New River Bridge

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted January 20, 2013222 views10 comments

New River Gorge area, Fayette County, West Virginia.

A great engineering feat, and largest of its kind in North America. To grab this perspective, I climbed down to a lower observation overlook, in order to shoot "up" into the bridge. The weather cooperated beautifully, as it had been raining, and the bridge was pretty well hidden by fog. I had to desaturate the hillside quite a lot in order to bring more attention to the bridge.

Hasselblad 501CM
Carl Zeiss 100/3.5 Planar
CFV-16 digital back
Old Gitzo tripod, Kirk ballhead

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Michael Cothran on January 20, 2013 at 6:09 PM

FYI - The bridge runs along US 19, just north of Beckley. It is just like an interstate on top - four lanes with a large median. 3000' across, and a height equal to two Statues of Liberty plus the Washington Monument from the bridge waaay down to the New River (which, ironically, is geologically the oldest river in the continent).
One Saturday each October, the area hosts Bridge Day, and traffic is cut off, while people are allowed to parasail or parachute from the bridge.

Registered on December 5, 2012, 31 Posts, 730 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Pelton on January 20, 2013 at 6:29 PM

Very nice, Michael. Very interesting info, also.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Nelson on January 20, 2013 at 6:44 PM

Hi Michael,
Excellent! Composition is fantastic, perfect angle, the detail on the bridge is very nice.... shows the rust and wear on the iron. Thanks for sharing this outstanding Photo! My Father in Law was an Iron Worker...and I appreciate this image and I can imagine all the hard work that was put into building this amazing Bridge.

Thank You

Guy

Registered on October 12, 2012, 24 Posts, 138 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Graham on January 20, 2013 at 7:34 PM

great angle on the bridge, and the fog helps to hide distracting elements.

Registered on August 22, 2006, 842 Posts, 2824 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on January 20, 2013 at 10:30 PM

Kudos on a unique comp/perspective taken under favorable conditions, Michael. Your image of this landmark bridge is quite dramatic because of the perspective and fog. Interesting decision to desaturate the trees. My initial reaction was that the trees looked flat and needed some color, but I understand your processing. Nice job all around.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on January 21, 2013 at 5:32 AM

Michael ..I liked the time of the day you have used here to make this frame. This is truly a great piece of wok. The fog adds a lot to this image

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on January 23, 2013 at 5:46 PM

I really like the perspective of this image. Fine comp and dof.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on January 25, 2013 at 4:39 PM

Strong well composed image. Nice subtle background tones and textures.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on February 1, 2013 at 11:21 PM

Michael: Oh I like this! Marvelous scene superbly captured ans presented. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on February 4, 2013 at 12:50 PM

Michael, This is a wonderful image. Your composition could not be better and the detail here is excellent. You did a fantastic job capturing this bridge and just in the right conditions!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments