Today sees a further installment of my series from Hammersmith Bridge shot during blue hour. This image was taken Just at the start of the hour when there was still some colour in the sky and plenty of light, although what you cant see is the 5′ high flood wall that caused a few issues. I had to hook two of the tripod legs over the top of the wall and drop the other to the ground to get the right set up.
The Bridge itself was rebuilt in Victorian times using the previous towers as a foundation. For me this image shows how much effort they went to in Victorian times to build objects that were both functional and good to look at.
The bridge was also the target of three bombing attempts by the IRA; the first in 1939 was partially foiled by a resident who saw one suitcase bomb and threw it into the Thames (a second bomb caused minor damage), the 2nd attempt in 1996 used the largest Semtex bomb discovered in mainland Britain, the final attempt was in overnight on 1 June 2000 by the Real IRA and caused damage to the Barnes (Southern) span. The bridge itself is about 5 minutes from me and the 1st I knew of the night time attack was when my parents called to say it was on the news, I slept through the commotion!!!
The other interesting thing about the bridge is that it uses a wooden road deck, hard to imagine that in this day and age, but a wooden deck it is which considering the amount of cars and buses that traverse each day is quite amazing. The bridge was resurfaced earlier this year and that entailed lifting and replacing pre-tarmac coated sections of ply-board which cover the wooden planks beneath.
Processing
5 RAW images tonemapped in Photomatix and finished in Photoshop
A Brief Moment in Time 
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This is fabulous, Chris, just fabulous! Love the blue hues and tones captured here, and the exquisite details in the Victorian architecture really comes to life. Man, could they ever design stuff back then! We have quite a few buildings from that period here, too, and quite honestly it’s all awesome. GREAT photograph, my friend, fan-flippin-tastic!
Thanks Scott, there is more to mine from this great old location but that will require another trip or two, fortunately it’s a 2 minute drive for me. It’s also prompted me to start a more long term project about bridges that I hope to have finished by next autumn.
Oh gosh, that sounds awesome, Chris! You’ve seriously got terrific architecture there, so this would be the perfect project for you and your wonderful photography skills!
Thanks Scott. Just need to get out there and get some shots in the can