Morning Blues at the International Railway BridgeUnity Island, Buffalo, NY After a bit of a vacation break I am back with another post.

First and foremost, I finally had to acknowledge that winter was not here any more (well, it never really came short of a few brief visits) and as such the site's home page has a photo selection reflective of the spring season.

And second, it was time to add some new photographs. Today, I am adding two new ones of the International Railroad Bridge to the Buffalo Cityscapes gallery as well as the Bridges of Buffalo Collection.

The first one here is a pre-dawn photo of the bridge. It was cloudy and there was not much light yet. Everything actually looked rather gloomy with a very little chance of a true visible sunrise actually happening. And while I planned shooting westward this morning I was hoping for a little assist from the sun in adding subtle color. It certainly did not look like that was going to happen. My momentary frustration was quickly replaced with focus and excitement about what was in front of me. Too many times in the past my plans did not work at all, yet, I left with even stronger images than what I had planned. Why should this morning be any different? A great old bridge, the mighty Niagara River, a new day being born, high doses of fresh air, even just being there, outside, witnessing it all. What could possibly be better?

Overall, the scene had cool blue tones. Rather than adjusting the camera's white balance to counteract those tones I tried to keep things as they were, one difference being the overall brightness of the photo. To my eyes, the scene appeared darker. The tripod mounted camera coupled with a long exposure (60 seconds) allowed the photo to become much brighter despite the prevailing darkness. I also liked the hints of color in the bridge lamp reflections in the Niagara River below.

The International Railroad Bridge behind TreesUnity Island, Buffalo, NY

The second photo is of the same bridge from almost the same place, just a few feet to the left, but 45 minutes later. I have to say, I did not spend the 45 minutes hovering around the same spot, even though I had done that many times in the past in other locations. Here, I took a walk up the river looking for other photo opportunities and to get some fresh air and eventually ended up where I started. On this second stop, the bridge hiding behind the tree branches appeared so striking that I could not resist. The straight man-made lines of the bridge versus the natural curves of the branches juxtaposed on top of each other made for such a nice contrast, yet, looked so similar as silhouettes.

What a morning!

Enjoy the Beauty that Surrounds You (#etbtsy)!

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