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This is another shot from above the Big Four Bridge. In the background is the Kennedy Bridge that carries Interstate 65 across the Ohio River.
Above the Big Four Bridge Again
Tag: bridges
Big Four Bridge
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Yesterday morning I was given the opportunity to ride in the man lift to the top of the Big Four Bridge. Even though I am very scared of heights I jumped at the chance. It wasn’t nearly as frightening as I thought it would be. The guys on the job gave me a safety harness to wear that would keep me from falling off the bridge and away we went. Tim, the guy operating the lift, was very comfortable and his calmness made the trip easy. At first I was content to just be even with the top of the bridge but after a few shots there I asked Tim to lift me higher so I could shoot down on the bridge. We spent 10 minutes or so while I looked for my compositions and shot a few quick studies of the scene from there.
I’m heading back there this morning and I may even get the courage to walk out on the bridge itself. As I write this I wonder if I’ll be able to step out of the basket on the lift or if I’ll have to content myself with shooting from the safety of the lift.
Blue Moon of Kentucky
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I went down to the riverfront yesterday morning to shoot the arrival of Hurricane Isaac in Louisville. Usually after a Gulf Coast hurricane moves inland it comes up the Mississippi River and then drifts east through the Ohio River Valley. I expected the sky to be rather dramatic and I was really hoping to capture the sunrise. I shot several images from Waterfront Park looking east and liked what I was getting. I applied my adage of “looking behind myself” to see if there was anything going on in the western sky when I saw the blue moon, a second full moon in one month, just above the Kennedy Bridge. The clouds were moving in from the southwest and I really liked the way they were drifting past the moon. I immediately shot a bracketed set of images from EV +2 through -2 in one stop amounts to capture as much detail as I could even though it was still at least 30 minutes before actual sunrise.
Back in the studio I opened the bracket set in NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 and merged them with the Ghosting Adjustment set to 20% which allowed the sky to stay as I envisioned it when I captured the scene. I started with the Deep 2 preset and adjusted the tone map and tonality until I had what I wanted. By boosting the Highlight and White sliders I got the moon to pop out of the clouds which was how I had originally envisioned the scene. I then took the image back into Aperture 3 where I cleaned up some sensor spots, subtly boosted the Vibrance slider and applied sharpening. I also cropped the final image into a panoramic framing to accent the linearity of the bridge before exporting it for the web.
Morning on the Big Four Bridge Project
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This image is a single frame that I did the RAW processing in Aperture 3 on before taking it into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 where I used the Deep 2 preset as a starting point. I had to fiddle with many of the tonality sliders before I could get it where I wanted it. I had to be careful with the structure slider in particular because it was emphasizing the noise in the sky. I then brought the image back to Aperture 3 and performed a little cropping and noise reduction before saving this final version.
I feel really fortunate to be allowed up here to shoot this project. The men on the job are justifiably proud of their work in rescuing the bridge and converting it from a former railroad bridge into a pedestrian bridge linking Louisville with Jeffersonville Indiana.
Remember to Look Behind You
When I was down at Waterfront Park, the night before last, I was there because I expected some dramatic clouds and colors at sunset due to the thunderstorm that had passed through Louisville an hour or so before sunset. I had consulted my cloud map and it looked promising, based on the wind speeds and direction, for some dramatic skies. I set up my tripod facing west and captured some incredible images of the downtown bridges. The wind was kicking up and the remnants of the storm were scudding across the sky. I happened to turn around to look at the Big Four Bridge where I saw this scene unfolding.
Because the clouds were moving so fast I knew it was futile to try to bracket the shot so I looked at my histogram and started firing test shots. Once I had dialed in a setting that gave me a slightly underexposed histogram I just started firing the camera. I know from experience with scenes such as this that the biggest pitfall I face is too much light in the highlight areas which is why I chose a slight underexposure setting. I shoot almost exclusively in Aperture Priority mode in order to be able to predict and control my depth of field and this evening was no exception. I was using f9.5 and letting the camera choose the shutter speed based on the exposure value I was using. The clouds were moving very fast and I shot around 20-25 frames before they were no longer in a position that I liked.
Once I was back at the studio I started going through the images from this scene and chose this one for the position of the clouds and the way the golden hour light was shining on the bridge. I opened it in Aperture 3 and straightened the horizon before sending it into NIK HDR Efex Pro 2. Once inside NIK HDR Efex Pro 2 I started looking at the various presets and tried the Realistic Deep preset that I like to begin with for most landscape shots. I didn’t particularly like the effect it was having on the clouds so I switched to the Landscape presets where I discovered the preset I felt gave the best results. I then started adjusting the tonal range and structure until I had brought out the detail in both the clouds and the bridge. Once I was satisfied with the basic image I returned it to Aperture 3 where I further enhanced the color using the Vibrancy adjustment, along with the Exposure panel controls, to fine tune the image. Finally I adjusted the sharpness slightly and saved the image.
My point with the title of this post is that too often we photographers are focused on getting a particular image that we have in mind and fail to see the other great opportunities that are around us. As photographers we need to be “present in the moment” in order to capture the mystery and beauty that surrounds us. This whole scene came and went in a matter of minutes and there is no way that I could have foreseen this situation. If I hadn’t taken the time to look back behind myself I would have missed what I think is a dynamic and powerful image.
