Tag: Morning

Dramatic Clouds in HDR

Last Saturday morning I went down to Waterfront Park for an event on the river. The sky was full of dramatic clouds that really captured my imagination. The weather was rather raw and the turnout was low so I decided to take advantage of the ominous looking clouds instead. I thought the clouds would be good candidates for HDR images so I shot three frame bracket sets of each scene.

I decided to process the bracket sets in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 first and then returned them to Aperture 3 for some contrast, straightening and color channel adjustments. I then took them into NIK Viveza and played around with some very minor tweaks to them. I liked the results and the way even minor adjustments in Viveza had great impact on the resulting images. I even took one version into Topaz B&W Effects where I applied an antique style effect that I created a few weeks ago for another series of images.

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Lisa Lauderdale Ironworker Local 70

Photos of Lisa Lauderdale, an Ironworker in Local 70, working on a rebar caisson for the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville, KY.

Structural Steel Beams Have Begun Arriving for the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Span

The First Loads of Bridge Beams Arrive at the Port of Indiana for the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
The First Loads of Bridge Beams Arrive at the Port of Indiana for the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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Another sign that the Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project is progressing is the delivery of the first structural steel beams to the project. The first loads of the structural steel beams for the Downtown Span arrived at the Port of Indiana a couple of weeks ago. These massive steel beams were unloaded there and will soon be used to build sub assemblies for the Downtown Span. They will be assembled on barges in the Ohio River and then towed down river to the job site where they will be lifted into place to begin building the actual bridge itself. I rode up there to shoot the unloading of them and to see first hand how massive they are.

The Walsh Construction job site is in the Port of Indiana which is located on the Ohio River near the eastern end of Six Mile Island. The first photo in this post shows a few of the structural steel beams sitting on trailers at the Port of Indiana. In the background the boom of the crane that will unload them rises into the morning sky.

Ironworkers Rigging a Bridge Beam for a Pick by the Crane at the Port of Indiana.
Ironworkers Rigging a Bridge Beam for a Pick by the Crane at the Port of Indiana.

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The massive size of these structural steel beams can be seen in the image above. The Ironworkers standing on the beam are around six feet tall and they seem tiny when contrasted with the beam itself. In this shot they are preparing to rig the structural steel beam for the pick.The lifting of material or equipment by a crane  is known as a “pick”.  Rigging a pick is critical work that requires attention to safety and detail as any mistake made then can have catastrophic results once the load is in the air. The yellow structures behind the Ironworkers are safety devices that will catch the worker if he should slip and fall.

Ironworker Setting Up the Hook to Lift a Bridge Beam for The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. #1
Ironworker Setting Up the Hook to Lift a Bridge Beam for The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project. #1

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In the photo above you can better see the massive hook that is clamped onto the flange of the beam for the pick. The body of the device rests on the beam and two massive jaws are then lowered and secured to the flange.

Ironworker Signaling the Crane Operator to Lift a Bridge Beam for The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
Ironworker Signaling the Crane Operator to Lift a Bridge Beam for The Downtown Span of the Ohio River Bridges Project.

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Hand signals are one of the main ways that Ironworkers communicate with the crane Operator. In this image he is directing the crane Operator to move the lifting hook to the proper location for clamping it to the beam.

All of the images in this post are three frame brackets sets of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures that have been merged in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to create HDR images. I used the Balanced preset and then adjusted the Detail slider to Accentuated and the Drama slider to Deep before returning the merged file to Aperture 3 for final adjustments of the shadows, highlights, contrast, detail, color channels and sharpening.

Ohio River Bridges Project Summer 2013 Commemorative Print Released

 

Ohio River Bridges Project Summer 2013 Commemorative Print
Ohio River Bridges Project Summer 2013 Commemorative Print

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Today I am releasing the Summer 2013 Commemorative Print in my ongoing Ohio River Bridges Project series. I began photographing the Ohio River Bridges Project nearly one year ago beginning in August 2013. I chose this image of Sean Ellery an Ironworker and member of the Ironworkers Union Local 70 because it was awarded the honor of being named one of the winners of ENR’s The Year in Construction Photo Contest 2013. ENR is the Engineering News Record, published by McGraw-Hill, and is the leading publication of the construction industry worldwide. I am honored to be among the few photographers to earn an award in this prestigious international competition which is comprised of work by construction photographers from around the world.

The other reason I chose to use this photo for the Summer 2013 Commemorative Print is in part because I happened to be in the right place at the right time as a fog bank rolled in on the Kentucky approach to the bridge. I was intrigued by the cylindrical structure, known as a caisson, that the Ironworkers were building and had been shooting them at work for several minutes. Just as I was about to move on to another subject a small bank of fog rolled in and gave me the perfect atmosphere for this image.

Even though the work on the Ohio River Bridge Project had begun several months earlier it took a lot of phone calls and questions before I was able to gain access to the project. I was shooting what I could from outside the construction site but what I really wanted was to be embedded with the construction crews so that I could share with the world their day to day activities as they went about plying their trades

Finally after many dead ends I secured a meeting with a Walsh Project Manager, Joel Halterman, and was referred to Max Rowland and Celeste Blomberg in the Walsh Construction Public Information Office. They listened to my pitch and took my request to the Primary Project Manager. I was granted access to the entire project as long as I attended all relevant safety training and adhered to all safety rules when on the site. I was issued approved Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and started the following day. The Marine Superintendent, Billy Baughman, introduced me to the crew at the morning meeting and instructed everyone to assist me in any way they could. Since that morning I have been a part of the  day to day job site activity and have developed a friendship with many of the men and women on the job.

I shot a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures which I then merged into an HDR image using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. Once the image was merged I applied the Balanced Preset and boosted the Detail and Drama sliders to Accentuated and Deep settings respectively. I then returned the HDR file to Aperture 3 where I adjusted Contrast, Exposure, Recovery, Shadow, Saturation and Mid Contrast sliders. I applied Sharpening in Aperture 3 and then moved the completed image into Photoshop CS5 where I built the final print.

The prints arrive ready to hang. They are printed on .040 thick aluminum and have an appropriate mounting system attached to the back. There are three sizes, 11″x14″, 16”x 20″ and 22″ x 28″ available. The price for the 11″x14″ size is ($109.99) with two additional sizes of 16”x 20″ ($229.99) and 22″ x 28″ ($399.99) also available. All prints are hand engraved with my signature and the print number in the aluminum on the reverse side.

I am limiting the number of 11″ x 14″ prints to 150 prints. Each print size will be numbered in sequence. The 16″x 20″ prints are limited to 50 prints and 22″ X 28″ prints are limited to 10 Prints. In addition to the numbered series prints I am offering one and only one, 44″ x 54″ First Edition print for ($1799.99). After these quantities are filled the print will be retired and no further prints will be made.

I will ship at reasonable rates anywhere in the US via reliable carriers such as UPS, USPS or Fed-Ex. If you require shipping cost please feel free to contact me using the form below. [contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

 

HDR Images of the Current Progress on the Downtown Bridge Project Site

Three HDR images of the Ohio River Bridges Project Downtown Crossing progress as of March 22, 2014