Sundial Bridge in Invisible Light - Redding California

by Mike Lee

Title

Sundial Bridge in Invisible Light - Redding California

Artist

Mike Lee

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

On a Sacramento River float with my son, I naturally felt compelled to photograph the iconic Sundial Bridge in Redding, CA, after we’d floated under it. Of course, the “iconic” part means that everyone and his uncle has photographed it. Therefore, in addition to the increasingly “cliché” visible light frames I captured, I shot it with my infrared gear. I captured frames for false-color processing as well as this 830-nanometer capture. I really like shooting at this IR “cut.” At this point you’re well past the part of the EM spectrum the human eye can see, so there is no color. Therefore, quite dramatic black and white images can be created with nearly black skies and nearly bone-white clouds (and foliage). The high clouds here (which are probably dissipating contrails from planes) made for a quite nice sky over the bridge in my opinion.

The Sundial Bridge is a pedestrian bridge designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Completed in 2004, the 700-foot-long structure spans the Sacramento River without touching the water, preserving salmon-spawning habitat below. Its 217-foot-tall inclined pylon supports the bridge via a dramatic cable-stay design and also functions as the gnomon of an actual working sundial, casting shadows on a large dial on the ground (which is accurate one day per year at noon). The translucent glass deck allows sunlight to pass through, minimizing its environmental impact and just looks cool. The design bears a strong resemblance to Calatrava’s earlier Puente del Alamillo in Seville, Spain—a vehicular and pedestrian bridge built for Expo '92—earning it the nickname of the Sundial Bridge’s “sister.” Together, the two bridges showcase Calatrava’s fusion of art, engineering, and environmental sensitivity.

𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯, 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘢𝘯-𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘹𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬—𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦-𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘈 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳.

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April 8th, 2025

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