Lions Gate 400m Compression, a photo from British Columbia, Western

Photographer's Note

I thought it might be interesting to add a complementary photo to Craig's Lions Gate Bridge photo from a different perspective. At Stanley Park I shot this 400mm zoom shot of this bridge in morning light.
The length including approach spans is 1,517.3 m (4,978 ft), the main span alone is 473 m (1,550 ft), the tower height is 111 m (364 ft), and it has a ship's clearance of 61 m (200 ft). There are some Cruise ships that must wait until low tide to dock in Vancouver.

The bridge has three reversible lanes, the use of which is indicated by signals. The centre lane changes direction to accommodate for traffic patterns. The traffic volume on the bridge is 60,000 - 70,000 vehicles per day.

Some history on the upgrade on this bridge if you are interested sheds light on the bike lane on the right and the fact that before the upgrade the lanes were only 9 feet wide which was too narrow, and the sidewalks were inadequate for pedestrians and cyclists. As a result, the main bridge deck was replaced in 2000 and 2001 - the first time a suspension bridge's deck had been replaced. As with the earlier work, this was facilitated by a series of separate nighttime and weekend closures to replace one section at a time. The old section would be lowered to a barge, and the new one raised into place and connected. The change allowed the two pedestrian walkways to be moved to the outside of the structure and the road lanes were accordingly widened from 3 to 3.6 m (from 10 to 12 ft) each; the new sidewalks are also wider, 2.7 m (9 ft) each instead of 1.2 m (4 ft). Also, the main structural elements were moved to below the bridge deck, thus giving a much more open appearance. The entire suspended structure was thus replaced with little or no interruption in daytime traffic. I think that kind of skilled workmanship is amazing. Thank you.

hispic, yeln, CLODO, quillo, Ilducabianco, jafadabret, abmdsudi, delpeoples, i9l2y1m8a8t3 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

hispic (9619) 2010-12-07 17:45

Hello Paul,
Vertical suspender cables shining in the morning sun show an excellent visual effect. Compression effect by 400mm lens is really great. The cyclist makes a good accent.
i've visited at this shooting point, too.
Best wishes, Hisashi

chandrapranil (979) 2010-12-07 21:03

Hi Paul,

This is a wonderful shot from up above.

I love how the sun is shining down onto the bridge and the orange glow it has created.

Well done on spotting and taking the great shot.

Regards,
Pranil

jjcordier (62394) 2010-12-07 23:03

Paul
L'utilisation de la longue focale crée un effet extraordinaire. La vignette ne paye pas de mine mais, en format normal, on voit toute la force et la beauté de cette photo. J'aurais peut-être coupé le poteau gris à gauche de l'image?
Amicalement
JJ

yeln (11502) 2010-12-07 23:27

hi Paul
izjemna ostrina fotografije, dobre barve in odličen POV!! bravo! tfs!
lep dan, vojko

emka (58224) 2010-12-08 0:00

Hi Paul,

Great surprize after opening the photo. I like the view of the bridge very much! fantastic straight vertical lines and cars going up the hill. Excelenet POV, great composition.

Have a nice day

MAlgorzata

CLODO (24734) 2010-12-08 1:25

Hi Paul

Good use of the big telephoto to compress the space, the bridge seems vertical for the cars!. Superb vertical lines enhanced by the lateral sunlight.
Greetings
CLODO

quillo (11840) 2010-12-08 2:00

Hola Paul .............

Un encuadre muy atractivo, original y de buen gusto,
has conseguido una imagen con muchos
y buenos detalles de contraste,
luz, color y profundidad ....
un excelente trabajo que me gusta mucho.

Felicidades ...................

....... un abrazo.

Greg1949 (9011) 2010-12-08 5:14

Paul, in my incessant search for some sort of inspiration this shot surfaces. Day after day the photos posted are without much merit and show little or no creativity and then there are a few like these. The compression of the lens is wonderful, it is one of those snippets that your mind catches in a fleeting second as you drive somewhere, that flash that is never captured because you can't shoot and drive at the same time. The light is great, the no sky is perfect and the dark green background with subtle detail is superb. Then there is the angle and the lights in the bell shaped shades and the directional signeal, a wonderful shot, great work.

Greg

macjake (39235) 2010-12-08 11:24

Hi Paul
well well well, you have NO idea how ironic this photo is...
when i went to Stanley Park to capture my last blue hour shot, THIS is the exact scene i wanted to capture.
but i had the wrong lens on, and i left my telephoto lens in my car....argh!!!
i'm happy with what i got in the end, but i'll have to go back again.
what you have here is fantastic, love the side lighting on the bridge cables, thas the best!
on an informative note, i had NO idea the bridge allowed for bikers and walkers along the side!
great one
cheers
craig

mikolaj_kawa (0) 2010-12-08 23:12

Hello Paul!
Very interesting point of view. Superb long perspective. Excellent exposure and capture. Good contrast and sharpness. Fine focus effect.
Well done!

JFS (32189) 2010-12-09 5:28

SUPERB SHOT. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

jafadabret (56497) 2010-12-09 9:21

Bonjour Paul,
Cette photo est magnifique, on a l'impression de se trouver entre deux harpes aux cordes d'or. Graphisme et couleurs sont au top. Bravo !
Amicalement
Jacques

Tukan-T5 (4317) 2010-12-09 9:28

Hello Paul,
great shot of the bridge.
Excellent POV.
It's probably impossible - I mean it wavy.
But the human eye has specific characteristics in combination with the brain.
There is also outside the atmosphere, a great color.
Have a great day Tomasz

npecanhuk (53919) 2010-12-13 16:31

Hi Paul!
I love bridges!
This one is very beautiful and you took an original photograph of it!
Sharpness, exposure, chosen pov, colors, pp, contrasts, horizontal format and composition are all excellent!
TFS - congrats,
Best regards,
Neyvan

mesutilgim (68036) 2010-12-14 21:42

Hi Paul,
Wonderfull sidelight helped you to create thia amazing graphism ! 400 mm and the portrait format was a good choice.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

abmdsudi (26311) 2010-12-15 9:41

Hi Paul
Appreciate your good vision, what so appealing to me is the golden glow on the vertical cables, that's the main show here. Lovely high viewpoint highlighting much of the compressed scene, good composition with lovely single lined cars climbing on curvy road enhance the depth and dynamism, great visual effect. I like your sharp eyes and observation. Congrats. TFS, Beautiful shot and well written notes. Warm rgds

kato (6801) 2010-12-19 7:51

Hello Paul,

Well composed, excellent tone and very impressive photograph! You're capturing well this scenery from a good angle.
It's remarkable and beautiful for gold steel arms of both sides, and the road in the bridge with the inclination is also interesting as well as green bells that hang in bridge. Judging from the seen side, the opponent's in the bridge seeing the forest gives the relief.

Regards,
mikio

leo61 (0) 2010-12-20 10:20

Hi Paul!
You had wonderful light here and an excellent POV.Love the lamps and golden cables at both sides and the "red cross" traffic lights make the composition perfect.
Regards,leo

delpeoples (45018) 2010-12-23 19:34

Hi Paul

Man this is a symphony of light. Craig will be chuffed. I;ve seen this bridge photgraphed many times (and very expertly too I might add). Your different POV and the amazing symmetry you produce are stunning. I love the vertical lines, they're like gold ingots. Beautiful job, nice spotting and full marks for getting up high to take the shot...it makes me dizzy.

Have a very merry Christmas and a happy 2011 that brings you everything you wish for.

Warm regards
Lisa

Matthew-Watt (6035) 2010-12-23 19:44

Hi Paul,

Oh very well done! This perspective is remarkable, I like the flattened quality of this actual long distance. The single lane of cars and lone cyclist looks great in contrast to the two empty lanes next to them. I like the golden cross-lighting provided by the low sun. It is a great architectural image, not easy to take I am sure. Very realistic colours and tones, the clarity is like that if one were looking through a window directly into this place. Have an excellent Christmas.

Matt

Bergenphotos (2168) 2012-03-01 4:39

Hi Paul.

This is a very interesting and different picture. It's a great shot with many lines and geometry, yet just great to watch.

Greetings
Fredrik