GRAND ISLAND BRIDGE PART2 “THE PHOTOS”

Those who follow and know me personally are well aware of one simply truth. I am passionate about my photography, and with that being said, I recently have been thinking along of the lines of “What inspires me” . I answered my own question with a revisit to a location that proved to be a photo that is one that has always created a great deal of buzz. The photograph at the top of my word press blog was affectionately given the name, “THE GRAND ISLAND BRIDGE”. This shot was originally taken last year during the month of November and it was used in a project known as “Silent Night, Nothings Right”. Although I was happy with the shot, I often regretted not having taken more photos at different angles. On friday evening we righted that wrong, and the MSP Team paid a visit to this iconic man-made structure as we shot the hell out of that bridge.

When we arrived on location I had a fairly good grasp of just how we were going to gain access to the area, and as suspected we were able to set up without any restrictions. Jim and Barb immediately started taken photos as we awaited for darkness to set in, and without getting all mushy, Jim and Barb have simply made me proud with their dedication to a practice in which I am so passionate about. They have excelled and now push me to greater heights because they have become so good at composition.  Although a member of the team joined us late as she had a previous engagement, I anticipate seeing the results of Becky Anderson O”Conners work , as she has a talent for composition unlike any I have ever seen before. Her talents will take her far and it is an honor for me to say she is part of what we are building.

Now that I have had my rant on the subject, let me present to you, The GRAND ISLAND BRIDGE PART TWO.

As we awaited for darkness to set in, I snapped a few shots as we waited. I wanted to show everyone the conditions present at the time. Cloudy skies and a slight haze was a concern, but as the eve set in I was confident that the cool air would eliminate the haze and as experienced in the past, the clouds would add some contrast to the photos once the light faded.

As the light faded

Fading light

Although pleased with these photos I was anticipating the lower light shots. As we progress I will be showing you how the photos changed as we adapted to the changing conditions in lighting.  As we go along please take note at how the photos almost become cartoonish as the vibrance and color starts to take shape. By adjusting apertures, shutter speeds, and focal lengths, you can see a consistent change in the vibrance of each photo. The one constant in all of these photos was my iso setting, which remained at 200 for the length of the shoot. This first series of photos were shot with apertures of f 8 and f10 and shutter speeds were in the range of 1/100 to 1/400th of a second.

These photos were taken as the sun dropped of the horizon. Despite the clouds the colors that are present are definitive of typical sunset shots. The task of eliminating a wash out or a silhouette was easy to accomplish as adjustments were made to apertures and shutter speeds to prevent these common problems from happening.

Using speeds of 1 to 5 seconds worked well as I slowly stepped up the aperture.

 

 

 

 

This next series of shots were taken after the light had faded. This type of photography has long been a favorite of mine and it is something that I have spent a great deal of time in practice learning to do.

The sun makes it exit.

I also decided that this time I would use a flash to light the foreground and although for the most part I used a second shutter flash I did some experimentation with strobe flash. The look I was going for seemed to work as my foreground was exposed as I let the shutter stay open for the ambient light.

 

With strobe flash

Arch with moon

Now with the light gone and full creative control in my hands , I decided to do a little editing on a few shots and play with color.

Color wash on the bridge, and leaving the sky with color

The following photos are what was captured through long exposure and stepped down apertures.

Long exposures

 

 

One last photo for this post is a redo of the original. I decided to shoot this with a longer exposure and an aperture of f 22.

GI Redo

 

As this shoot came to an end, I felt a sense of closure and accomplishment because I was at last able to take a variety of shots from a number of perspectives.

If you happen to stroll by this blog and you like what you see, leave me a comment, or feedback on what we have done here. I enjoy the comments and take your thoughts into consideration every time I shoot.

My best to all of you and thanks again for reading the post.

Michael

M.Sargent Photography