Last year, I took my Nikon Df camera through the Adirondacks and captured some great photos. One of those photos, taken in Warrensburg along Route 9, was of a distressed wooden bridge that spanned a small stream.
Now at the time, I thought the picture I took would be awesome for competition season.
But after looking at it with a more nuanced eye, all I could think of was … “well, it’s just good enough.”
And you know me. “Just good enough” doesn’t cut through.
I liked the idea of the broken foot bridge, but in this instance the autumn foliage doesn’t work. It doesn’t enhance the broken beauty of the bridge.
I need to try again.
So last Saturday, I went back to Warrensburg – and looked for that broken bridge one more time. I took a few film cameras with me to capture the bridge, but since I didn’t finish off the rolls – there are still some shots left in the camera, and I don’t want to waste the film – I’ll save those shots for a later blog post.
I did, however, take a “test shot” of the wintry scene with my BlackBerry PRIV camera phone. Have I mentioned how I love this BlackBerry PRIV smart phone?
By the way, it was COLD in the Adirondacks that day. ICE FREAKIN’ COLD.
Anyways … here’s the BlackBerry PRIV test shot.
Okay. That’s my control photo.
You know … if I could boost the chilly water running in the stream, I’d have a great photo right then and there … and even if the film photos don’t come out as well, this picture could still be worth entering in competition season 2017.
I gotta try something…
I loaded the snowy photo in my PhotoShop program, opened up the Google Nik software, and made some highlight adjustments…
And after a little tweak here and a little nudge there …
Look what came out.
Okay … now if I flip the picture into a black-and-white exposure… adding a blue filter to the image…
Then I get this.
So I have several choices. If I need an entry for a black-and-white category, I’m set. If I need an entry for an HDR category, I’m set. And I still have options in case something better comes out of the film shots.
This is cool. Well, it’s more like it’s freakin’ cold… BRRRRRR
But … once again … it’s nice to have options when they’re available.
Works for me.
Chuck The Writer 
Great shot Chuck, the colder the better when it comes to photography!
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Keeping in mind that I don’t have an educated photo eye, I prefer the autumn shot, To me it says, “to everything there is a season”. The leaves will soon be just a memory, the bridge no longer useful.
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I like all the variations of the new photo more than the original. I would love to have seen basically the same shot with a bit of an extended exposure to see what it would done with the flowing water.
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