A tremendous greeting to you! I want to share with you a photograph that has special meaning to me, and the reason why I shot it. Roughly, one year ago I was asked, to participate in a project known as “Silent Night Nothing’s Right”. The scope of this project was to display the beauty of our world despite all the negativity that it contains. In summary, “if people take the time to look around them and see how beautiful our world really is, it may just change your perspective”.
I refer to this photo as, “Evening Shot of the Grand Island Bridge” for obvious reasons. The photo was a low light, long exposure photo, which put my skills and patience to the test. On the eve of the shoot, our weather here in Western New York was typical of a November evening. With the wind whipping and the temps falling, I knew at this point, the task at hand would not be easy.
After choosing the location, I set up my tripod and mounted the camera. A long exposure photo would require a solid platform to shoot from, so particular attention was being paid to the wind and how it was affecting my setup. After using my camera’s on board light meter, it was determined that a good starting point to capture this image was a fifteen second exposure with an aperture setting of f-18. After my first shot, I was disappointed with the results. This prompted me to go to full manual mode, and disregard my cameras built in light meter. To be clear on the matter, the location we shot from was dark, and the available light was in fact coming from the other side of the Niagara River and this was confusing the light meter.
After some experimentation and a few test shots, I felt I had the camera dialed in, and prepared to take my finished photo. You can tell by the shot, that sometimes you have to go with your instincts in order to make the photo. Here are the settings. I used a Tamron 18 to 270mm lens, mounted on a Canon camera, with a focal range of 200mm. There was no image stabilization used, as the tripod was in use. The camera settings; ISO 200, with a thirty second exposure and an aperture of f-22. In addition I allowed the camera to use it’s built in auto-focus feature, but used a 2 sec delay on the shutter release to avoid any shake by pressing the shutter.
Please tell me what you think of the photo. As always I look forward to hearing your comments and reactions.
Michael Sargent is a top wildlife outdoor photographer in the eastern United States. See more:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/M.SargentPhotography
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/msargentphoto
Blog: http://msargentphotography.wordpress.com
11 Comments
A very evocative photo, that one. Great shot.
That is a stunning photo. The night and the lighting gives it a beauty that definitely would not be found in day light.
Great story and wonderful image. Thank you for sharing.
I admire your patience to get the right image — and it was well worth it. Fascinating!
Excellent post and great imagery as a result of your patience.
You are absolutely correct about displaying the beauty of our world, despite the negativity. You captured it beautifully – I appreciate your story and truly admire that gorgeous photo.
It sure was worth your wait and patience to capture such splendid glory. Beautiful!
The really interesting part for me in this capture is the sky – you often see the sky as blue or black but never really a dark brown – that makes this original in my view
I love the camera tips you gave like using the built in timer to eliminate camera shake. I thought I needed a remote for my camera.
Thanks
Incredible imagery. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and your tips.
I want to thank each of you for your kind words and feedback. Your words inspire me.
Michael