Theme # 228 "Patriotic"

"Suffolk County Vietnam War Memorial", Farmingville, NY.

Situated on top of Bald Hill, one of the highest points on Long Island, this monument was constructed under the guidance of the Suffolk County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee in 1991. The monument, a sharply sloping pyramid, painted boldly in the colors of our nation's flag, acknowledges the service and sacrifice of all Vietnam Veterans - those who died, those who were wounded, and the men and women who served. It is hoped the memorial will help heal the trauma of those war years in a spirit of reconciliation and remembrance. This site affords a spectacular and inspirational, unobstructed view of Suffolk County for miles in all directions.

I made about four trips here to capture this image but the light just was not what I wanted. Usually it was later in the afternoon around sunset. Today I happened to be in the area and saw those extremely large, puffy cumulus clouds and I knew that I better hurry. I got there at around noon time and by the time I got my camera gear and walked to the Memorial site I suddenly realized that I will be facing directly into the high noon sun. I took about thirty or so shots and tried to be exact in aligning up my camera and be centered properly. That said it was a hit and miss deal as the wind was blowing probably in the 30-40 mph range and the clouds were zooming by. The sun is shining through the dark clouds just to the right of the top of the memorial. Believe it or not I did not blow out the highlights because of the sun being behind the cloud so I lucked out and IMHO this is a keeper. Other shots I took where the clouds were white and not dark were over-exposed with hot spots. I use Lightroom for my PP and I did use the gradient filter on the top and left side to reduce my exposure. It acts the same as if I used a neutral density filter but to me its much better as I could use it on the left side also. I kept just a smidgen of the four ground trees on the bottom so that the Memorial did not appear to just emerge from the granite walk way. The Memorial is surrounded by heavy guard rails because I believe it was in 1997 that a couple of teenagers were painting there Graffiti art on the sides of the granite walls of the Memorial. They were caught and apprehended by the local police.

Nikon D90 2009/04/07 12:23:05

RAW (12-bit)

Lens: 12-24mm F/4 G

Focal Length: 20mm

Exposure Mode: Aperture Priority

Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern

1/250 sec - F/22

Exposure Comp.: 0 EV

Sensitivity: ISO 200

White Balance: Auto

AF Mode: AF-A

Hand Held