The Artful Engineer

This week’s post will wrap up this mini-series from Tillamook County, Oregon, and its coastline. I don’t have another visit on the calendar yet, but as it is one of my wife’s favorite places, I’m sure I’ll be back. This is good, because I have barely scratched the surface here.

This post presents three pairs of images. This first pair is about reflected sunsets. The first of which, above, is a favorite that I have wanted to show on the blog for a long time. I really like catching reflections off of things that are not normally considered reflective—this bridge is grungy steel, not glass. The power lines pick it up, too, but this trick isn’t uncommon. The bridge truss, though, is special. It’s easier to find a graphic shape like this as a silhouette, where the bridge truss would be black (or close to it) against a bright sky, for example. This inverts that, with the bridge lit up and darkness behind. Even the asphalt curb at its base is reflecting a bit of the late afternoon sun. There is also just enough sheen on the roadway—more colored by the unseen blue sky above—that it doesn’t descend into featureless black. The only thing I might fix in the image at this point is to remove the power line leaving the frame half way up the left edge: it’s a little too prominent for my liking.

This next image plays a similar game, with the warm reflection this time off a metal chair. The wires and edge of the deck support it by doing the same, and the rest of the scene is dark with cooler blue tones.

The next pair of images features irregular verticals in a horizontal frame. This first one is actually in Portland, not Tillamook, but was made on the same trip. This little section of fence has a lot of character, and the shallow depth of field works nicely here. I like the way the lower wires do not connect the way they should. The white balance is very cool (i.e., blue) but I decided I liked the way it felt and left it alone.

The nine fence slats in the previous image were not all perfectly vertical or perfectly spaced, but they made a strong pattern nonetheless; this next image is much less regular. The calm water is light and dreamy, as is the distant shore, which contrasts with the dark and jagged remains of the trees. Unfortunately I did not take a long exposure here. I probably would still prefer this version, but it would have been nice to compare.

The final pairing is of two very different buildings. The first is this rather gaudily-painted restroom by the beach. I like the symmetry of it and the way it seems to glow. I did have to brighten up the far left a bit because it was more in shadow and seemed too dark; the image is better balanced now, brightness-wise, across the width of the frame. Given the strong symmetry, that seemed best. The only thing that breaks the symmetry is the drainpipe, but even so the image still feels balanced and symmetric.

Nothing symmetric here: this building seems to have just broken in the middle and then sagged down to the ground. The fact that it is still standing, despite its condition and the obvious neglect, gives it a certain defiant dignity.

I hope you enjoyed the images from Oregon these past few weeks. I was worried two days ago that I wouldn’t get this post up at all because my admin page starting giving a critical error. So, the website’s front end—which you see—worked fine, but I couldn’t change anything on the site. Fortunately tech support came through for me and deactivated the offending plugin (which had auto-updated and broke everything) so all is once again as it should be.

Next week I’ve got some industrial images to share from Birmingham, Alabama. I’m sure you will like them, so be sure to come back next week.

Thanks for visiting!