Overcast Hays Street Bridge

Today's photo was created with the help of two products I learned about at ImagingUSA, Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro and onOne's Mask Pro. I've contemplated using both of the products before, but today was my chance to talk with reps from both companies. After having my questions about the products answered, I decided to give both of them a try, and it looks like both of them are going to have a permanent place in my processing "box o' tools" from now on.

I used Mask Pro to replace the gray colored sky from the HDR processing with a combination of two of the original bracket photos blended together, which worked out very well. I used Silver Efex Pro to make a black and white image (which I learned is actually a "true" black and white image compared to just simple gray-scale adjustments) to give the shot a slightly more overcast feel by merging the results of that with the original to remove a lot of the color (I like this process more than any desaturation process I have done before).

But that is enough about the tools, the subject of this photography is the Hays Street Bridge, which is located in San Antonio, Texas. The bridge is over 100 years old and faced the threat of being torn down until funding was procured to restore the bridge. The bridge "officially" re-opened on 20 July 2010, after being closed for nearly 28 years. A little bit about the history of the bridge from this website:

"The 1881/1910 Hays Street Bridge is a viaduct consisting of two wrought iron truss spans (one Phoenix Whipple 225-ft span, and one Pratt 130-ft span), and approximately 1000-linear feet of concrete approaches.

In 1910, the City of San Antonio required the Galveston, Harrisburg & San Antonio Railway Co. (eventually part of Southern Pacific) to construct a viaduct over the railroad tracks at Hays Street. The railway company relocated the two truss spans from elsewhere on its lines."

As always, please feel free to leave any comments or feedback, and remember clicking on the photo takes you to my online gallery hosted at smugmug where you can view this (and any of my other photos) in various sizes. Thanks for stopping by!

Overcast Hays Street Bridge