Confluence

Took The Bug up to Chain of Rocks Bridge this morning for Eagle Days. We met an 11-year-old bald eagle name McGuire, saw two young eagles in flight, walked the bridge, and Zozer got to stand in an actual eagle's nest, but the highlight of her entire day was getting to ride the yellow school bus that shuttled us from the Missouri Visitor's Center to the bridge and back.

While the D300 performed capably with locking in focus on flying eagles, I wasn't too pleased with my final results (too far away), and was happier with two images created looking down from the bridge. Two water intake structures located south of the span are intriguing to me because of their architecture. I want to go out there and stand on them and look around the inside. Since that will probably never happen, I'm content to shoot them from the bridge.

These images are available thanks in no small part to the new 30-200 VR lens Santa brought. VR stands for vibration reduction, which means it's easier to shoot hand-held at longer focal lengths (i.e. zoomed out). This was especially handy today as I was buffeted by high winds while trying to frame the image. M and Zozer had camped out in a tent erected by the Trailnet and Confluence staff on the bridge, along with about 50 other poor souls trying to warm up as idiot spouses with lots of camera gear roamed back and forth across the bridge.

I have images of Zozer in the eagle's nest, but I felt like working on these two tonight. Scratch that...this morning. I figure if I can't sleep, I might as well play around in the darkroom.

I was going to post the second water intake structure, but after studying it with a critical eye again before uploading, I decided I've been too heavy-handed with dodging. A little is good, a lot is ridiculous. It looks like it's got a halo 'round it. The structure is pretty cool, but holy it ain't. Although, come to think of it, since it does take in water, it must be holey.