Murray Morgan Bridge
Thea Foss Waterway
Tacoma, WA
April 13 & April 14, 2016
Sometimes, a day makes all the difference.
This month, my study group is taking pictures of the same subject over a period of three different visits. I decided that one of my subjects for the month would be the Murray Morgan Bridge in Tacoma, WA, which was opened in 1913 and renovated and reopened in 2013. The Bridge is a major landmark connecting the north end of downtown Tacoma with the Port of Tacoma.
On my first visit, I had just gotten out of my car when it began to rain. I had just barely gotten onto the bridge and sought shelter on a covered staircase which connects the bridge with the water level below. The rain began falling sideways and I limited myself to subjects I could see from my covered perch, including the photo from April 12's blog post.
Visit number two was overcast but fairly bright. I photographed the west end of the bridge before proceeding to the east end and the warehouse district below. Many of the warehouses in this area of the port are not being used and several are quite derelict, which makes for great texture and pattern photography.
Right before heading back over the bridge, I took the photo below. Although it is in color, I reduced the saturation of the image to make any colors pastel. I like the way the puddle reflects the supporting structures of the bridge approach. And, I like the somewhat gritty feeling of this view.
On my third visit, light was on my side. The previous day's overcast light was replaced with billowy clouds against a blue sky. On this occasion, I made my way to the far north end of the Thea Foss waterway to the Urban Waters Building, home to Washington State's Puget Sound Partnership and other agencies tasked with Puget Sound clean-up efforts. Looking south along the Foss waterway, the Murray Morgan Bridge framed several other of Tacoma's architectural landmarks, including the Tacoma Dome.
For the shot at the top of this post, I used a red filter while shooting in black and white and chose a high contrast setting on my camera. The result is an Ansel Adams-esque view of The City of Destiny.
Historylink.org article on the 11th Street/Murray Morgan Bridge
Historic Tacoma article on Murray morgan Bridge