SOSS (Sunset Over Seventy Six)

If you search Flickr, and for that matter anywhere on the internet, you'll find a lot of great photos of the Philadelphia skyline taken from the Spring Garden Street Bridge. The bridge stretches East to West and crosses the Schuylkill River and I76.

 

The reflections from the river (out of frame to my left) or the lights from the highway make a great foreground and when you add the skyline as the backdrop this site is a no-brainer and that's why it's so popular.

 

Anyway, I finally decided to breakdown and add this shot to my portfolio...however, I decided that I had to put my own spin on it...

 

The first time that I scoped out the site I didn't take any shots because I was quickly spooked by the speeding cars a few feet from my back and the unobstructed drop to the highway below...

 

Ok, so fast forward a few years later and I finally decided to make a trip back but this turned out to be a wasted trip too because the sky was too plain

 

Finally on my 3rd and last trip I was able to compose the shot that I wanted but it wasn't easy. As you can see I used the highway and the neighboring railroad in the foreground which created a unique juxtaposition. The problem was that I didn't want to shoot wide because the skyline would too far away so I choose to zoom in and do a 27 shot pano.

 

So as the sun set over I76 and I was finally able to get the shot I wanted...Whew! I'm glad that's over with...

 

 

 

 

Done