The second bridge I visited in my second day of photographing Indiana covered bridges in October, 2019 was Houck Bridge. Although Houck Bridge seems to be in very good condition, it has been by passed and is now closed to traffic.
Houck Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
One can still walk through the bridge, but not drive through it. Access to the creek level is most easily gained from the west side. There is also a sizable parking lot on the west side of the bridge, so I am guessing that this bridge is now set up as a prime tourist attraction. A couple of people did come and go, while I was here.
The interior photograph is an HDR image made from multiple exposures.
Houck Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Houck Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/125s, ISO 640, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
After a day of other activities, I took another afternoon to visit more covered bridges in an area east of Indianapolis, Indiana. I started at Oakalla Bridge, just south of the last bridge (Dunbar) that I had visited during my first day of shooting covered bridges.
Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I think most of the covered bridges have some graffiti on or around them and Oakalla Bridge seems to be popular with those who like to mark things with graffiti. I saw some evidence of graffiti being painted over on the exterior of the bridge and other graffiti in the interior.
Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
It is also easy to get down into the creek channel from one side of the bridge. The long log in the creek below the bridge even has graffiti on it.
Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
There was plenty of room to move around on the wide sandy bank on one side of the bridge. I made numerous images from this area, but in the end, I only chose a couple of those as most representative of the bridge and its setting to include in this post.
Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The last bridge that I got to late in the afternoon of my first day of photographing Indiana covered bridges was the Dunbar Bridge. There was more traffic across this bridge than any of the other bridges that I had photographed earlier in the day, maybe because it was late in the day and people were going home after their work day was over.
Dunbar Covered Bridge and information sign. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Dunbar Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Wide angle lens distortion, especially when shooting from one side at an angle to the plane of the bridge, makes these bridges appear to be leaning to one side. Some bridges were actually leaning a little and/or the sides were not vertical, so the distortion exaggerates the lean or angle. I try to correct this in post processing, but sometimes it is not possible to completely correct the distortion.
Beneath Dunbar Covered Bridge.Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 5.0s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
To get to the creek for a side image, I had to walk beneath the bridge from the only easily accessible route. This appears to be a popular place for young people, judging by the graffiti and many footprints in the sand. Looking closely at the writing on the left hand side beam one can see a message from Missy proclaiming that she loves Ken. I promise that I did not write that or anything else on the bridge.
Dunbar Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 21mm, f/11, 1.6s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The side view of the bridge with the creek, bridge and tree reflections in the creek and the sandy shore line with the early fall foliage in the background was quite good.
Dunbar Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 3.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The dim late day light required longer exposures, showing the motion in the clouds and probably blurring of the tree foliage moving in the wind.
Dunbar Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 30.0s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Some of these images have embedded links to higher resolution images on Flickr. Viewing the images there will let one see more detail.
