I've always been fascinated with structures and their lines. Most bridges are seen from the top while we drive or walk on them, but here is a view from below. What do you think?

Exif info:
Camera: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT
Exposure: 0.04 sec (1/25)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Was this an HDR converted to B&W?

No, it's blended exposure (using Photomatix) and it's converted to IR using Photoshop, I adjusted the layers and curves a bit.

I am going to go ahead and guess most people didn't like the HDR look of the blending, so I did a second one, this time with more 'natural' look to the blending. Thoughts? Comments?

Last one from my bridges experiment.

1. I like the composition. But not a fan of the HDRish look. I think you could add some contrast and darken the underside and water to good effect.
2. Again I like the angle you have taken this at. Feels slightly tilted up right. Too much contrast for my taste, but tastes do differ.
3. The most conservatively processed, except for the clouds. I think the extremes of light and dark have been pushed too far.
I'd like to see other variations of the first two. The strong angles, POV make for interesting viewing.

Scott

Thanks Scott.
The first one was hard to process, because the leftmost beam in the original image is almost too dark with very little detail. I will give it another shot this week and repost the results. Yes, I agree #2 is a bit too strong for every taste, but I like it this way.

rali

is this austin?

Yeah

I like the first one best of the three. But, I also like blended exposures, hdr, and the like.
-Tim

Thanks Tim, I like the second one the best of the three, but I like bold lines and high contrast

Couldn't resist, Scott this one is for you. I tried to blend the exposures (in the original the top beam is way too dark and distracting) as naturally looking as possible, and then took Tim's advise from another bw post on converting it.

C&C always welcome!

I think that I might like to see a longer focal length to isolate just one statement and make the image stronger.

Jerry

thx for the re-work.
It's interesting. Feels busy with so many structures. I guess, while I am not keen on the first version, it does tend to isolate the darker understructure as the main structure.
Keep coming back to your second image. While the contrast is very strong, the more I look, the more I like. Makes for a powerful, abstract statement.

Scott

Thanks Scott, #2 is my favorite so far, I want to print it on a thick matted paper and see how it looks on my wall. Not entirely sure how to fix the slight 'to the right' perspective though.

rali

You should be able to fix the slight rotation several ways. In PS, select ruler tool and draw a line thru an area that should be purely horizontal. In this case I'd use the top light band. Then image/rotate/arbitary and the amt of rotation adjustment will already be entered in. Hit enter and image will rotate.

Scott

Thanks Scott, will give it a shot. Meanwhile, yet another bridge Not sure why this week suddenly became bridge-week

I like the first shot best imho....