rhgphoto: In Search of Good Light

Earlier this year (in late January), Jay and I went on a short getaway to the Oregon Coast. We like exploring new towns, and for this trip we chose Astoria, OR. I was excited to do some thoughtful photography, which I consider to be one of my vacation indulgences.

We stayed at the Cannery Pier Hotel, which is right on the Columbia River. I brought my tripod and enjoyed a wonderful mostly-unobstructed view of the Astoria-Megler bridge. The bridge is about four miles in length and connects Oregon and Washington.

In late 2010, I took a class on Creative Techniques and learned more about long exposures. I thought this was a good opportunity to experiment with that. I've always heard about photographers waking up early to "get good light" or abandoning conversation right in the middle of dinner to go outside "to get the good light" for a photo. This was an experiment with understanding more about light, as well as the effects/possibilities of different weather conditions.

So with all that background, here is the same bridge, in seven different photos, over the course of approximately 36 hours (Day One is January 28, 2011; Day Three is January 30, 2011). These are largely unedited but obviously need some work to remove dust spots, crop out railing, etc. Still, I have been sitting on this post forever, so it's time to hit that "publish" button.