Pic of the Month: March ‘11

by | Mar 31, 2011 | Pic of the Month | 9 comments

New River Gorgeousness

Canon 40D; 17mm; f/6.3, 4.5, 3.5; 1/160sec, 1/80sec, 1/50sec; ISO 400; no tripod, just a railing and the highest fps rate

 

Owing to much planning, traveling, and work, there was not much time for photography this past month. But having a camera handy at all times does pay off.

We had been on the road for over six hours, and there was a good three hours left to go. It just so happened that it was nearing sunset when we crossed the iconic New River Gorge Bridge near Beckley, West Virginia. Would it be worth it to try and get some pictures?

Most of the nicer images I took on that short walk to the bridge overlook were taken directly into the sunset. But there was a surreal attractiveness about the gorge winding toward the east. Knowing that the camera didn’t have the ability to correctly capture the effect, I bracketed by 1 and 2/3 stops over and under the correct exposure so I could merge them into one later on. Just a few days ago, I brought the pictures into Photomatix and. . . voilà! it’s exactly how I wanted it to look.

When you’re some place scenic, point the camera in all directions. You never know what direction will be the best.

1 and 2/3 underexposedCorrect exposure1 and 2/3 overexposed

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9 Comments

  1. Esther

    Very nice, James! Lots of wonderful memories with lots of wonderful people at that gorgeous gorge.

    Reply
  2. Michael S.

    Amazing how you can achieve the correct exposure for the foreground and still get the details in the clouds that way! What I like best about the picture is the complimenting / contrasting yellowish green in the foreground pine with the backgroud bluish colors.

    Reply
  3. Elizabeth Lindsay

    Hehe! 🙂

    Reply
  4. Matthew

    Nice.

    Reply
  5. James Staddon

    Thanks, Jack, for the leads! I’ve always wanted to get deeper than the typical “overlook view” that everyone sees. I’ll have to spend a bit more time down there one of these days.

    Reply

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