The Tay Bridge

[Donald]

40D, 17-85 f4-f5.6 IS USM @ 30mm. ISO 100. 8s@f16. 3-stop ND. Manual. 7:16am, March 7.

This is not the same image as is in Monochrome Mini Competition #2.

This is the second Tay Rail Bridge. On the night of 28 December 1879 at 7.15pm, the first bridge collapsed after its central spans gave way during high winter gales. A train with six carriages carrying seventy-five passengers and crew, crossing at the time of the collapse, plunged into the icy waters of the Tay. All 75 people died. At low tide, the pier supports of the first bridge can still be seen alongside the piers of this bridge.

[Wirefox]

A beautifully atmospheric image Donald and a very accomplished b/w conversion....more than I can say for McGonagall's poem

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

'Twas about seven o'clock at night,
And the wind it blew with all its might,
And the rain came pouring down,
And the dark clouds seem'd to frown,
And the Demon of the air seem'd to say-
"I'll blow down the Bridge of Tay."

When the train left Edinburgh
The passengers' hearts were light and felt no sorrow,
But Boreas blew a terrific gale,
Which made their hearts for to quail,
And many of the passengers with fear did say-
"I hope God will send us safe across the Bridge of Tay."

But when the train came near to Wormit Bay,
Boreas he did loud and angry bray,
And shook the central girders of the Bridge of Tay
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

So the train sped on with all its might,
And Bonnie Dundee soon hove in sight,
And the passengers' hearts felt light,
Thinking they would enjoy themselves on the New Year,
With their friends at home they lov'd most dear,
And wish them all a happy New Year.

So the train mov'd slowly along the Bridge of Tay,
Until it was about midway,
Then the central girders with a crash gave way,
And down went the train and passengers into the Tay!
The Storm Fiend did loudly bray,
Because ninety lives had been taken away,
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

As soon as the catastrophe came to be known
The alarm from mouth to mouth was blown,
And the cry rang out all o'er the town,
Good Heavens! the Tay Bridge is blown down,
And a passenger train from Edinburgh,
Which fill'd all the peoples hearts with sorrow,
And made them for to turn pale,
Because none of the passengers were sav'd to tell the tale
How the disaster happen'd on the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember'd for a very long time.

It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv'ry Tay,
I must now conclude my lay
By telling the world fearlessly without the least dismay,
That your central girders would not have given way,
At least many sensible men do say,
Had they been supported on each side with buttresses,
At least many sensible men confesses,
For the stronger we our houses do build,
The less chance we have of being killed.

[Donald]

A beautifully atmospheric image Donald and a very accomplished b/w conversion....more than I can say for McGonagall's poem

Did you have that in your desk?

Yes, I was trying to avoid any mention of the good Mr McGonagall. Apparently some US university did an analysis of it and officially declared it the world's worst ever poem.

ps - If anyone says the poem is better than the picture - I'm leaving!!

[David]

Donald - Brilliant composition and mood.

David

[ScoutR]

Amazing as usual. "Plan A" was worth the wait. The crop (and to my eyes tone) of the mini comp entry are even better than this one (is it possible?)

[Donald]

David

Thank you

Wendy

The crop ...

The lovely (for me) thing about both is that I seem to be getting better at composition in camera - rather than reverting to PP to 'tidy it up'. No cropping at all on either of the images. Couldn't believe it when I'd finished the PP and realised I hadn't done any cropping.

[Geoff F]

Apparently McGonagall's poetry requires very careful phrasing and emphasis which isn't indicated in the written word.

John Laurie (Private Frazer) gave a good rendition of the Tay Bridge Disaster which was unlike the usual bland versions.

Now we have the full text, experimentation with variation of tone during reading can produce a number of completely different interpretations, especially with a Scottish accent. But I'm not advocating him as a great poet; just suggesting that he is frequently misunderstood.

ps. It is a pity that image can't appear retrospectively in the 'Bridge That Gap' competition.

[Dave Humphries]

Apparently McGonagall's poetry requires very careful phrasing and emphasis which isn't indicated in the written word.

John Laurie (Private Frazer) gave a good rendition of the Tay Bridge Disaster which was unlike the usual bland versions.

"We're all doomed" - because I couldn't find John Laurie's version

Version 2 on this site is read with a Scot's accent.

Nice pic Donald, excellent framing, but possibly just a hint of a white halo around the structure, compared to the sky? (View large to see it) and I think the other shot, in the Mini Comp, is sharper.

Cheers,

[carregwen]

Lovely shot. I like the way the back end of the bridge snakes away into the distance. Well captured.

[Donald]

Thank you folks.

Dave - downsizing that 'lattice' metalwork and getting the sharpening right is, I find, a bit of a challenge. I agree that the version on Mono Mini Comp 2 is done better. The full size versions of both are fine.

Version 2 on this site

Doesn't someone who amasses 9 versions of one, derided, poem need to get out more?

[Geoff F]

Well I listened to 4 versions of that poem and thought version 2, with the authentic accent, is reasonably good although the Annie Coleman rendition also had good phrasing. However, the John Laurie version, which was on a BBC programme about John Laurie, a few years ago had a more passion in it, coupled with eye rolling and hand frantic gestures.

But I think we are digressing from the original topic.

[rick55]

But I think we are digressing from the original topic.

We should be okay, as long as no one posts an image of a muchness.

[Terry Tedor]

Wow! I'm speechless.

The picture that is, not the poem. ;-)

[mastamak]

I love that photo. The composition, sharpness, atmosphere. It is very evocative.
Grant

[Donald]

Terry, Grant

Thank you.

I took about 40 RAW images (all very similar) over a one hour period. Those from about 7:15am - 7:30am gave the best results so far as reflection on the water from the far off piers was concerned. There are lots of things you could do with them. But, to go back to discussions in earlier threads, I don't want to create something that is completely different to, a) what was in front of me and, b) what was in my mind when I was thinking about the shot. I think this is fairly accurate representation of what I saw, but it certainly is moreso the vision I had when I first identified the possibility and developed the idea.

Just behind me is the main roadway from the west into the city centre of Dundee. I travel it most days. Just to the left of where I'm standing, the road goes under the bridge. I have looked at this view nearly every day for about 3/4 months and planned this shot in my head.

There is also an equally dramatic late afternoon/evening sunset shot taken from the edge of the roadway on the other side of the bridge looking south west, as the sun sinks behind the bridge. That's on the 'to do' list. However, there is repair work underway on the bridge at the moment and part of it (neatly hidden in the above version) is clad in white sheet material. So I need to wait for that to be removed. Otherwise I'll have a huge cloning job to do ... and I don't have the patience to do the sort of cloning job John Revie did on an image of the Forth Bridge that he posted up a number of months ago.