Reveling in their last days of a high school career, Valley Regional students set sail for their Senior Reception aboard the Mystique, a Lady Katharine Cruise ship. The casually-attired event featured an evening of fine dining, dancing and charming scenery along the Connecticut River.

Ahh, what a delightful weekend in Kingston it was. Chris and I bottled our first batch of beer – a porter – that is roughly 1-2 weeks away to being delicious (the anxiety is unbearable). As if that wasn’t enough, down the road from his apartment is a giant, decommissioned hospital boat appropriately dubbed “The Floating Hospital.” Images of that excursion to come throughout the week.

This image was shot from the stern of the floating hospital. The rail bridge is located just after the mouth of the Delaware and Hudson Canal. It was ideated by a couple of industry workers, the Wurtz brothers, during the mid-nineteenth century as a means of transporting goods from Pennsylvania, to New York and Canada. I’ve been unable to figure out what the name of the actual bridge, or what interest those smoke stacks might have once served; however, what I can tell you that the horn on that freight train in the morning is chilling.

This is my first attempt at creating a High Dynamic Range image. I’ve never tried it out before, but would like to expound upon it in the coming weeks, especially after seeing some amazing results sifting through all of your blogs. I’m running into some difficulty with other images I took of the boat; I’m just not obtaining the balance I’m envisioning. I’m currently using Photoshop CS4 to create my HDR’s, which feels a bit limited. I’ve read a couple of online tutorials, but would be open to hearing anything you think might help a newb. I’ma keep at it!

Any recommendations on a superb Mac program?