Tag: Louisville

Experimenting with HDR Black and White Processing

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Nick Roberts

Since early January I’ve been experimenting HDR Black and White processing. For the accompanying photos I usually began with a color HDR image that I then processed again with Topaz B&W, onOne Perfect B&W or NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 to create the HDR Black and White version. Through this combination of processing techniques and apps I have rediscovered my love of black and white photography.

The workflow that I have adopted for HDR Black and White images usually begins by using a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures that I first merge using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and apply the Balanced Preset with Accentuated Detail. After merging them I take the merged file into Adobe Camera Raw for initial adjustments to fill light and shadows as well as a curves adjustment. I also adjust Saturation and Luminance in ACR before opening the image in Photoshop CS5. In Photoshop CS5 I add a new layer where I usually start with lens correction filter and an unsharp mask filter. At this point I may decide to crop the image in order to refine the composition.

After I am satisfied with my color HDR version I duplicate it and add a new layer with Topaz B&W, onOne Perfect B&W or NIK Silver Efex Pro 2 to create the HDR Black and White version. The more I experiment with these B&W apps the more I find myself using Topaz B&W as my first choice. I really like being able to build my own presets with special feature such as edge treatments and opacity when I am seeking a hand tinted effect.

Click on any image to begin a light box slideshow of all the images in this gallery.

First side girder for Tower Four Pier Table placed on Western Tower. B&W Version

Surveyor, Patrick "Pacman", Measures the Side Girder Location. B&W Version — Surveyor, Patrick “Pacman”, Measures the Side Girder Location. B&W Version

Kentucky Approach with Tower Three and Waterfront Park Shoreline. B&W Version

Ironworkers Prepare Anchor Boxes for installation on Tower Four. These Boxes Are Where the Bridge Cables are Anchored to the Tower. B&W Version

Black and White sunset over a heavy highway and bridge construction site in Louisville, Kentucky. The Ohio River Bridges Project by Walsh Construction.

Vintage Sports Car Oak Dashboard with Instruments in B&W.

The six towers that will carry the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project being built by Walsh Construction. Looking north from the Kentucky approach in Waterfront Park. B&W Version

Carpenter/Pile Driver preparing beams for lifting into place on the pile driving engine. B&W Version

Winter Sunset on the Ohio River in Louisville, KY. B&W Version

Carpenter on bridge anchor form. B&W Version

Marcus Jones at work in Tower Crane. B&W Version

Pier table on pier four viewed from atop tower crane on motor deck. B&W Version

Louisville Shoreline seen from the Tower Crane on Pier Four

I think this has been a good exercise for me and helps me see more possibilities for many of the images I love to capture. HDR Black and White photography really excites my creative side and lets me reveal another facet of the world as I see it.

Carpenters Working On Tower Three West From an Aerial Lift.

Carpenters of the Ohio River Bridges Project

Posted on February 18, 2015 by Nick Roberts

This post showcases several different images of the Carpenter’s trade.

2014 Commemorative Print Now Available

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Nick Roberts

Double Rainbows Over Ohio River Bridges Project, Downtown Span Construction

Today I am releasing a 2014 Commemorative Print of the Downtown Crossing to mark the progress that was made in 2014. I was lucky enough one morning last month to be at the right place at the right time to capture two rainbows over the tower for the downtown span. I think it is a fitting image for the past year’s progress and I hope my viewers agree.

I am accepting orders for prints in three sizes on .040″ aluminum ready for hanging. The sizes are 11″ X 14″ @ $109.00, 16″ X 20″ @ $239.00 and 32″ X 40″ @ $899.00. Interested parties can reach me through the Contact Form below for further information or to place an order.

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Was a Rainbow Over the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project a Positive Omen?

Posted on November 12, 2014 by Nick Roberts

I try to capture something from the Ohio River Bridges Project nearly every workday. The rapid progress that is being made now is transforming the landscape all along the construction site. It isn’t always possible to be in just the right place every day but I really hope to provide a pretty complete view of how the Ohio River Bridges Project is progressing. I like to think that this rainbow is a positive omen for the project and for my own desire to show the world of heavy highway and bridge construction to the world though my images.

The other morning there were scattered showers moving in from the northwest and I was lucky enough to be in just the right place when the morning sunrise illuminated a gorgeous rainbow over the construction at Towers 4 and 5. I was on the Kentucky shore where the bridge will land in Louisville. I adjusted my vantage point in an effort to align the base of the rainbow with the eastern tower on pier 5. In doing so I was also able to include it’s intersection with the eastern tower at pier 4. In the upper right hand corner of the image is another faint rainbow that I discovered during processing.

Rainbow over the bridge towers for the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span being built by Walsh Construction in Louisville, Kentucky, November 2014

Click the image to open it enlarged in a separate window.

The images in this post were captured all around the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville Kentucky in the past 30 days. There are photos of individual tradesmen, progress on the Downtown Span and the reconfiguring of Spaghetti Junction. All this activity keeps me hopping as I try to capture the process as well as the progress of this massive Heavy Highway and Bridge Construction project.

In several of these photos I have taken the liberty of sharing different versions of the same scenes. I like to use HDR techniques and HDR software when capturing and processing my images. I often like to take those same HDR images into various Black and White processing apps. I am not married to any one B&W app and use many different plug-ins as well as the B&W conversion tools in Photoshop CS5 and Aperture 3. I like the variety of effects I can get by using Topaz B&W, onOne B&W Effects and NIK Silver Efex Pro 2.

Jimbo Clark ties rebar on the Ohio River Bridges Project

Storm clouds gather over the Indiana shore of the Ohio River and the Downtown Crossing construction for the Ohio River Bridges Project. #4 (B&W Version)

Ironworker from Ironworkers Local 70 gather their tools to start work on a section of steel girders being installed along I-71 in Louisville KY — Ironworkers from Ironworkers Local 70 gather their tools to start work on a section of steel girders being installed along I-71 in Louisville KY

Towers processed in Silver Efex Pro — Storm clouds gather over the Indiana shore of the Ohio River and the Downtown Crossing construction for the Ohio River Bridges Project. #3

Storm clouds gather over the Indiana shore of the Ohio River and the Downtown Crossing construction for the Ohio River Bridges Project. #5

Walsh construction crew pours the plinth and eastern tower base for Tower 3 of the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project.

Storm clouds gather in a Purple Sky over the Indiana shore of the Ohio River and the Downtown Crossing construction for the Ohio River Bridges Project. — Storm clouds gather over the Indiana shore of the Ohio River and the Downtown Crossing construction for the Ohio River Bridges Project.

A foggy morning as the crew boat navigates alongside Pier Seven of the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville, Kentucky. (Processed with NIK Silver Efex Pro 2)

Early morning on the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span construction site showing Towers 4 and 5 in front of the Kennedy Bridge in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Walsh Group towboat Kathleen Ohara picks up Pete Rimert at the start of the day.

Towboat Kathleen Ohara heads for Kentucky shore of Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, — Towboat Kathleen O’Hara heads for Kentucky shore of Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky,

Alan Vanwinkle is one of the crew boat operators on the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville Kentucky.

A foggy morning as the crew boat navigates alongside Pier Seven of the Downtown Span on the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville, Kentucky.

A foggy start to the day as morning fog moves down river toward Tower Five and the structural steel that will carry the new Downtown Span bridge deck. (B&W Version)

Brian Kirker Operating Engineers Local 181.

Ironworkers taking their morning break before flying the first Edge Girder into place at Tower Five. (Antique Version)

Alan VanWinkle pilots the Walsh crew boat past the towboat Kathleen O'Hara and the Towers at Pier 5 of the Ohio River Bridges Project. — Alan VanWinkle pilots the Walsh crew boat past the towboat Kathleen O’Hara and the Towers at Pier 5 of the Ohio River Bridges Project. The reflection in his windshield is the Big Four Pedestrian Bridge in Waterfront Park.

Tower Five during construction of the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span November 2014.

The Walsh Group towboat Wayne C delivers a barge to the worksite in the Ohio River.

Walsh Construction has placed the first sections of bridge deck panels for the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville, Kentucky.

The First Structural Steel Girders For The Downtown Span are Installed

Posted on November 10, 2014November 10, 2014 by Nick Roberts

This post and the accompanying photos show how much progress has been made on the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville Kentucky.

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