Brooklyn Bridge (night)

[gahspidy]

I wanted a not - so - typical Brooklyn Bridge shot and sought to bring out the ominous looking stone structure towering into the night sky. I shot this from the Manhattan side so that there would be no tall buildings behind it, just quiet Brooklyn.
Shot with 400 ISO Fuji Xtra, Approx 8-10 sec shutter and F11 or F16 aperture.
What do you think?

[Seb]

I wanted a not - so - typical Brooklyn Bridge shot and sought to bring out the ominous looking stone structure towering into the night sky. I shot this from the Manhattan side so that there would be no tall buildings behind it, just quiet Brooklyn.
Shot with 400 ISO Fuji Xtra, Approx 8-10 sec shutter and F11 or F16 aperture.
What do you think?

I am not that used to see Brooklyn Bridge shots but yes, I would say that it doesn't looks like the "usual" picture partly because you don't have Manhattan as a background but also because of your post-processing.

I am interested by the fact that there are more colors in the reflections on the water than anywhere else in the frame. There is an hazy, somewhat disturbing mood emanating from your photograph.

Classy work as always.

Seb

[Greg McCary]

I really like this one Gary, I like the color contrast of the water. Neat web site too I might add...
Greg

[coachgns]

Really love the colors reflecting in the water, and how that contrasts with the gray sky. I assume the reflections are from the Manhattan lights?

[lalotafoya]

This is a verry nice picture you have here, I really like the look of the water.

[Mucus]

i really like with the shots how you can "see" the color on certain things.
you can tell the color of the stonework, it looks really awesome!

too bad you can't take pictures from ON the bridges anymore...
at least you can't get caught taking them

[readingr]

Gary,

What can I say but Perfect.

My daughter just looked over my shoulder and asked why can't I take photos like this. Now I'm totaly depressed She said she'd hang this on her wall; now that is a compliment - its normally young pop stars and puppy's that get that honour.

Roger

[gahspidy]

Seb . .This shot came out a bit more underexposed than I wanted and I had to pull up what I could from the dark to bring out any detail. I did a similiar processing on this as I had on my Chinatown series, except leaving color in, although reduced somewhat. The color on the water comes from the distant lights. The pinkish color coming from the light that is reddish but hard to tell. The green hues are from the Verazano Bridge in the distance which seems to be lined with flourescent lights causing it always to give off a greenish glow. Those things in the horizon seem alot further off than they were as for the wide angle shot putting them far away. A storm had left the area a short while earlier and the skies had a ominous look. Thanks for the comments

Greg . . .I appreciate the good words, and on the Website as well.

coachgns . . .those reflections are from the lights in the distance, Brooklyn. Thanks for your time to comment

Lalo . . . Glad to hear it.

Mucus . . .I know what you mean . . .this was also more colorful too, but I preferred to reduce it selectively to give the mood I wished. Yes, it seems like walking around with a camera these days people look at you like it's a loaded gun. Thanks for the time

Roger . . . lol, what a cool compliment indeed. I have an 18 year old so I know what you mean.

[Chunk]

I'm glad I came back to see this Gary. It's another strong shot that stresses the strength of the bridge rather than the elegance shown in the usual tourist shots. It will make people familiar with the bridge take another look at it.

Not that it matters, but I'd disagree with you about the source of the color on the water. I think it lines up well with the lights on the bridge - both position and color. The shadows cast on the water could only come from the lights on the bridge. Were it from the more distant light I think there would be more of it in the water on the other side of the bridge.

Roger's daughter has good taste in photos, although maybe blinded by familiarity to her father's own excellent work. Lots of other people would love hang this on their walls as well.

[readingr]

I'm glad I came back to see this Gary. It's another strong shot that stresses the strength of the bridge rather than the elegance shown in the usual tourist shots. It will make people familiar with the bridge take another look at it.

Not that it matters, but I'd disagree with you about the source of the color on the water. I think it lines up well with the lights on the bridge - both position and color. The shadows cast on the water could only come from the lights on the bridge. Were it from the more distant light I think there would be more of it in the water on the other side of the bridge.

Roger's daughter has good taste in photos, although maybe blinded by familiarity to her father's own excellent work. Lots of other people would love hang this on their walls as well.

Chunk

Nice to see you back. Missed your keen eye and patterns.
I agree about the lights - I can't see what the issue is with them.

Roger
PS. Thanks for the compliment - I'll have to show this to Beccy.:thumbsup:

[gahspidy]

Chunk, I think you are right about the light source. They do line up and the shadows are sure enough evidence. When I saw that greenish hue on the water in the shot, I was just sure it had to be from the Verazano Bridge in the distance as it is notorious for giving off a strong green color because of it's flourescent lighting, although hard to see it here. I do not recall any green or pink hues coming from the Brooklyn Bridge lights . . .I will have to pay close attention to that next time I pass her by. You've always had keen eyes for picking things up, and a sharp mind for sorting it out. Thanks for the comments and good words.

[drg]

Gary,

Have not meant to ignore this photo, just got busy and didn't get back. I guess Sunday afternoons are for catching up these days.

You've acheived ominous pretty well. The interplay of the lights on the water in vertical bands points to the theme of the bridge (and the slight color variations accent well) against the sky and its darkness. I like the hint of detail of the stone of the bridge as an element without going for too much.

There's for me an odd amount of noise in the sky above the bridge? Only other idea would be to keytone the bridge tower so it leans back just alittle to emphasize the towering nature. That might be to much or cliched.

Did you see my 'before the Brooklyn Bridge' post of Roeblings earlier design and implementation of this architecture?

Thanks for showing this photograph!

[gahspidy]

Thanks for the words, CD. The noise I think may be what the jpeg compression has done with some grain of the 400 iso film.
I did not look at that post of Roeblings earlier design. Is it in the view finder? I'll search for it, or if you could send me the link I would like to have a look. Thanks