Don Stouder  


Vencent Thomas Bridge by Don Stouder

October 2024 - Vencent Thomas Bridge

About the Image(s)

I understand that often the best photos tell a story. Generally mine do not clearly do that. This month my submittal does that at least to me. It is of the Vencent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro, CA. This bridge connects the mainland San Pedro to Terminal Island in the LA Harbor. It also is a prime route to Long Beach. The LA Harbor is one of the business harbors in the US. And on a normal day, this bridge is crossed by tens of thousands of cars.

In the photo, which was taken on a Saturday afternoon there virtually no cars or trunks anywhere to be seen. On the previous Thursday, a truck overturned and its load of Li batteries exploded and caused a fire. The bridge had to be closed down and remained so on Saturday.

The shot was taken with my new DJI Mini Pro 4, which I love. It is one of the multiple shots taken as part of a 360-degree panorama.

Photo Data:
Mini 4’s FC8482 camera
1/5000 F/1.7
ISO 100
-.7 EV
The photo was taken at about 200 ft. AGL

I did not upload the original, because it is virtual identical.

However, I have included a link to another photograph of a 360-degree panorama of the Korean Friendship Bell in San Pedro. Much of my drone photography consists of these types of images.

https://momento360.com/e/u/629746fd8b1d461d8469993f90ff3b91?utm_campaign=embed&utm_source=other&heading=0&pitch=0&field-of-view=75&size=medium&display-plan=true


This round’s discussion is now closed!
11 comments posted




Alex Andrews   Alex Andrews
New drone and wow. I see One amazing photo. Timing your flight without traffic is brilliant. I would consider cropping to the sign on the freeway. A panorama great color and leading line. Also the sky if you really want to add a little more interest. Nice work.   Posted: 10/04/2024 20:16:16



Don Stouder   Don Stouder
Thanks for the comments, Alex. I could have tilted the camera up a bit to capture more sky. Did not think of that.   Posted: 10/05/2024 15:22:50



Drema Swader   Drema Swader
Hi Don. Yes, this story tells a story. And it is nice to be able to fly over a freeway that would otherwise be illegal to fly over with a drone.

I like this image, but a couple of things... the sky should have a bit more breathing room above the bridge tower and cargo container lifts. You could even fix that in Photoshop by adding a bit more canvas at the top and filling it in with content-aware fill. Also, the main subject here is the empty highway leading to the bridge, and most of the cargo containers on the left are distractions. They are also leaning to the left in the picture, which brings more attention to them. I would crop the left side at the edge of the highway on the left. That would also remove the brownish bare area on the bottom left, and give a nicely angled line of the highway through the image more predominance. A square aspect ratio would work well here.   Posted: 10/07/2024 19:43:35
Don Stouder   Don Stouder
Thanks for for your comments, Drema. I did not think about expanding the sky. Actually, in hindsight rather than a square aspect ratio, perhaps a portrait one might work better here. I want to emphasize in the photo, that it was just not break in the traffic that I caught in the scene, but there was no traffic at all.

Also, going to a portrait mode would allow trimming some of the containers on the left you suggested..


  Posted: 10/07/2024 20:46:38
Drema Swader   Drema Swader
Here is the 1:1 composition I had in mind. I like how the roads on the left curve back in and leads the eye back to the main subject. In fact, all the lines at the bottom converge onto the bridge, which I think is quite powerful. Cropping either side into a portrait orientation would remove some of that. (I also quickly added a little more to the top so there was more breathing room there).   Posted: 10/09/2024 01:24:57
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Lou McLove   Lou McLove
Hi Don, I think it is great that you were able to capture this image. It tells a story and the image itself is quite interesting. I agree with the other comments that perhaps a little cropping, left side and bottom, would strengthen the composition. I would not crop out all the containers on the left as I feel they give a sense of place to the image.   Posted: 10/08/2024 21:15:58
Don Stouder   Don Stouder
Thanks, Lou.   Posted: 10/08/2024 22:16:59



Pete Scifres   Pete Scifres
Assuming the green bridge is the subject it's too close to the top border of the image. And as I commented on another image this really feels more like a vertical image, not horizontal.

Unless you wanted it photo-realistic, a red car cloned into the foreground would have worked nicely :-)

The curve of the road to the right is nice.

Cropped vertically, a little more sky, and some sort of foreground object and this scene would absolutely pulled viewers into it.

Do you remember "carmageddon" when the 405 was closed for 48 hours to rebuild the Mulholland hwy bridge?! Would have been an image like this one   Posted: 10/08/2024 23:26:52



Richard Stauber   Richard Stauber
Hey Don, glad to hear you like the new drone, I think they are amazing devices. I love these kinds of images, especially bridges.

Your image has good exposure, focus, and post processing but it falls short on composition. A great shot for bridge as subject, is to wait for a large container ship to pass under the bridge and make the shot as close to the bridge as possible.. I'm planning such a shot at Port Newark (NJ) and to help with the timing, there are apps for the phone that track all ships in the world real time, you'll know when a ship approaching before actually seeing it.   Posted: 10/10/2024 23:20:39
Don Stouder   Don Stouder
I don't think I have ever seen a ship go under the bridge. :-)

I agree, that would certainly make for a more interesting shot. My goal was to document the fact that no cars were on the bridge or the ramp leading up to it. That is pretty rare for a bridge that normally has thousands of car traffic per day.   Posted: 10/11/2024 00:27:54



Lisa Cirincione   Lisa Cirincione
Hi Don! Great shot, reminders of Covid times with no one on the bridge… you could definitely crop in tighter and still show that there is no one on the bridge. Close enough that you could read the green sign that shows where the bridge goes to.

I hope you enjoy your new drone and keep on using it!   Posted: 10/27/2024 21:10:13
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