Archway and Bridge, Bruges
A classic view through an archway onto a bridge in Bruges, Belgium.
Here's a classic view through an archway onto a bridge and towards historic buildings in Bruges in Flemish Belgium.
It's a favorite of mine, at least when it comes to my black and white images. You might be surprised to discover that it's also one of the most difficult photos I've ever made.
There was no mountain climbing, long bus rides, horrendous weather or xenophobic local authorities to deal with when making this photo.
But there was a lot of pedestrian traffic, mostly locals crossing this footbridge at the end of the day.
The problem was that I made the photo from within a closed shelter at one end of the footbridge. That made it impossible to see anyone coming until they were on the footbridge and literally in the middle of the composition.
So you can see there's the reality of the photo, that of a serene, nostalgic and historic site, versus the reality of actually making the image.
No problem, thought I, I'II just move my tripod and make way. After all I never want to obstruct or delay anyone, particularly when it’s dinner time.
But that wasn’t as easy as it sounds.
The image was composed with great care, which is why I rarely crop my photos on the desktop.
The notion of filling the frame is very important to me and I make an effort to ensure I achieve a great composition, in camera, each and every time I make a photo.
I do this my treating my camera’s viewfinder as a painter might a canvas. That encourages me to take responsibility for what’s included and what’s excluded from the composition.
You'll notice that I've employed a very large depth of field, to ensure that the maximum amount of detail is retained in the scene.
I also made use of the arch-shaped entrance as a frame within a frame to guide the eye, along the footbridge, to the church in the background.
Actually, it was quite an endeavor to put the tripod back into position and achieve the same carefully constructed composition, on the uneven cobblestone pathway, each time a pedestrian crossed the narrow bridge.
The process was particularly difficult to complete as the final photo was a composite image, created on the desktop, from a long exposure HDR sequence.
It took a number of attempts to complete the series of long exposures, in the HDR sequence, before yet another pedestrian walked into the composition.
Thankfully my patience was rewarded and, in the fading gloom, I was able to successfully complete the process.
I opted for a HDR workflow not just because of the high dynamic range I was photographing under, but because I wanted to record as much detail as possible.
The idea was to create the image I pre-visualized in my minds eye. That of a highly detailed, classic black and white photo with an expansive range of tones, from dark to light.
High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography allowed me to do so by combining a series of different exposures, from dark to light, into a single, composite image as part of my post processing workflow.
After a long day of walking the backstreets and alleyways of Bruges this photo was quite challenging to make. But it was absolutely worth the effort and it's an image I'm really quite proud of.
Of course the fact that it was a technically and compositionally difficult image to make is irrelevant, from the viewers point of view.
But it is an image that, despite a full range of textures and tones, is easy on the eye and displays harmony and balance.
I hope you enjoy the nostalgic feel associated with the black and white rendering of this interesting and historic architectural element from the lovely old town of Bruges, Belgium.