Tuesday, April 21, 2009

The Bat Cave

Taken at the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area two weekends ago. Open nightly from May–Oct. for a spectacular emergence of up to 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats from the abandoned tunnel on the old San Antonio Road, originally part of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Co. that operated from 1913 to 1941. I left the people in the shot (see them?) to add a sense of scale to the scene.

Title: "The Bat Cave"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Used Photomatix Pro to create an HDR image from three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) > Photoshop CS3 > combined the HDR image with the original underexposed image to keep the inside of the tunnel completely black (Photomatix desperately wanted to bring out some detail of the tunnel's interior but it just wasn't there)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What people? I see what looks like tall fat grass sticking up in the opening.

Cool shot and it does give it a sense of scale. Must be awesome when they come out!

DHaass

Larry said...

I see the people on a platform in the upper right corner - anyone we know?

I like the composition and the post-processing on the image. I do think that the shot would be improved if the people were more prominet.

Larry J. Patrick said...

I could see where HDR would want to add details to a part of the photo that should not have any. I think that the darkness of the tunnel really helps anchor the viewer's eye. It is something that you can move around. Good job.

Anonymous said...

WOW!! Were you able to get any of the bats? I realize from experiencing this phenomena that it's difficult...just asking!!!

Barry Armer said...

Thanks Doug, Larry, Patrick, and Shirley!

Doug - If you still don't see the people look for them in the upper right hand corner!

Larry - Yes you do know the unnamed persons in the photo and for them to be more prominent in the photo they would have been required to make a trek they weren't inclined to take! :-)

Shirley - I thought I saw a bat fly out of the other end of the tunnel when I fist got there but it was so far away it could have been just about any winged creature. The season is apparently May through October so I was a little early. They have a grandstand, an observation platform and other viewing areas so it looks as if they draw quite a crowd of spectators at times!

Cheers!
Barry

Anonymous said...

I was so focused on the big bat hole I didn't look up. I thought someone was bent over in the opening!

If the hole was your main subject, mission accomplished.

DHaass