From the darker end of the bridge (1-second exposure, freehand).
(click any image to enlarge and sharpen)

After my work was done on Thursday, I tried to make it to Clarkson Covered Bridge before sunset. Tucked in a valley, its surroundings go dark before the sun completes its dip below the horizon. Built in 1904 and restored in 1975, the bridge reaches 270 feet (82m) across the expanse above Crooked Creek.

The opposite end of the bridge faced a valley between hillsides, but still I had to set my camera on a rock wall to get anything sharp enough to share. That presented a problem, because rock walls are considerably less portable than tripods.

One of my pictures provided a perfect opportunity for playing around a bit. I’m pleased with the results. The before/after illustrates fairly clearly what I did.


See the culvert and graffiti?

See the culvert and graffiti now?

Notice the brightness of the background sky above the trees. If only some of that light would have reached the bridge.

My point-and-shoot Canon A560 (about $139) did well, but the lens didn’t go quite wide enough for this job. I would have loved having my Nikon D100 and wide angle lens for this site. It would have allowed me to get closer to the bridge and still get it all in the shot, eliminating much of the foreground. Instead, I “fixed” it with Gimp (Gnu Image Manipulation Program), a great example of free software.

Now, I’m going to try something I’ve never done out here. I’m going to post what I have, in hopes of getting a better picture this morning before I leave town. I’ll put it out here sometime today if I get a good shot, most likely before 9:30 a.m. CST.

Update: Here are a couple more pics (click thumbnails for bigger versions):

Clarkson Covered Bridge Backside         Clarkson Covered Bridge Roadway

For the engineering-minded folks out there, here’s a link to the bridge’s restoration plans.