The Last Word – Jamey Stillings: The Colorado River Bridge Project

Earlier this year, while on a road trip en route to photograph solar energy projects in the Mojave Desert, Santa Fe-based commercial photographer Jamey Stillings and his first assistant, Mike Sakas, encountered the impressive construction site of the new Colorado River Bridge, downstream from Hoover Dam.

The next day, at dawn and dusk, Jamey photographed the bridge from public locations. Jamey says, “Watching the bridge’s construction, especially at night, is magical and inspiring. I envisioned a photo essay that would meld photographic and aesthetic sensibilities with a reawakened sense of childhood curiosity and awe.”

Upon returning home Jamey approached The New York Times Magazine to gain editorial support for a photo essay on the bridge. The Times was enthusiastic and gave Jamey a guarantee of first publication rights and a letter of assignment. He developed a good line of communication with the project manager of the Hoover Dam Bypass Project, paid for a photo permit and a chaperone to continue photographing the project a few days each month. An aerial image from the project “Bridge to Somewhere” was published in The New York Times in its June 14, 2009 Architectural Issue.

Jamey shot the project with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II on a Gitzo tripod with a mix of Canon and Zeiss lenses. He used live view for critical focusing at dawn, dusk and night, as well as mirror lockup. He works at optimal apertures for each lens, always balancing aperture, shutter speed and ISO. A gyro was used for aerial work during which time he prefers manually focused lenses. Most non-moving low-light images are bracketed for potential HDR, –2, normal, +2. Jamey prefers combining images manually in Photoshop with layer masks or Photomatix HDR processing. He says, “I am looking for enhanced dynamic and tonal range, but not the strange effects that standard HDR processing sometimes creates.”

Jamey is working toward a major exhibition and a book about the project. To see more photographs from the Bridge Project and other work, visit www.jameystillings.com. Photoeye Gallery in Santa Fe is exhibiting a selection of images from the project through November 28, 2009.

Paul Slaughter is a world-traveled photographer, writer and ASMP member residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Paul specializes in location, stock and fine art photography. You can view portfolios of Paul’s work at www.slaughterphoto.com.