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mtraufler
FollowThe Reedy River flows through Falls Park, Greenville, South Carolina
The Reedy River flows through Falls Park, Greenville, South Carolina
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Awards
Contest Finalist in My City At Night Marketplace Project
Contest Finalist in Bridges In The Night Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Dark And Bright Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in My Evening Walk Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in City Bridges Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in High Voltage Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in 850 Bridges At Night Photo Contest
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Love it
Genius
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
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DebbieKMiller81
September 23, 2015
Congratulations on all your finalist awards. You truly deserve them.
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KayBrewer
October 13, 2015
This is fabulous stuff! Unbelievable light and glow and depth.
Congratulations for a well-deserved Finalist in Dark and Bright contest!
Congratulations for a well-deserved Finalist in Dark and Bright contest!
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reneegallowaybruckmann
January 31, 2016
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
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reneegallowaybruckmann
January 31, 2016
one of my favorite bridges in Down Town,Great capture of it. Still trying to get out and try a shot at it.Congratulations on all your competitions well deserving!!
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This is a photograph of Falls Park in Greenville, South Carolina. The park is centered around the falls on the Reedy River that runs through the heart of the city. The bridge featured in the photograph is Liberty Bridge, a walking bridge that connects the two sides of the Reedy River.Time
I was actually in Greenville, South Carolina at the request of my sister-in-law who wanted some nice photographs of the city as a wedding gift for her son (my nephew) and his bride. It was about quarter past nine at night on the evening of May 1, 2015 and I had been strolling around taking in the sights of this vibrant city. When I walked down below the falls I was greeted by this stunning scene.Lighting
The lighting in Falls Park at night is stunning. I wish I could take credit for this magical scene but the credit really belongs to those who designed and maintain the park. When I first showed this photo (post processing) to my wife she commented on the fantastic colors and lighting and mentioned that I might have over done my adjustments with the software (Adobe Lightroom). I had to explain to her that I had barely tweaked the colors/exposure at all. That Falls Park really looks like that to the naked eye in on a beautiful spring night.Equipment
The photo was taken using my trusty Canon T3i with my EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM wide angle lens set at 10mm. I used manual mode with the ISO set to 400. An exposure time of 10 seconds and an aperture setting of f/5 with no flash. And this was my first time using my brand new Zomei Z688 tripod and capturing the photo was made so much easier with this tripod.Inspiration
What inspired me to take this photo? Well, all one has to do is walk along the Reedy River in Greenville's Falls Park on a spring evening and I can guarantee you'd be inspired to capture the scene. It really is a magical scene and it is hard to believe that it runs through the heart of a major city.Editing
I used a combination of Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to edit this photograph. As I have already mentioned, I did very little adjustment to the color in this photo. My greatest challenge in post-processing was editing out all of the insects that were caught in the image (and trust me, there were LOTS of them!). With a ten second exposure time at night in South Carolina, it is inevitable that a few insects would show in the photograph. It literally took me hours of work to get all of them out!In my camera bag
On any given day you will find my Canon T3i with EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM attached. This is my go to set up for many of my shots. Additionally I carry the EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM wide angle lens and an EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. And, as always, my Zomei tripod is strapped to the back of my bag.Feedback
Be patient! And when you find the scene you want to photograph, take the time to look around at what surrounds it. Are there people or automobiles that will be entering or exiting your photograph during the time that the shutter is open? If so, you might want to or have to wait in order to get the image you want. This particular image took me probably twenty minutes to capture. There were easily a dozen other images that had a flaw of one sort or another but eventually I caught a break and had a clear bridge to shoot. One of the most common mistakes I see new photographers make is to focus too much on the "subject" of the photograph and not pay attention to the periphery. Take the time, when you are setting up your shot, to look around the edges of the frame. This is much easier to do when you are shooting from a tripod as the camera will be stationary. Look for the little things that could possibly distract from your photo or cause you to have to crop it in post-processing. This is the time to catch that exceptionally bright light that sits just inside the frame but does not contribute to the photograph you wish to capture. If you take the time to look before taking the photo, it can save you quite a bit of time in post-processing and it will allow you to use the entire resolution of your image.