Carrbridge, Highland, Scotland
Not too far away from where I live in Moray is a real classic old stone pack bridge. It looks impossibly fragile spanning a rocky river gorge and I believe it dates back as far as the 14th century. Unfortunately beyond the bridge are a whole host of new build houses which don’t exactly enhance the view in autumn and winter they are clearly visible but in summer the foliage is so dense it pretty much hides them. I waited until the setting sun disappeared into a veil of cloud before taking the shot which lowered the contrast just enough to make the shot plausible.
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What a cool looking bridge, it make for a wonderful subject. I like that the bridge appears to be made out of stones from the gorge too. Just a curiosity question, do you know why the bridge was built with such a steep arch? Did boats used to use the river?
The exposure and processing is very well done, you are right, you hit the sweet spot of light timing to get the impressive detail that you have in the image. I’m enjoying this as presented very much.
Ian, before I add anything in terms of comments or critique, I’d like to ask a non-rhetorical question (in other words, I don’t know the answer to it and would like to hear your answer): why did you decide to include the sky?
Ed.
Not sure about the reasons for the Pack Bridge but I suspect there wasn’t a town there many years ago and so the pack bridge was probably just a relatively easy way of making an otherwise awkward crossing by persons, horse, cart and handcart way back when it was built. I doubt there was anything big that went under so the style of construction is a bit of a mystery but I can tell you that river does on occasion thunder through the arch to the extent that if the arch wasn’t so significant the water wouldn’t pass through at all but would simply back up and sweep the entire lot away.
Kerry.
4 reasons.
- I kind of like the sky it had a lovely golden tinge to it and hazy cloud patterns.
- The light reflected in the water below the bridge is sourced from the sky I quite like the reason for it being there to be apparent to the viewer especially if there is any reflected color.
- I feel that the composition would feel to compressed and to close to the top of the bridge if I had simply sliced off the sky to just below the lowest bit of the tree line, though doubtless the need to worry about the contrast ratios would be significantly reduced.
- Probably the most relevant reason I am busy testing out the abilities of a new camera to handle signficant dynamic range in a single exposure and I wanted to see what it was capable of.
@Ian_Cameron Well, there are four reasons and who am I to argue. But, in any case, this would be my critique. To me, the sky undermines the picture. My eye immediately goes to the upper right corner and then over to the left before I finally get down to what is, in my opinion, what the picture is really about. The sky really isn’t very interesting whereas the bridge is sensational and the way it acts as a frame and what it is framing is brilliant. So, for me, I’d want to eliminate anything that distracted from the essence of the image, which, for me, is the bridge as a frame. I’m not suggesting you crop this image because, I agree, it would be too cramped and, I mean, this is the image you took so cropping the hell out of it, it seems to me, misses the point. However, you did say that you live not too far from this magical spot (and, by the way, this picture does get that across, for sure) so, my recommendation would be to go back and try a few things. Maybe use a wider lens and get in a little closer and really use the full photographic potential that the bridge offers. I think this is an amazing spot and as a reader of this image, I’d love to be able to get in deeper. As to reason number four, how are you enjoying your new camera!?
I like this image very much Ian. Perhaps because it reminds of a story I once saw on the big screen - Brigadoon. That was a magical town that appeared in the Scottish Highlands every 100 years, and this bridge just seems to belong in such a fantasy.
I just hope it wasn’t the GFX 50 you shot this sky with.
