Your bridges – of nature

[Heroique]

I journey across many bridges of iron to get where I can photograph bridges of nature.

Rocks across rivers, arches above canyons, clouds over valleys…

Call me fascinated :rolleyes: – but when I discover bridges with blueprint and construction by Mother Nature, they invite me to explore, walk across, go under. Perhaps it’s the drama of jointed scenery that draws me, the passage “between & through.”

What natural bridges did you capture on film? Please share your favorite shots! Here’s just one to start – an uprooted trunk laid down by flood waters, now a passage between sun & shade. (I walked both ways, plus lingered mid-way for lunch! :p )

Tachi 4x5
Fuji A 240mm/9
¼ sec. @ f/22
T-Max 100 (T-Max RS developer)
Neutral camera (w/ slight lens-forward tilt)
Epson 4990

[Heroique]

It occurs to me this is a rather specialized landscape thread that promises relatively few posts. If you remember a natural bridge in your portfolio, please share so we can see, enjoy, learn. :rolleyes:

(I’m especially curious about sandstone natural bridges from the high southwest & canyon country, if they’re out there.)

Here’s another favorite natural bridge – if you want to explore the hidden lake upper left, you’ll have to cross this approaching overpass. If you need better balance, you can leave your LF gear behind. It will be safe here. (Edge of Goat Rocks Wilderness, Washington)

Tachi 4x5
Schneider XL 110mm/5.6
½ sec. @ f/22
Velvia-50 old version
Epson 4990

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Here's a couple, although technically they're arches, not bridges.

[Heroique]

Here's a couple, although technically they're arches, not bridges.

They look like bridges to me – and beautiful, dancing ones.

Why are they not, technically, bridges? :confused: Can anyone show a natural bridge that would satisfy a Park Ranger?

To complement your flying arches over desert, here’s a floating bridge across a lake.

It connects opposite shores of Spirit Lake – immediately north of Mt. Saint Helens (to left, outside camera’s view).

I think Mother Nature claimed more than 50 human lives – and countless animals – when she lost her temper and constructed this bridge. And the big trees that once covered these lands served as her building material. I presume some of the people who disappeared were landscape photographers. This bridge opens and closes in the wind, taking on different shapes. :p

Tomorrow (May 18th) marks the 29th anniversary of the bridge opening, quite a cataclysmic affair.

Tachi 4x5
Schneider XL 110mm/5.6
Velvia-50 (old version)
1/15th sec. @ f/22
Epson 4990

[John T]

Natural bridges are water formed.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Yes, as John mentioned, natural bridges are formed by water while arches are formed by wind, water, ice, and the various other factors of erosion. Most of these structures in the southwest are arches, while true bridges can be seen at Natural Bridges National Monumnet in Utah. I went once, but unfortunatley didn't get any great shots, although perhaps I'll have to dust off the film and make a scan to post.

Doesn't anyone else out there have any shots of nature's bridges (or arches) to post for us to admire? This would seem like a very popular landscape subject- didn't David Muench do a whole book on natural arches and bridges?

[Heroique]

Doesn't anyone else out there have any shots of nature's bridges (or arches) to post for us to admire? This would seem like a very popular landscape subject-

I’m eager to see more of these, too – perhaps a few of us are in southeast Utah.


It connects opposite shores of Spirit Lake – immediately north of Mt. Saint Helens (to left, outside camera’s view).

For better context, here’s the architect of the floating bridge above, taken the same day.

And two relaxing puffs of self-satisfaction for a job sublimely done.

Tachi 4x5
Fuji A 240mm/9
1/30 sec. @ f/22
TMax-100 (TMax rs developer)
Level camera (10mm front fall!)
Epson 4990

[Steve Gledhill]

Sun Arch in Mystery Valley, AZ. Named by a friend as 'Forty Licks'.

[Steve M Hostetter]

300mm 8x10 Tmax400 scan neg

[Heroique]

Last weekend, I found this Draw Bridge in the Cascade Range – with a boulder passing under, a smaller one following behind.

The waiting bridge traffic was growing long & impatient :mad: – perhaps they forgot to set their watches to geologic time. :p

Tachi 4x5
Schneider XL 110mm/5.6
1/8 sec. @ f/11
Velvia-50 old version
Epson 4990