I was on my way (or “10-76”, as I was once required to say) to Mandan to wrap up some business last night when I noticed a very neat phenomenon on the bridge. The air was quite hazy and the snow was flying, and the lights on the new Memorial Bridge caused a sharp line of light next to the bridge on the north side. It was such a sharp-edged beam of light that one could drive right up to it! Really cool.

Having accomplished what I needed to in Mandan, I came back and took a few minutes to see how my camera would react to the light. Since I needed to do a long exposure anyway, I decided to hold the shutter open long enough to make the taillights of passing cars streak across the frame. I experimented with the settings a bit to make sure I got the blazing beam of light on the bridge’s north edge, the taillights, and the other regions of the picture all exposed the way I wanted to. Fun!