’Mother Nature, You’re The Boss’ | New Bern, NC
A storm cell from Tropical Storm Alberto (at this point I believe it is a Tropical Depression) moves toward the setting sun tonight over New Bern (you can see the town through the rain bands). This is easily one of the most awe inspiring scenes I’ve shot. I see plenty of sunsets and plenty of storms, but to see a combination of the two was pretty intense. I think I just kept muttering ‘wow’ as I shot. This was shot from Bridgeton, across the Neuse River from New Bern. I’m glad I hustled to get around to the front side of the storm when I decided to go out and chase it!
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‘New Bern Twilight’ | New Bern, North Carolina
The many boats of the New Bern Grand Marina float in front of the recently renamed Double Tree Hilton on the waterfront just after sunset.
This photo is a result of manually blending three exposures of 20 seconds, 45.7 seconds and 100.7 seconds (all through a 10-stop ND filter).
Crab Pot Sunset | New Bern, NC
It has been a while since I have had some free time to go out and leisurely shoot, but I had a chance to go out and do that at sunset on Monday night. I always shoot the same vantage points in New Bern, so I made it a point to venture out and find a new spot. When I arrived at this place, I totally forgot about finding a vista for the sunset and was drawn right into this pile of crab pots. The golden light hitting them from the setting sun is what pulled me right on them.
The shot: Nikon D90, Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 lens. 1/10 sec, f/16, ISO-250.
Right on Schedule | Bridgeton, NC
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This is part two of a bucket list shot that I posted a few days ago, and in my opinion, the better of the two. At first I was concerned about this one turning out. I only had time to shoot one frame of the train in this position, so everything had to be right and ready to go in camera. Turned out pretty good!
You can check out the old post, complete with a lot of info on bucket lists and the back story to this series of photos here.
The shot: Nikon D90, 8mm Rokinon lens, 2 exposures (one for the train and bridge, one for the sky). Manually masked in Photoshop.
Crossing the Neuse | Bridgeton, North Carolina
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Each and every photographer has a list of shots that the dream of. This ‘Photographer’s Bucket List’ is something that helps keep us going, striving for that shot that we have planned in our head time and time again. Most, if not all, of these dream photos can only happen by being incredibly patient or just being in the right place at the right time. If they could be planned, then they wouldn’t be so special, would they?
I have two sets of Bucket List Shots. The first one contains shots of and at places that will probably not be places that I spend much time at in my life. Fog on the green mountains of New Zealand, the blue interior of a glacial cavern or a foggy sunrise at the Golden Gate Bridge…places I fully plan on shooting eventually, but not places where I anticipate I will frequent. Set two are local shots. It’s a shorter list, but easier to achieve. All I have to do is be in the spot when conditions are right.
The above image was on that list. For those of you not familiar with the New Bern, NC area, at its mouth, the Neuse River is the widest river in the United States. Just a few miles upstream, in New Bern, it is still plenty wide. There is a very long span of railroad bridge that passes just a few feet above the water’s surface. I have long wanted to shoot a train passing over, just after sunset, so that I could capture the clouds and color of the sky, the light on the engine and the reflections of it all on the calm water.
I have been to this spot numerous times in hopes of achieving my shot. I have seen trains pass, I have seen the sun set. But never at the same time. On this particular night, I set out to shoot some pretty astounding storm clouds that were passing just west of New Bern. I figured my best bet was to shoot them from the other side of the river, and capture the sun setting over downtown. Soon after the sun set, I was packing my gear up when I saw the light of a train slowy moving across the far corner of New Bern. When I saw it make its turn toward the river, I hopped in my Jeep and sped to this little spot along the tracks for my shot.
The train was coming toward me so slowly. It just seemed to be creeping along. But, as it reached the point on the tracks where I wanted to start shooting, it seemed to just blow right by. I was able to get two shots, this one and one of it closer with a lot of motion (which I like more).
In the end, sometimes the best way to plan one of your bucket list shots is to not plan at all—just hope for some good luck and timing!
The shot: Nikon D90, 18-105mm Nikkor VR lens @18mm. 3 exposures, bracketed. Tonemapped in Photomatix and then masked together with original frames in Photoshop. The water is from the middle exposure, the sky from the darkest exposure (lightened with the middle exposure) and the bridge was from the tonemapped file. Finished with a touch of contrast and glamour glow using Nik Color Efex Pro.
