Photo #19 – Under the Overpass

17mm - ISO 400 - 1.3 Sec - f/4

The clock ticked off another hour and again we  pulled off on the next offramp we found. A sign said a city was two miles down the road. Four miles later we turn around having found nothing. We finally pulled up next to this overpass and tried to do something creative.

We tried numerous different things but could never get all six speedlites to fire. On site we couldn’t determine what the issue was but we suspected either mismatched firmware between the PocketWizard FlexTT5′s or possibly battery issues. When working in the cold, batteries can end up lasting only a fraction of the time they do when the temperatures are warmer.

We finally decided to go with the shot above because it was more abstract than the original shots but the initial tests just needed something extra. With the headlights from the Nissan Monstrosity lighting up the ground behind the pillars, Chris dialed down the shutter to 1.3 seconds in order to put up the light from the headlights. Three speedlites were aimed straight up the front of the columns. The result was a pretty cool abstract image that we both were quite happy with.

Additional Information

Interstate Highway Standards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_standards

Freeway Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeway