Mysterious BlueUnion Ship Canal Bridge This late evening led me to the Union Ship Canal on Buffalo's Outer Harbor. It was a targeted mission. I had photographed the bridge there before during daytime, and I had photographed other locations in its vicinity at dusk to get the deep blues of the blue hour as a backdrop. I had not taken advantage of that light at the Union Ship Canal Bridge though before and really wanted to see that look.

I was really excited to combine the strong symmetry of the bridge leading one's eye into the darkness of the distance combined with the mysterious deep blue sky and the illumination of the bridge.

The conditions were very good upon my arrival with quite a few clouds filling the sky after sunset. That was perfect as I was planning to use a very long exposure here to have the clouds completely blur out as they move through the scene. I just had to wait a little as it was still too light.

When the bridge lamps and the light in the sky started to balance better I started setting up my tripod head on against the bridge. It was pretty dark by then and the park almost empty, which was good as I was not in the way of too many people trying to get through. It took me a while to get the rig aligned properly. In architectural shots, I really do not like any distortions introduced due to not having the camera level and perfectly aligned with the subject.

Canal BridgeBuffalo Union Ship Canal The first photograph here was the longest exposure of the evening at 12 minutes. The completely blurred out background and the slightly underexposed bridge illumination created a more mysterious photo. I intentionally shot in this direction to get the darkness in the distance and to have the far opening of the bridge submerged in complete darkness adding to the mystery.

When I was done with the head on symmetry I also wanted to take advantage of the reflected bridge illumination from the waters of the canal. As it was really late and dark I positioned the camera and tripod carefully not only to get the side angle on the bridge and the reflections but also to catch the last section of the sky that was not completely covered with clouds and thus was still showing more of the blue tones.

To close out today's post, I would like to share one more version of the initial set up, even though it will be out of sequence here. It was the closing head on photo and I changed camera settings for a brighter scene giving it, in my opinion, a completely different mood.

Union Ship Canal in BlueOuter Harbor, Buffalo, NY

Union Ship Canal in Blue, Outer Harbor, Buffalo, NY

Enjoy the beauty that surrounds you! (#etbtsy)

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More about the Union Ship Canal: Looking Backward: Hanna Furnace - Ship Canal Commons Opens on Outer Harbor - Union Ship Canal (Buffalo, New York) - The Hanna Furnace Corporation and the Union Ship Canal