St. John's Bridge

Last month, Traci and I spent a Friday late evening out at the St. John’s Bridge in North Portland.  This is my favorite bridge in Portland.  I have heard that its designer is the same man who designed San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Bridge.  With my tripod and cable release, to achieve as sharp of an image as possible by reducing even the slightest vibration as possible while the slow shutter is open.

I have learned to watch the histogram and get each photo as bright as possible without loosing the highlights for dusk and night exposures.  Detail in city lights will need to be forfeited, regardless of any exposure compensation.  There is just no way to catch them, but there is not really any need to either.

If you enjoy photography, and are not yet familiar with the histogram, it is a tool that will significantly help you understand the proper exposure of each image.  The histogram is invaluable to get a amount of light and detail correctly exposed.  Check out Michael Reichmann’s guide to Understanding Histograms to learn more.