When I set out to photograph this bridge, I had some type of monochrome image in mind. I just didn't know which color to use as the basis for the monochrome, nor did I know how the overall composition would stack up. It turns out that there's a very nice view of the bridge from the East Bay Bike Path parking area on Route 114. I like the overall structure of the bridge as seen from this level, and since the lights lining the bridge look extremely photogenic I plan to do several more shots of this nature over the course of the year. This looks like it will make a great nighttime shot, so look for that sometime in the spring.
Post processing was done primarily in Photoshop. I used Topaz Adjust for a photo pop filter, which enhanced the details and color of the original - a color I was about to replace, but I did want the color tone contrast to show through. So back in Photoshop, I used a poster lines filter to bring out all the hard lines in the image. On top of that I added a "find edges" filter, using a 50% opacity and a soft light blend mode. From there, I used a gradient map to convert the image to a nice blue monochrome. (I did play with a number of different color combinations, but I liked the blue best.) Several hue and levels adjustments were added, and I used two photo filters. The first was a deep blue filter before the gradient map, and the final layer was a magenta filter on top of the gradient map. I like the monochrome concept, so you'll certainly see more along those lines over the course of the year.
