Tonto Natural Bridge, Arizona
There is one photo I still like to show you from my trip to Arizona three weeks ago. Not because it is overly pretty, but it took a few extra thoughts and efforts in the making. On my way back from Petrified Forest National Park to the airport in Phoenix I took a little side trip and visited Tonto Natural Bridge State Park. The bridge is located a few miles north of Payson in the mountains of Central Arizona. It is believed to be the largest natural travertine bridge in the world.
With very limited time on hand (never a good thing) and being there around 2PM, with the sun high in the sky, made me wonder if there was even a decent photo opportunity as I was driving down into the deep valley to the state park area. Another bummer, the access to the observation deck below the bridge was closed due to some high water damage. I had to make the best out of the circumstances at this visit for getting a photo but at least I wanted to see it.
The only way to manage the very high contrast scene was to bracket each image with five handheld shots (-2,-1,0,1,2EV). I’m really not a big fan of HDR but it is amazing how the technology inside of Adobe’s software has improved during the last years. Within a minute the five shots were lined up and merged into a DNG file in Lightroom. It still took some dodging and burning to balance the exposure locally.
I wanted a picture that made it clear that this was a natural bridge, with a little light from the other side, and showing some of the travertine structures. The cactus in the foreground and the pines, or their shadows in the canyon, give a better idea about this place. First I was tempted to remove the safety reeling on top of the bridge but than I realized that it gives this geologic wonder a sense of scale.