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North Fork American River
North Fork American River
jdannels


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Camera: Nikon D50
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM for Nikon
Location: North Fork American River
Aperture: 8
ISO: 200
Shutter: 30 s
Galleries: Black and White, Rural
Date Uploaded: Jan 29, 2008

Viewed: 375
Comments: 21
Favorites: 0

 My new stomping grounds, finally getting settled enough to go out and shoot some. I now live in Auburn CA. A small old mining town from the Gold Rush. Not exactly the Bay Area, but Lake Tahoe is less then an hour. :)

PP: Converted from Raw, ran shadows/highlights, then tone mapped but masked out to only effect the sunlit canyon wall. To convert to b&w I used a black and white gradient map and below that a selective color layer and moved the blacks of each color aroun to get the tones of the shot. Then duplicated the background and set to 50% and dodged and burned on that, mostly the signs and the bridge. At 100% the bridge has all detail, but resized it loses some of it. Burned the bridge abit. Slight S curve. Then I used my wide angle but since it was pointed up and close to the sign it was distorted so I used free transform with perspective and skew to straighten it out.
Also had a circular polarizer on my lens.

Right after this shot, I looked up and saw a base jumper's shoot open and float down into the ravine. He must have missed the sign. :P
the original shot for those interested :)

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AuthorThread
 03/11/2008 04:47:21 AM
It appears I missed this one before. I assume this is the same bridge as the most recent silhouetted shot. I like the stating the obvious sign post.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 03/01/2008 10:06:26 AM
Such excellent use of space, and I'll be some jumpers might think they could jump up, instead of down, into that wide-open sky. Of course, they would be wrong: gravity always wins (Einstein said so).
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/07/2008 02:06:19 PM
Wow, great photo, story, processing, etc...I really like this composition! Funny about the jumpers! I love that you have emphasized the sign..it really make the photo unique and interesting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/05/2008 02:54:24 AM
The luminosity and perspective are something else. There must be a whole workshop in your notes.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/02/2008 07:21:40 AM
Excellent Photo for Black & White!

I thought the sign was probably there for base-jumpers (Dude, don't they know that's a euphemism for "low-lifes"?) The first thing that "popped into my head" when I saw the sign was this. "LOL! Do they really think that a sign, like that is going to stop a suicide when he's beyond care. 'Don't jump from bridge! And what're they going to do about it! Put me in jail?'"
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2008 10:55:19 PM
Great pic, love the foregound background interest in this shot. Would have been great if you could have got the basejumper in the shot with the sign. nicely done!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2008 02:44:12 PM
Great perspective. Nice clean and crisp picture. Seeing the bridge in the background really adds to the picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 02/01/2008 12:21:53 AM
When I first saw this I thought they were talking about people without chutes jumping! I like the angle this is from and the DOF to get it all in focus.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 03:51:33 PM
Oh man, what a bummer that no one told the jumper that you were taking pictures - that would have been an awesome catch, given the sign. I have to admit, when I read the sign, people jumping with shoots on is not what I first imagined lol. I love the composition and the bright contrast of the sign. Look forward to seeing more pics from your new stomping grounds.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 10:21:50 AM
I like the perspective. Can't imagine someone jumps off the bridge just for the fun. You did some nice editing.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 06:39:51 AM
if you can read this sign, isn't it too late? well, actually, if you can read the sign, you probably landed okay....

very cool perspective shot and wonderful use of humor
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/30/2008 06:18:28 AM
Soooooooooooo GLAD to see you here - SMILE~!

LOVE the sharpness, it's two stories and they both work so beautifully.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 08:52:19 PM
Very nice photo and definately a photoworthy sign/situation. The BW conversion is perfect. The sign especially grabs my attention and then directs me to the bridge. DO you think that if the camera was higher up, the photo would be better? maybe, but im not sure.

btw..You have the tamron 17-50 (one of my sourses of advice to buy it was from you). Do you get a lot of vignetting at the four corners when you use a polarizer on it? I get a LOT
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 05:32:25 PM
Overall I think I like, but I think I would like to see the bridge get more play in the image. It might help if you just moved back a few feet. But I don't know if you can get the angles right to do the scene justice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 04:12:26 PM
The crystal clear, crisp aspect of your shots is something to which I aspire. I particularly like the vastness of this, yet it doesn't feel at all desolate if that makes sense. Perhaps it's the bridge which prevents that. I very much appreciate the PP detail - thanks! If you've a mind to, might you consider including a small quick version of the original as well?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 01:54:05 PM
lol, very good :)

Some serious pp'ing here, I must try more than my basic editing. A quite like the overly? dodged sign as it works well with the lighter sky around the bridge. Initially a very simple image but there is actually lots to it :) My only thought is if your were to D&B the post to a more extreme level it may make it more striking?

I need to put a day aside to give your profile a better viewing - am in awe :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 01:08:03 PM
cool perspective! I really like the contrast and composition..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 11:41:37 AM
Beautiful & funny image. I really like the "glow" you got on the sign; the whole thing works for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 10:28:16 AM
This is great. I love the angle -- the sign looks so ominous and foreboding. Darn that you missed the guy jumping off -- that would have made for quite the cool touch to this already very cool photo!

I'm so excited that you are here doing this. I love your work so much, and intend to pay verrrry close attention to your editing techniques and composition ideas. :)

  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 06:41:49 AM
Layers, the foreground and the background, and how to use them in a limited style are what I learn from your picture. Humour too. ;=)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 01/29/2008 04:57:45 AM
A lot of pp i see.. the signs look very bright in the overall darker surrounding. Hard to miss...!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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