2022 Trip Chronicles: Page 5

California Coast 8/29

After my productive Middle Fork of Bishop Creek backpack, I wasn't interested in further Sierra Nevada trips because of the dry, droughty conditions and gasoline costs that were above $6 per gallon, which would cost this person over $130 round trip minimally to the Eastern Sierra. So, looking elsewhere, on Tuesday, August 29, 2022, I went back to nearby familiar Pacific Coast areas. The following coastline area has conglomerate geology that erodes out, leaving rocks that, sloshing endlessly in shore waves, grind and polish themselves into smaller, smooth stones. Stones that are otherwise dull due to rough, unpolished micro-surfaces look much more aesthetic when wet.

There is a photographer's tripod game involved at surf edges where variable waves wash up on stony shores. There is also a need for short-term weather and tide planning, as wet stones appear more aesthetic in higher-altitude sun conditions on our frequently foggy and/or overcast coast. And one won't want to make a visit when tides are moving in the wrong direction or, worse, are so moderate that other visitors have trampled otherwise pristine surfaces. A better time to play the game is near full or new moon phases of incoming tides that will continually refresh any earlier footprints and nicely rearrange stones.

Without one eye on approaching waves, one may become soaked while trying to pay attention to subjects below. I always expect to get the outside of my waterproof boots wet and carry a rag in case any splashing reaches my gear. Much worse is the possibility of salty seawater splashing up on one's camera gear, sure to rust internal metal surfaces and short out electronic circuits. Also, especially on breezy days, the marine atmosphere itself is so heavy with salt that it can coat lens surfaces with an optically disrupting film. So I am constantly inserting and removing protective lens caps and using microfiber glass cleaning cloths. Additionally, fine sand that is often wet and/or sticky can be picked up or blown in the air to easily get into small spaces on cameras that may cause mechanical issues.

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This first image above shows a wave-smoothed surface of fine wet sand with seagull and raccoon tracks plus pieces of loose seaweed.

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This next image above contains some of the same loose seaweed on dry stones, which shows a relatively weaker aesthetic with dry stones. Dry stones do not, however, have bright spurious sun reflections from the sun.

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A wet stone image taken within a few minutes of a wave washing up on this shore location with good sand matrix separation between individual stones. It only takes a few minutes, given usual shore breezes, for what were wet stones to increasingly show an unaesthetic, barely wet-to-dry look, so one must work quickly. Of course, sometimes after setting up my tripod, preparing to take a set of focus stack blend shots, another wave will slosh up high enough to totally change whatever subject I had tried to work. Because each new wave rearranges stones while burying some and unburying others, one can continually work a stone zone during incoming tides due to the constant renewal. Like all my work over decades, I never touch or manipulate elements I photograph.

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Another wet stone subject in a sand matrix that is a 2-row stitch blend that includes the frame of the previous image above rotated clockwise, demonstrating how seamlessly and accurately the Kolor Autopano stitching app works.

Most of my close-up photography does not use the tripod I use for landscapes, an Oben CT-2316 carbon fiber tripod with a Manfrotto MH054M0 magnesium ballhead plus a Nodal Ninja III MK II manual panoramic head for stitching panels. Instead, over the decades, I have used a Benbo Trekker with a simple ball head that is vastly more flexible down low or on irregular surfaces. The Benbo is, however, a most dangerous tool to one's expensive lenses on a camera if not handled carefully, as the center column, if not held before tightening down, may swing down, smashing a lens against ground elements. A consistent, safe operation without thinking, that is best developed by repeated experience. Most of my close-up work is with a very sharp, flat edge-to-edge field Sigma 56mm F1.4 lens; however, I occasionally will use my Sigma 30mm F1.4 or Sony 85mm primes that are also exceptionally sharp. Due to the small nature of such stone subjects, there is not usually much aesthetic value in capturing larger stitch-blended frames, so most of this work is single-frame subjects.

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Another stone image this day, just seconds after a wave sloshed across this spot.

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There is a tendency in some limited locations, due to seawater flows, for sand and stones to filter stones by size. Thus, areas where many similar-sized stones are nicely displayed. Often, such spots are also nicely level on a plane, as in the image above.

The final stone close-up image I worked on early afternoon was also my best, displayed at page top. Looking at the enlarged vertical slice view, one will notice some of the seawater still draining down through the porous sands.

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California Coast 9/15

Two weeks later, given usable weather and tides, on Friday, September 15, 2022, I was back again for some more wet stone close-up work. The largest stones at the center in the above image are 2 to 3 inches wide.

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Sometimes I will notice particularly aesthetic stones. I then, while walking back and forth along a shore, regularly check how they and surrounding stones look as new waves change stone positions. I watched this large yellow stone for over an hour before finally finding it in a good setting of other stones. Notice how there is no sand showing, as this was within a large pile of stones.

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Above are dry stones beside wet sand and a colorful purple piece of loose seaweed. In the enlarged vertical slice view, note the frilly edge of the seaweed.

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And my last image this trip, and probably this year of 2022, was a large cyan-hued boulder partially buried in stones. At my Northern California latitude, the sun's midday lower altitude beyond early fall or earlier than mid-spring doesn't allow better snow illumination, minimizing shadows and providing greater saturation from light rays penetrating deeper into rock surfaces.

2022 Trip Chronicles: Contents

David Senesac
email: info@davidsenesac.com

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