Several photographs from inside the mast of the tower crane on the Ohio River Bridges Project in Louisville, Kentucky being built by Walsh Construction
Author: Nick Roberts
Rundle Ride XI in St Louis May 11-16, 2014
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Two weeks ago I was asked to join a group of retired US Secret Service veterans for a one week event know as the Rundle Ride XI. This was the eleventh year of it’s history and the retired agents hosting this year’s event asked me to be the Unofficial Official Photographer for the group. For the past ten years the Rundle Ride had been in the western United States and bringing it this far east was a big change.
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This year the hosts, John Barry USSS Ret. and Kent Sincox USSS Ret., chose to hold the event in St. Louis Missouri and the surrounding area in an effort to include more USSS agents who lived east of the Mississippi River.
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All except one of the agents rode Harley-Davidson Motorcycles. They had a great history to share having protected US Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower through Bill Clinton but anyone observing the group would have never guessed who they were. There was one retired agent on a BMW motorcycle who, though in his seventies, had ridden from Prudhoe Bay Alaska to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America in 2011. He and his wife are now planning to ride around the world this summer via the northern hemisphere. Another agent was the great grandson of the President of Mexico when the Mexican Revolution occurred. All of them had great stories to tell and I was mesmerized listening to their recollections of humorous moments in their careers.
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On the first day of the Rundle Ride XI we went to the St. Louis Arch, Anheuser-Busch Brewery and a St. Louis Cardinals Game. The photos today are from the brewery tour and a road trip to Hermann Missouri for a group photo.
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The brewery images are all handheld HDR images from a three frame bracket set of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures while the group photos were shot using a tripod and cable release. I used NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 to merge the brackets into HDR images which were finished using Aperture 3.
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The above photo of the group shows that neither cold nor rain could slow these folks down. When we began our ride to Hermann Missouri the temperature was 55 degrees and there was light rain falling. Not one of them complained about the weather and all made it safely.
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While in Hermann we did a little sightseeing and I found these two beauties hanging out in an antique shop on the main street. This is a three frame bracket processed in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2, Aperture 3 and Topaz ReStyle. I made several versions of this image using different presets in Topaz ReStyle which I am including below.
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The image above shows the fantastic esprit de corps of these men and women and their zest for life. I am very honored that they asked me along and can only hope that the images I have shared reflect that emotion.
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The last image in this post is of Edie Rico with a cardboard cutout of Paul Rundle the founder of the Rundle Rides. Unfortunately just before Paul was leaving home to ride to St. Louis he had to undergo surgery for his gall bladder. In a show of solidarity and caring John and Lisa Barry printed out this photo and made sure that Paul was with the group in spirit.
Paving a New Southbound I-65 Bridge Deck
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Today’s post is a few images of the process of paving the roadway on the new section of Southbound I-65 here in Louisville. In the process of constructing the new downtown bridge there are over 200 additional spans that are being built as the highway passes through Louisville. The photos here are part of the paving of just one of those spans.
The first photo was taken around 4:00 AM while the paving machine was at rest. I think the paving machine is known as a Bidwell Machine because that is who manufactures them. I heard several Operating Engineers refer to it as the “Bidwell” which is why I think I’m correct in calling it that. At any rate this machine spreads and finishes the concrete after the laborers have placed it on the deck using a large hose and a concrete pump to raise it from ground level below the roadway onto the new roadway.
The crew was waiting for the concrete that was being pumped to be certified that it was the correct composition and consistency for use. While that testing process was taking place the leading edge of the fresh concrete already in place was covered with burlap blankets and kept wet so that there wouldn’t be a problem when the pouring resumed. The men on the left side of the image are the quality inspectors and work for the Kentucky Department of Transportation. It is their job to verify that all concrete and construction materials and processes are within the specifications required for proper and safe construction of the roadway.
Very often when we laymen see a construction site we may think that folks are standing around doing nothing. The reality is that there are many facets to a construction project that temporarily halt work but everyone we see is an integral part of the process. I like to think of it as similar to a football game. The team is simply waiting for the ball to be snapped and then everyone has a role to play in an effort to complete the play. In this case the ball is waiting for the officials to place it on the scrimmage line and blow the whistle for the game to resume.
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THis image shows the concrete pump boom that is used to place the concrete on the roadway. In the lower right side you can see two concrete trucks positioned to feed wet concrete into the hopper on the pump. The pump operator then delivers the wet mix through the boom and hose to another operator on top who actually directs the placing of the boom using a joy stick apparatus that he wears on his shoulders. Finally there is a laborer who is aiming the snorkel on the end of the hose to place the concrete where it needs to be.
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This image shows the concrete pump and the two concrete delivery truck that are required to feed it. These truck are just two of many that were delivering concrete to the pump that morning. As soon as they had offloaded their concrete another pair replaced them; this went on for hours as truck after truck delivered more material. In this case there were over 50 loads of concrete delivered just to pour one span of the new roadway.
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As you can see by this image the sun has started to rise and the concrete pour has progressed further south. I couldn’t hear what was being said but clearly this was a moment when people were learning what the next actions they needed to take would be once the next batch of concrete started flowing from the concrete pump.
Abstracts and Close-ups From the Ohio River Bridges Project Construction Site
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When I am out on the job site shooting I like to include abstracts and close-ups from the construction site in my workflow. I find the visual elements of a pile of bolts, an impression left by a tire tread and manmade vs organic shapes very interesting. As a photographer I am very attuned to seeing art in the mundane day to day elements that surround me when I’m in the field shooting and strive to share that beauty with the viewers of my images.
The bolts in the image above are used in the assembly of the caisson in the background. I shot these as a three frame bracket set and merged them into a single HDR image using NIK HDR EFex Pro 2. After merging them and applying the Balanced preset I returned the merged file to Aperture 3 for final adjustments to color, sharpness, contrast and saturation.
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Due to the need to capture images throughout the workday I often find myself shooting in some pretty harsh lighting conditions which I compensate for by using bracketed exposures and HDR processing. By capturing a three frame bracket of +2, 0 and -2 EV exposures I am able to gather detail in the highlights and shadows and merge that data in my HDR software of choice NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. Generally my merger procedure is to apply the Balanced preset with as little anti-ghosting as possible in order to maintain the detail in the images. Because I shoot almost all my daytime construction images handheld I find anti-ghosting to be one of the most important settings to monitor during processing of an HDR image. I am fairly sure that the use of anti-ghosting compensates for minor camera movement and aids in aligning the three frames I usually shoot in my bracket set.
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Whenever the cranes on tracks are set up they are almost always sitting on these heavy timber crane mats. The timbers are about 12″ x 12″ in cross section and then they are bolted together into slabs of several timbers. These slabs are leveled and placed on the ground to spread the weight of the construction crane evenly and make a stable platform for the crane to work from.
I came across this stack of crane mats and was drawn to the colors and textures of their surfaces. These crane mats were stored in a shaded area of the job site and the light was very low. By using a bracketed series of three exposures I was able to capture a wide dynamic range and bring out the texture, colors and detail in the image. This is another example of why I love using HDR techniques to photograph on the job site. The broad dynamic range provided by the bracket set allows me to make decisions about how I want to portray the subject in the final image and what elements are most important to me in the final photo.
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I shot this image because I liked the pattern and contrast that the earth compactor teeth left in the earth with the organic fissures between the machine made impressions.
HDR Workshop Scheduled for June 13-14, 2014
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Have you wondered about how you can use HDR in your photographic workflow? Are you baffled by all the conflicting information you have heard? Do you want to create photos that reflect your vision and feel for your images?
If you answered yes to any or all those questions then my HDR Workshop is for you. Participants will learn the “Why” of HDR photography and “How” to create images that reflect your own personal style. In this workshop you will work on source images I provide as you learn how to become comfortable using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 software as your initial processing tool.
If you are already using NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 you will achieve confidence in it’s use and discover some of the ways that I use it to create hyper-realistic images that avoid the cliched over-sharpened, grungy and garish images that so many new HDR users get. I’ll explain in detail why I think NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 is the best HDR app available today and how it compares to it’s many competitors.
If you’re ready to explore the fascinating world of HDR then by all means enroll today and start your own personal journey into the wonderful world of HDR photography with the skills you need. My workshops are very hands on affairs where everyone brings their laptop and camera and actually uses the software. You will not be simply sitting there watching me point and click my way through the process; you will be actively participating as you explore the interface and see firsthand what a given adjustment does.
Use the link below to enroll and master the use of NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. If the link isn’t working simply copy and paste the url into your browser and that should do the trick.
http://outdoorphotogear.ticketleap.com/hdr-photography-nick-roberts/details
If you have any questions please use the contact form below to reach me.
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