Covered Bridge

[JasonLambert]

What I Did:
So today I decided to wake up nice and early so that I could make use of the morning light and get some shots at an old cemetery. Well, I did wake up early (4:45am) but what I was expecting to be a nice dry morning was instead filled with rain. I was not about to let this stop me from getting out and shooting a little today.

I took the wifes car and went in search of SOMETHING to shoot. I needed to be able to sit in the back of the Calibers hatch so that I (and camera) would be protected from the rain. AhHa! Covered bridge! I backed the car down the road, with coffee in hand, carefully avoiding the deep potholes.

I got my first shot (#1) using my this setup: 50mm, f1.8, 1/2second, ISO 100 in manual mode. I wouldn’t have used f1.8 but I wasn’t thinking when I took the shot (needed more coffee).

The light on the left side of the photo was getting in my way so I took a quick ride to the other side of the bridge where I got my second shot (#2). I used the same setup as #3 and was pleased with the results.

My final shot (#3) I got a little more creative. I dove away from f1.8 and backed it off to f14 with a polarizing filter and a 4 second exposure.

What I Would Do Next Time:
I would remember to drink more coffee and change settings on the camera a little earlier. I need to make sure that I pay attention to every shots settings not just the composition of the shot.

In Conclusion:
I like the way the final image turned out. I may have to go back to this location again someday when the sun is out. The trees may make for nice colors.

1.

2.

3.

All CC welcome!

 

[JasonLambert]

 

[Raizels]

The second and third are better than the first, IMO. The first seems busy and dark. The second is more interesting. In the third one the bridge is almost centered but not quite - but I think it works centered.
My two cents ;-)

 

[dak1b]

1) too dark...underexposed
2) again underexposed
3) better...the bets out of the 3

work on getting the right exposure. look at ur dial. experiment with aperture and shutter speed on M mode.

 

[Chris Stegner]

I love covered bridges! I'm not into the composition on these though. Next time try getting out and shooting from the creek. I know you were trying to stay out of the rain this time, but give it a shot next time.

They all seem to be underexposed quite a bit also.

I shoot tons of covered bridges. If you like, take a look at this blog post to look at some different ways to shoot them (not that I'm saying I'm the greatest in the art of composition, just showing off some sample ideas for you):

Chris Stegner - BluegrassPhotography.Net | Parke County Indiana
Covered Bridge Capital of the World | BluegrassPhotography.Net

 

[JasonLambert]

Thanks you three... After looking at them on the forum and the saved jpeg I sent to Flickr the seem much darker than the edit I have in Lightroom. I sized them with Photoshop and then saved for web. Could I be seeing a change from something I am doing in the save?

Chris... Thanks for the links. I will run and take a look at them as soon as my popcorn is done popping. Your right... I thought about barking (Edit: Ment parking but had to leave the original lol) on the bridge next to the covered bridge to get a shot but it's on a bend, in the rain, and with no place to pull off... I may try again in the morning... Weather permitting.

 

[reznap]

I like your subject and setting, but the light's not on your side. The bridge (the subject) is much too dark, which doesn't help it to stand out in the frame. Also, the white sky really distracts badly. I'd try to keep the sky completely out of the frame when shooting shots like this. It'll also help you to meter correctly for the first shot.

I did a quick edit to 3, trying to brighten up the bridge a bit and of course, cropping out the sky. The green channel is a bit overpowering on it as well, so I desaturated the greens. Not sure if you'll like it or not, but trying to illustrate my point.

Maybe shooting in horizontal/landscape orientation might have been nice out there, but I don't know what the rest of the scene looks like. It would have helped keep the sky out of the picture though.

I also think a few steps in either direction might have helped, lining up the 2 bridge openings perfectly or further offsetting them.

EDIT: Thanks to the magic of photoshop you can see what I meant..

 

[JasonLambert]

Thanks Paul... I do like the edit and thanks for taking the time to do it. The exposure looks a lot like it did in the Lightroom edit I have. Again, not sure why it ended up so dark after a resize in Photoshop.

I like the desaturation of the greens... Not sure why I didn't think of that.