Bricks & Mortar

I have been fascinated by Fort Pike since childhood growing up in Gulfport. Located at Rigolets Pass on US 90, my family would occasionally stop here on the way to New Orleans. Its construction was started in 1819 and completed around 1826. Over the course of its commissioned life, it served different purposes, including a prison and barracks complex. Although it is strategically located on a major water route between the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain, and it was armed with a number of large cannons, there was never a shot fired during battle from the fort. Being located right at the waterline, unfortunately the fort has been battered by tropical storms for many years. And due to its advanced age, it has taken a real beating. This morning I revisited the fort happy to see that it was once again open after having been closed for over two years.

This image is full frame which I worked on in CS4 for shadow/highlights and saturation in an attempt to get the levels where they looked correct. I was set up about 5 feet from the arch at the nearest side, and I framed it level to avoid obvious convergence distortion at this focal length. A larger image is included, which I had to dumb down quite a bit to get it under 500k.

E-5 ZD7-14 @7 Manfrotto 3265 on GT2531, 4 second delay including 2 second MLU ISO 100 3.2 sec f9 -0.7EV