Covered Bridge (C&C please)

[OrionsByte]

I took a detour on the way back to work from a meeting to shoot some pictures of this covered bridge. They came out a lot better than my last attempt, during which I was in a hurry and wasn't checking my settings properly.

Here's a selection of my favorites from today. Any thoughts on these would be appreciated, thanks!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[KenC]

In 1 and 5, there is too much in the frame other than the bridge, which detracts from the subject, especially when the foregrounds are much brighter than the bridge. 2 is interesting, but perhaps oversharpened? There are white halos around the lettering, but it's possible that's what the sign looked like in that intense lighting. 3 would be better if cropped so the stones in the river were a larger part of the frame - the sky and trees in the background are just distracting. 4 is nice - I might darken the mid-tones to really give it some snap.

 

[dxqcanada]

#4 is your strongest shot.
The usage of the beams for composition draws the viewer up and through the image to the white light at the end of the tunnel.

The other shots do not have this ... they feel lifeless ... more like snapshots.

 

[Sonoma]

I really like #4, a lot!! Are there a lot of covered bridges in Cali? Parke County in Indiana has over 30 I believe.

Yep, #4 is very nice. I happen to have one very similar taken a while back with an old P&S. I like yours better, you're closer to the beam on the left and I think that gives it a better perspective. You're photo is also much sharper.

 

[OrionsByte]

In 1 and 5, there is too much in the frame other than the bridge, which detracts from the subject, especially when the foregrounds are much brighter than the bridge.

Yeah, the surrounding scenery was a problem since it was 2 in the afternoon and the sun was really beating down. I really ought to plan more of my outings so I can get the light I want.

2 is interesting, but perhaps oversharpened? There are white halos around the lettering, but it's possible that's what the sign looked like in that intense lighting.

I think what you're seeing is the way they painted the lettering. Here's a link to the image on Picasa so you can zoom in on it a bit and check.

3 would be better if cropped so the stones in the river were a larger part of the frame - the sky and trees in the background are just distracting.

Hmm, interesting comment. I was looking out one of the windows of the bridge for this shot, and I tried framing more water/stones and less background a few different ways, but none of them looked terribly interesting to me so I never pushed the shutter. I'll play with the cropping on this picture some and see what I think.

4 is nice - I might darken the mid-tones to really give it some snap.

I'm using a laptop for editing, which is really not ideal because if I change my head-to-screen angle it really changes the contrast, so making really good curves adjustments is hard. Thanks for the tip though.

#4 is your strongest shot.
The usage of the beams for composition draws the viewer up and through the image to the white light at the end of the tunnel.

The other shots do not have this ... they feel lifeless ... more like snapshots.

Yeah, and in all honesty, that's all they were. I wasn't going for anything incredibly artistic here, I was just trying to take an opportunity to use my camera, which I haven't been able to do much of lately.

That doesn't make your critique any less valid, and taken with the other comments about the composition, I can see ways I could have improved these, even if they were just snapshots.

I really like #4, a lot!! Are there a lot of covered bridges in Cali? Parke County in Indiana has over 30 I believe.

Yep, #4 is very nice. I happen to have one very similar taken a while back with an old P&S. I like yours better, you're closer to the beam on the left and I think that gives it a better perspective. You're photo is also much sharper.]

I'm not sure how many covered bridges are out here, to be honest. I know of this one because it's kind of a local swimming hole. The water is incredibly shallow throughout most of that area and by mid-summer it's usually warm enough to attract throngs of families that can swim without getting hypothermia.

 

[mrshaleyberg]

I really like #4, a lot!! Are there a lot of covered bridges in Cali? Parke County in Indiana has over 30 I believe.

Yep, #4 is very nice. I happen to have one very similar taken a while back with an old P&S. I like yours better, you're closer to the beam on the left and I think that gives it a better perspective. You're photo is also much sharper.

I'm from Indiana! There are TONS of covered bridges there! I didn't know there were some out here in Cali. I would LOVE to find them though!

 

[eilla05]

I love number 4

 

[Sonoma]

I'm from Indiana! There are TONS of covered bridges there! I didn't know there were some out here in Cali. I would LOVE to find them though!

Here are a couple links to the covered bridges in Cali. Not quite the same as Indiana, but still good.

California Covered Bridges List

Covered Bridges

Good luck
Gary

 

[8ball]

i love # 4 i would hang it in my house smewhere

 

[DanFinePhotography]

have to agree with #4, its a strong image

 

[misstwinklytoes]

#4 is my fav as well.

 

[doziergraphic]

I really like #4, a lot!! Are there a lot of covered bridges in Cali? Parke County in Indiana has over 30 I believe.

Yep, #4 is very nice. I happen to have one very similar taken a while back with an old P&S. I like yours better, you're closer to the beam on the left and I think that gives it a better perspective. You're photo is also much sharper.

At first I thought we took a pic of the SAME bridge. You say Indiana - the one below was in the Bainbridge area on US 36 West... notice the same roof? But the side beams are different - took me a minute to find the difference in both of these... thought I'd post it anyway!

 

[OrionsByte]

I love number 4

i love # 4 i would hang it in my house smewhere

have to agree with #4, its a strong image

#4 is my fav as well.

So seriously, guys - what do you think of #4?

Thanks for the comments though; as I was looking through the pictures later I realized I did something I tend to do too often, which is taking a picture of the scene instead of taking a picture of the subject. #4 was really the only one where I tried to do something interesting, and I really like that kind of photography. I need to learn to take my time to look for those "unusual" shots - the ones where the camera actually adds something to the scene instead of merely recording it and just capturing what anyone else would see if they were standing there.

Interestingly, I did try taking a few different exposures of that shot (#4) with the idea of making an HDR out of them so you could actually make out what's at the exit of the bridge, but it really didn't add anything to the photo and I liked it this way better.

 

[doziergraphic]

The only problem, in general, with #4 is the light reflections/spots that look at first glance like blurry DUST spots. I like the shallow DOF, but something about the out of focus light spots that detracts. If in focus they'd be fine, but that would change the entire feel of the photo as well, and cloning them out would not be very 'natural,' so ...

 

[OrionsByte]

The only problem, in general, with #4 is the light reflections/spots that look at first glance like blurry DUST spots. I like the shallow DOF, but something about the out of focus light spots that detracts. If in focus they'd be fine, but that would change the entire feel of the photo as well, and cloning them out would not be very 'natural,' so ...

Those are actually spots where the sun in shining through the roof, but I see what you're saying. Those spots looked even worse in the HDR version.