On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Last week I featured the Sun setting between the two towers of the new bridge(yet un-named) that has replaced the Gerald Desmond Bridge between Long Beach and Terminal Island. I’ve been wanting to photograph this bridge since I could see it’s rising two towers in cityscapes that I’ve taken over the past several years.
I wanted to get a closer view than I’d had the previous week and discovered that the bridge has a pedestrian walkway and bike lane.
The lighting on the new bridge can change color, though my shots show it with blue lighting, this video shows it cycling though it’s colors. The can change the color scheme for special occasions and have colors set up for all the local sportsball teams.
I’d also located via Google Maps a place that would give me a good shot of the whole bridge just to the south of the bridge. So after work on Sunday, I headed to the first location to park and walk up the bridge hoping to get a shot of the bridge and the Moon. The sign at the entrance said “No Pedestrians”, so on to plan B. I had worried that there might not be parking at my second location, but that concern was unfounded. After taking my shots I headed over the new bridge, continuing over the Vincent Thomas bridge to the 110 and home to Glendale.
Sunset from the previous week, you can see the two towers of the new bridge along with the arch from the Gerald Desmond Bridge.
West tower, you can see some of the tanks that would have obstructed a good view of that part of the bridge if I’d shot from there.
West tower, you can see some of the tanks that would have obstructed a good view of that part of the bridge if I’d shot from there.
The entire bridge shot with a fisheye lens(I’ve not used that lens in a while), the lights in the foreground give off a nice starburst effect.
The Moon over the container cranes unloaded a ship. This was shot using exposure bracketing to both provide enough light for the foreground and detail in the Moon. The shots were combined in Photoshop using luminosity masks.
Mary G
Very cool. I love the Vincent Thomas though it’s older and not as spiffy, it goes way up. I have no memory of the Gerald Desmond bridge at all.
JPL
The picture of the containers are different from your usual pictures. You really can find beauty in ordinary things.
raven
Strange, 53 years ago we’d sit and wait at the ferry landing for hours to get across the Mekong, now they have a bridge that looks like the one in Long Beach!
Laura Too
So cool, thanks! You have inspired me to book my trip to LA for October. The bridge & islands are on our list.
Laura Too
@raven: what a beautiful bridge! I hope someday to see that as well. Before Covid times we were planning on going but it is more complicated now. Just means we wait a little longer. I appreciate your stories and perspective!
stinger
I confess I would not have seen the beauty in some of these places until your camera brought it out for me. Thank you for broadening my view!
mvr
@stinger:
What stinger said.
arrieve
The picture of the moon over the container crates is just wonderful. Something mundane that has become magical.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G: I’ve shot the Vincent Thomas Bridge a few times, including a moonrise. It’s actually easier to shoot since there are good vantage points in San Pedro.
@JPL: I just saw the moon and decided to give the shot a try, it was shot handheld.
@raven: There used to be a ferry across the west channel where the Vincient Thomas Bridge is now.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Laura Too: The bridges are nice, especially at night. Terminal Island is just port facilities.
@stinger:
@mvr: Thanks.
@arrieve: I think it would have been a better shot if I’d shot it earlier and the moon was a bit lower and bigger, but I stopped first to try to get on the bridge.
J R in WV
There is a bridge across the Ohio river in Huntington built using the same tower with supporting cables method. Just the one tower, as the Ohio isn’t as wide as the space in Los Angeles. Interesting methodology to support a bridge.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@J R in WV: The channel isn’t all that wide, they also had to build over some of the industrial stuff below the bridge.