“El, Titán” | Coronado Bridge
Coronado Island, San Diego California
Iconic to the Port of San Diego skyline, Coronado Bridge is literally “puerta de entrada a Coronado”; the gateway to Coronado Island.
Spanning 11,179 feet, with its apex height at 200 feet, construction commenced in February of 1967, and was completed in August of 1969. The bridge required 20,000 tons of steel and 94,000 cubic yards of concrete to support 32 spans and 27 girders with 21 pillars. The US Navy originally rejected the idea of a bridge connection Coronado Island out of fear the bridge could be collapsed by attack or an earthquake and trap the ships stationed at the US Naval Base San Diego, threatening to leave San Diego if the bridge was constructed. By 1964 the Navy supported a bridge if there was at least 200 feet (61 m) of clearance for ships which operate out of the nearby Naval Base San Diego to pass underneath it. To achieve this clearance with a reasonable grade, the bridge length was increased by taking an 80 degree curved path, rather than a more direct path to Coronado. The clearance would allow an empty oil-fired aircraft carrier to pass beneath its span.
My dilemma, one that faces every landscape photographer; how do you present a unique image of Coronado Bridge, an icon, the subject of thousands of photographs? How to present her structural magnificence and essence in a unique perspective? The brilliant fire sky from the setting sun was extraordinary on its own, exploding in yellow and orange. The dramatic high contrast nature of black and white has always been a favorite medium for my eye. Heavy architecture of steel and concrete look amazing in black and white, so why not blend the two profiles?
I decided to process multiple images with various exposures in HDR, and then blend the two color profiles together, manifesting this unique impression of El,Titán, the Gateway to Coronado Island.

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