The Arcola Soo Line Bridge spans 2,682 feet and stands 184 feet above the St. Croix River, connecting Stillwater, Minnesota with Somerset, Wisconsin. Usually when I take a photograph, I drive up in my Jeep in good light, get out with my camera gear and set up - this has pretty much been my routine for years and I've been able to capture hundreds of beautiful scenes, but the Arcola Bridge required a different approach.

On a hot September afternoon I decided it was time to drive to Stillwater and capture the Arcola High Bridge the way I wanted to see it. A full moon was going to rise an hour before sunset and a windless, humid day meant that a haze in the air would create vibrant colors in the sky after sunset. I parked along Arcola Trail North and trekked northeast into the woods until I reached the bridge.

This bridge is alive, constly shifting and settling. I stood there on the tracks for any hour as the sun set and the moon rose higher into the eastern sky, leaving only after the last sign of civil twilight faded away.


Arcola Soo Line BridgeStillwater, Minnesota September 11, 2011

Washington County

Pentax 67 - Fuji Velvia RVP 50