Woonasquatucket River in HDR
01 July 2014 -- 182/365
Johnston, Rhode Island
Over the course of the past year, the Johnston Parks and Recreations department slowly converted an old softball field into a park. Alongside the park is an old dam associated with the Worcester Textile Mill, and I had it in mind to do a High Dynamic Range photo of the dam today. Getting there required crashing through the underbrush for a bit - no easy task with my camera backpack and tripod - but I finally made it down out onto this rocky spur that juts into the middle of the river. There wasn't as much water coming over the dam as I wanted, but I resigned myself to taking the scene anyway. Then I turned around to pickup my tripod and spotted the scene you see in today's photo. The old wall on the left is a couple of centuries old, and you can just see the old bridge that connects Johnston and North Providence in the distance. The tree cover added an interesting charm to the overall scene, and I liked the placement of the glacial erratics washed downstream by the Woonasquatucket River when it floods periodically.
Post processing started in Photomatix Pro. I started with 10 photos taken in 1 stop increments, and merged them using the Fusion algorithm. From there I took the resulting .TIFF into Topaz B&W FX. I applied a classic filter and then adjusted color sensitivity sliders, adaptive exposure, regions, contrast, boost black, boost white, and protect highlights. A levels adjustment was added in PSE.
What a great idea and I love the ripples in the water! The trees seem to be in a way leaning over and 'drinking' form the water! Maybe my imagination is running a little crazy haha! Lovely shot! :)
@lilminimonka Oh, there's nothing wrong with a crazy imagination! For instance, one of my Facebook friends was discussing the benefits of using those wooden beams in the distance to prevent the sea monsters from swimming upriver. (I have odd friends. LOL)
@kannafoot Haha! That made me laugh! Your conversations sound quite interesting, But you know if any sea monster tried to swim upriver Im sure you'll be quite safe!
