Posted on Oct.28, 2010, under Greenfield Village

Edison Illuminating Company #2

(Nikon D700, 70-300mm at 195mm, ISO 800, HDR – 7 exposures @ f/5.6)

If you look through a portfolio of my images you might notice that I enjoy taking pictures of old, mechanical things. I just really like the design elements that were often used in older technolgy. It seemed as if the machine was as much art as it was functional. I think this picture from the Edison Illuminating Company building at Greenfield Village is a good example. The picture is a crank wheel attached to an electric generator. I believe this particular generator came from Edison’s power plant located on Pearl Street in New York City. The wheel serves a simple purpose, to turn something, and it could have been made with simple spokes, but this one used spokes which create a star pattern which caught my eye as I was looking for elements to shoot inside the station.

The image was created from 7 exposures using the tone mapping capabilities of Photomatix. After getting the basic look, I was able to bring out additional detail by using Topaz Adjust. The combination of the two really brings out the details in the metal. Compare the HDR to one of the single exposures below. While I probably could have used Adjust on just this one image and gotten good results, I think starting with the HDR image created a better image.

Edison Illuminating Company #2 (as shot)

Comments or thoughts?

Copyright © 2010 James W. Howe – All rights reserved.

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