Re: How to photograph a bridge?

[P3D Mark Josephson <icebox@xxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 16 Jun 1997, P3D Brian Reynolds wrote:

> Of course one of the problems of having so many bridges in NYC, and so
> many photographers, is that many bridge pictures are cliches.  The
> perfect (bridge) example is the shot standing in the middle of the
> pedestrian walkway on the Brooklyn Bridge to take a picture of the
> center set of suspension cables rising to connect to one of the
> towers.  Just about every street artist sells a print of his version
> of this shot.  However I think doing this shot with a stereo camera
> just might make it different enough to make it interesting.  Of course
> I realize that with a bridge over 100 years old someone else must have
> thought of this already.
> 
Yes, I did, but that was only 3 years ago, so I probably can't claim to
have originated this idea. :)  At any rate, it's one of (actually five of)
my favorite slides.   Cliche or no, the Brooklyn Bridge has
hundreds of stereo possibilties.  Some of my other favorites: 

Pictures of the center pylons taken at close range (but not so close that 
you can't see some of the cables), pointing the camera up
to the flag at the top. 

A shot of the Manhattan bridge taken from the Brooklyn bridge, with parts
of the Brooklyn Bridge visible in the foreground.

There serveral interesting bridge possibilities in Chicago too; though I
haven't yet tried these out (laziness), they should work OK:

The downtown bridges, at the beginning or end of summer, when the boats
that spend the summer in the Lake make their way to/from their winter
abodes; positioned strategically, you should be able to get two
raised bridges in a view (as well as some boats).  

There's an imposing RR bridge over the Chicago River near Cermak and Canal
Its a vertical lift bridge; the center section is normally raised 130
feet over the river, and lowers to ground level when trains come by.  

But the more I think of it, Dr. T, the best view for this competition, the
one that will get you the coveted first place, would be a
picture obtainable in LA -- the 3 world famous Bridges of Hollywood -- 
Lloyd, Beau, and Jeff.  ^_^    

--
Mark Josephson  | I got a letter from the government the other day 
icebox          | I opened and read it--it said they were suckers 
@               |  --"Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos"
mcs.com         |     Public Enemy (1988) 
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