Downtown Dallas from the Sylvan Avenue Bridge

Being bored is a terrible thing; however, those are the moments that lead to my greatest photography. I have a terrible habit of when I am really bored. My habit is getting into my car and driving around Dallas to clear my mind. For me, there is nothing more relaxing than driving my car on a open road and enjoying the scenery. Whenever I take these trips, I always bring my camera. 9 times out of 10, there will always be something interesting to photograpgh.

So on a night in late June, I was bored and I decided to take a drive. It didn't matter where or why. I needed to do something. So I drove. I turned out of my house, and found myself heading south on US 75. After driving around Deep Elum, I decided to go to the Design District. I had been recently doing a lot of work in the design district and I thought it would be a good idea to see the neighborhood where I was working on a new development. After making a quick site visit and not finding much of interest, I headed back to Irving Boulevard and headed towards the photography district. Competitive Camera, Dallas Camera, and Don's Photo equipment. All the stores had all ready closed by that point in the evening; but I was down in the Design District, so why not. As I drove by Competitive Camera, I noted ahead that the Sylvan Avenue Bridge was open.

The bridge had been closed for months while TXDOT and the City of Dallas were working on replacing the previous bridge. I knew this was a opportunity I could not pass up. I turned left and started to cross the bridge. As my car started to reach the top, I could see the entire Dallas Skyline. It was perfect.

For years, I had seen fellow photographers take a photos of the Dallas Skyline from this angle. I hadn't figured it out where they had shoot from; until now. As I got to the other side of the bridge and started to enter the Singleton Industrial / Trinity Grove neighborhood, I did a u-turn and headed back to the bridge. I found an area to park on the shoulder and went at it.

Luckily I had brought my tripod and Cam Ranger. Cam Ranger is a great wireless camera control solution. It is great to use on shoots outside of the studio. You are able to control many aspects of your DSLR remotely. It is especially helpful with architectural photography when you are looking to do light painting or using a remote flash. On this shoot it was especially a lifesaver.

Back to the Dallas Skyline. This shoot was challenging to say the least. Along the eastern side of the bridge towards downtown, there is a extremely large transmission power line that extends over the trinity river connecting the Design District and the Singleton Industrial neighborhoods. To try and shoot between these power poles can be frustrating at time. I just keep adjusting my setup until I found the exact location I needed.

On top of the utility pole issues, the guard rail is relatively high. Using my tripod, I extended my camera mount about two feet in the air to solve this issue. This is where the cam ranger came into play. Not being able to use my viewfinder or reach the shutter release, I used my cam ranger and iPad to remotely control the camera. This was a life saver. There was no way I could have gotten the shots in a more timely fashion.

I hope you enjoy the photos below as much as I have. I loved shooting the Dallas skyline and photos like these are why I go on random adventures. You never know what you might find.