 pounds.
This caisson is 127 feet tall and weighs over 170,000 pounds.

Click on the image to enlarge it in another window.

Last Wednesday the Ironworkers placed a 12 foot diameter, 127 foot tall caisson in the pier near the Kentucky shore. It weighed over 170,000 pounds and was going in one of the deepest piers of the project. Watching them lift it from a horizontal position into a vertical position was amazing. It took two cranes to do it and the coordination required was incredible.

This HDR image is from a three frame handheld bracket set consisting of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures. I took the three frames into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I merged them and applied the Balanced preset. While there I set the Detail slider to accentuated and the Drama slider to deep. In order to suppress some serious halos that were showing up along the vertical elements in the sky I reduced the Method strength slider until the halos were gone. I then took the merged file back into Aperture 3 for final adjustments to colors, sharpening and contrast.

 

Color and B&W HDR Versions of the Same Image

Construction Cranes on the Indiana Side of the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing #1
Construction Cranes on the Indiana Side of the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing #1

Click on the image to enlarge it in another window.

Today I am sharing two versions of the same image. For the color image I used NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to merge the three frame bracket set. I applied the default preset and then returned it to Aperture 3 for contrast and color adjustments.

Construction Cranes on the Indiana Side of the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing B&W Version
Construction Cranes on the Indiana Side of the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing B&W Version

Click on the image to enlarge it in another window.

I decided to try  OnOne Perfect B&W to convert the color HDR into a black and white HDR image. I started with the default B&W setting that OnOne Perfect B&W provided and tweaked it to adjust the contrast until it was the way I wanted it.  Not much more I can say about this one.