Daytime, Evening and Night
Last week, I travelled with two other photographers, Alex Skoczen and Paul Staley to Roosevelt Lake, situated southeast of our home. It’s a little over 100 miles (165km), a two hour trip. The purpose of our trip was twofold; to scout the location as a site for photographing the Milky Way at a later date and to take some photographs of this scenic area, while we were there.
This photograph, featuring the Roosevelt Bridge was taken at our first stop. We photographed this view of the bridge and I checked the date, time and phase of the moon for the next opportunity to photograph the Milky Way. This site checked out well, including a good subject (the bridge) to include in the scene. The Milky Way will span much of the sky above the bridge later this week, a very promising composition. Conditions permitting (meaning a cloudless sky) we should be able to get the pictures around the 10th of the March.
Moving along, we exited the highway soon after crossing the bridge. Traveling along Route 88, we soon saw and photographed the back side of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam. On this side of the dam is Roosevelt Lake. It discharges water into the Salt River, one of the main water sources for the city of Phoenix. The dam was built between 1905 and 1911. It stands 357 feet (109 metres) high and is named for Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909.
There is a roadside pullout near the dam that offers a great view of the bridge. From here we had a good perspective of the lake and its opposite shore to photograph.
Travelling west on Route 88, we soon encountered this “photo-worthy” cliff face. It’s very eye-catching, an opportunity I couldn’t resist.
We soon located good locations downstream of the dam to photograph it. The conditions were good, a balance of light and shadow that contributed nicely to the scene.
Further along the road, we came across this view of the Salt River, downstream of the dam. I like the light and shadows in this scene as well as the layering of landforms sloping down to the bottom of the valley. The mountain in the distance fills out that corner of the scene. These features all make it easier to achieve depth in the image.
As we rounded this bend in the road, we pulled over to get this photograph. My attention was immediately drawn to the vegetation on and at the base of the cliff face. I made some minor enhancements to the background (slight darkening, subtle blurring) to better separate it from the cliff face in the foreground. That separation augments depth to the image.
Facing another 2-hour drive, we soon left for home. That’s difficult to do, recognizing the scenic beauty of this area. I hoped to be back soon.
My hope to return was realized not long after. On this occasion, Alex and I returned to the area to begin photographing at sunset. We then got some rest before returning to the bridge area to photograph the Milky Way, early the following morning.
The next two photographs were taken at around sunset. They offer evening views of the bridge and the last rays of sunshine, on the opposite shore of the lake.
Regrettably, when we returned to the bridge area the following morning, conditions were not as expected and we were unable to capture the Milky Way. So, we elected to take some night scenes before setting out for home.
This is a picture of the dam from the back (lake side). The dam is equipped with lights facing the bridge and the lake, illuminating its surroundings for the photograph. Sometimes, photographs will produce unexpected results. It’s always interesting to puzzle out what happened. In this case, the appearance of the lights differ, depending on their locations atop the curving wall of the dam. I was positioned at an angle to the direction of the first 8 lights on the left. The camera captures a side view, showing the cones of light emitted from them. The next 6 lights are aimed directly at my position and they appear as circular. The remaining lights, those on the right side of the dam, are angled away, following the curved upper surface of the dam. Those beams are angled away from me and the cones of light overlap as they round the corner.
The lights on the left appear to illuminate the rock face on the right. Those in the centre are lighting the left side of the scene and, I believe they’re creating the small reflection seen on the water. The large reflection on the water is from the light on the cliff face.
Today’s final image is the bridge taken early in the morning. It is illuminated by a couple of light sources, the dam and roadside lighting to the right.
This concludes my post on two trips to the Roosevelt Bridge area. I regret I have no Milky Way images to share this time; I’m hoping for better success next time.