Intercoastal

Don’t try this at home. This was photographed through the windshield

of my car while driving across the two lane Virginia Dare Memorial

Bridge over Albemarle Sound connecting “mainland” North Carolina to

Roanoke Island which is one more bridge away from the string of

barrier islands known as the Outer Banks. It was pointed out by a PN

member that the clouds at top are a little blown-out. When I played

with reducing this blow-out, all manner of windshield and lens flare

presented. This view excites me so much whenever I have crossed this

bridge, that I thought I should share faults and all. Comments and

critique welcome.

Hi Wayne,

I like the perspective and the overall scenic view presented..

I found that the image appeared too blue and some of the clouds were saturated, so I made a color adjustment and levels adjustment to see how it would look.

I am not concerned about small sections in any scene being over exposed, because sometimes that just can not be avoided. Furthermore, the effect is more dramatic to see a few very bright cloud formations present, too.

However, there are ways to avoid any saturated levels , but that is an off line discussion topic.

Without any EXIF data, I am not going to speculate on all the techniques that can be employed.

Best Regards my friend, Mike

Interesting interpretation, Mike.  I think I toyed with a similar version and decided this one presented better on PN.  I used the Nikon D90 at 1/1600s, focal length 17mm, f/5.6, ISO 200 and driving about 50mph.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks. (except for the magenta, I am liking your version too)  So you are an artist too.

OK, I am freaked-out now. You were able to grab enough info from this gif file to do this.  Ok, don't tell me.  I don't want anybody else to know how you did this.

Hi Wayne,

First, here is the image with a little less magenta.

By the way, using the 17 mm at F/5.6 is fine, and ISO 200 is spot on.

The issue is that I bet you did not place the lens against the window to make the shot. If you had done so, the optical performance would have improved at least 10 %, and the vexing internal reflections would be reduced. Now, if you had a rubber lens hood, you could habve mashed it down until there was a seal between the lens and glass. By the way, Infinity focus would easily provide you focus for all the elements found in your scene . No need to ne concerned about auto-focus.

As for the clouds, an exposure of 1/2500 or 1/3200 second would have prevented any saturation and the image would still be easy to process back to this level without the over exposed clouds.

I would not suggest that you try to use "spot metering" because that would risk you life traveling over the bridge. However, I have been known to stop on a bridge when there was no cars in sight and take the image outside the car.

Best Regards, Mike

Hi Wayne,

Now part two:

I enlarged your image to nearly fill my screen. Then I hold down the "Shift key" , and press the "Print Screen" button at the top left side of the keyboard. Now my image on my monitor is captured to my clipboard.  When I open Photoshop , I go to the top left, under FILE is found "NEW". Press that and size it anyway you want. Then I go to EDIT, and press Paste. Now your image is located on my Photoshop screen. From there it is a piece of cake.

Best Regards my friend, Mike

Too damn cool.  But now everybody knows, ha, ha.  I really locked on to the infinity focus suggestion.  For a lot of situations in which I shoot, it makes a lot of sense. Thanks, Mike.  (Still not sure which version I like the best yours or mine - the nature of artist differences) 

Hi Wayne,

The important lessons here are that you have learned some new facts my friend.

The "personal preference" side of things is something that I really do not become concerned about.

The sky can be purple with green clouds, and the roadway can be orange. I look for the technical use of the camera and lens ...........the rest is whatever it is.

Best Regards, Mike

I love clouds and I love what Mike has done with it. Congrats to you both.

Reminds me of when I crossed the 7 mile bridge this summer going to Key West (Florida) but there were no clouds like this.

Thanks, Tony.  I am really fascinated by clouds.