January 2025 - Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, (Outer Banks), North Carolina USA
About the Image(s)
Title: Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, (Outer Banks), North Carolina USA
Equipment Used: Canon EOS R6Mk2 EF24-105 f/4L IS USM at 105 mm
Camera Settings: Aperture Priority, ISO 250, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, 0 EV, center weighted average metering
Lighting Conditions: December 31, New Year's Eve, mid-day, around 2:00 PM local time
Where and When: Taken while visiting the Wright Brothers National Memorial Park on a week long trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina between Christmas and New Years. While driving the loop road around the monument, the sun briefly appeared from the clouds and cast its light onto the side of the monument facing west. I just had to stop and photograph it!
The 60 feet (18.29 m) granite monument, dedicated in 1932, is perched atop 90-foot-tall (27 m) Kill Devil Hill, commemorating the achievement of the Wright brothers. They conducted many of their glider tests on the massive shifting dune that was later stabilized to form Kill Devil Hill. Inscribed in capital letters along the base of the memorial tower is the phrase "In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright conceived by genius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquerable faith." Atop the tower is a marine beacon, similar to one found in a lighthouse.
Post-Processing: In Lightroom: enabled lens profile, remove chromatic aberration, straightened & cropped, adjusted blacks, whites, shadows, highlights, increased exposure, then adjusted dehaze, clarity, adjusted contrast, vibrance & saturation to view the image as seen by the eye.
9 comments posted
Alistair How
With the people you get a sense of scale. Just wonder if a tighter crop would give the monument more presence. There is a lot of nothing on the left and right and the inscription which is a key part of the monument would be more obvious to the viewer Posted: 01/15/2025 01:54:32
Alistair How
Crop in, removal of people clambering over it, especially woman with orange trousers. Slight enhancement of some of the texture Posted: 01/15/2025 13:06:03
Gary Walter
First off, it is not permissible to remove anything from an image submitted for Photo Travel competitions. Although I considered in my original editing to crop tighter, I decided to include the large (high) hill on which it is constructed. Perhaps I should have left more in so the height of the hill would be more obvious. Posted: 01/15/2025 14:54:23
Alistair How
Gary - I didn't realise this was a competition entry. Has it been entered? How did it get on? Posted: 01/15/2025 15:29:21
Gary Walter
Alistair, this was not entered into any competition. The purpose of these study groups is to learn or improve the images that meet the requirements for entry into photo travel competitions. Thus, the rules established for such images should be used for participating in the study group. I refer you to the following on the PSA website regarding study groups:
Mate it's just a photo, no need to be getting so wound up about innocent comments. Posted: 01/16/2025 01:09:46
Zhicai Ren
In our PTD study group, communication should be conducted without violating the definition of tourism photography (unless in the PIDC or PIDM groups). In PSA categories, tourism, nature, and news cannot be removed or added elements based on the original film.
Posted: 01/23/2025 05:23:49
Lisa Cirincione
Here's my interpretation of the crop, I wouldn't want a larger view, too much sky then. Athough maybe next time wait til the woman with the orange pants leaves, so that the words are readable. Posted: 01/23/2025 12:25:21
Sylvie Tas
Actually, I like the woman with the orange pants. I think her placement is perfect (lower left corner of the building). In addition to the sense of scale, it adds an interesting element. Posted: 01/27/2025 18:37:48
