Bridges of Madison County: Cedar

The third covered bridge of Madison County that I photographed on my recent trip to Iowa, was the Cedar covered bridge. This bridge was completed in 1883 by Benton Jones and was featured on the cover of the novel “The Bridges of Madison County”. It was built over Cedar Creek, on what is now U.S. Highway 169. It was moved to it’s present location in 1921. This bridge was destroyed by arson on September 03, 2002. A new replica was dedicated during the Madison County Covered Bridges Festival (an annual event in Winterset, Iowa) on October 09, 2004.

Here are a few images of the Cedar covered bridge:

Cedar covered bridge

And here is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) image, made by combining 5 images of differing exposures (-2,-1,0,+1,+2). I’ve done very little HDR work, but I really like the clouds and how the fall-colored trees stand out:

Cedar covered bridge

By the way, the Cedar bridge is the only covered bridge in the area that you can still drive across, as shown by this next image … no barricades!

Cedar covered bridge

And in the surrounding area, fall colors were abundant, including sumac:

Sumac in fall colors, at the Cedar covered bridge

… and these unidentified berries that were growing rampantly on a cluster of trees:

Fall colored berries (not sure of ID) growing on a tree next to the Cedar covered bridge

 

The Cedar covered bridge was the best (for photographing) of the bridges I’ve featured so far. Tomorrow’s featured bridge is the Hogback covered bridge, probably my favorite bridge of the entire trip!

Photo Equipment Used:

  • Canon 1D Mark 3 body
  • Canon 28mm-135mm lens
  • Bogen 3221 Tripod, with Kirk Ent. HD Ballhead
  • ISO 200
  • Aperture f/22
  • Shutter Speed 1/10 sec.
  • For HDR image, 5 images shot with varying exposure (-2 EV, -1 EV, 0, +1 EV, +2 EV) and then merged using Photomatix Pro software

 

 

Posted in Landscape Photography, Nature Photography, Travel Photography
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