The Dames Point Bridge is the most awe-inspiring bridge in Jacksonville. The bridge is massive, making you feel puny on your way through it. The harp cabling extends ahead and behind you as you progress, leading you up, then back down, then up and back down again. The scenery around the bridge is natural fused with industrial while tug boats pull tankers through the river, boating docks lie along the coast and acres of open land lay around it.
The bridge serves as a transition for the city. Heading north on 9A, you leave the nouveau-busy area of the Southside and transition into the industrial New Berlin and Oceanway sectors. Quiet nature preserves, tributaries, and the St. John’s River delta lay to the east.
On a lazy working Sunday afternoon, I felt inspired to photograph something on such a beautiful day. (By inspired, I mean having to kick myself to make some work since I haven’t gone out and shot anything for myself in some time.) So after the shoot, Bryan Rapoza, along with Michael Wooley, drove me to a park under the bridge as I had mentioned I wanted to photograph it. A good twenty minutes (and 30 mosquito bites) later, I feel better about my work production.
The day was one of the days that you dream about – 75 degrees and no clouds. Thus, my new L-lens with a polarizing filter on the front makes for a great landscape combo on such a day. I ended up with bright, but not blown-out, highlights on the bridge, with a deep cobalt blue sky. The hint of the moon in the sky adds a nice bit of mystery. It almost makes it seem like a day-for-night photograph, but that wasn’t the goal.
On a side note about the blog, I’m trying out a new Add To Cart PayPal purchasing plug-in that I will be using for most images. I’ll be having several size options available for each of the featured photographs, giving all my devoted readers a chance to easily buy Premium Prints of the photographs I love to talk about.
Tags: bridge, jacksonville, landscape