Mallard II at Beard's Creek
A few weeks ago I took my Documentary Photography class down to the salt ponds for a field trip. After poking around La Riviere Marsh, the Red Hill Gravel Quarry and the Coyote Hills we headed out to Dumbarton Point to see the old landing. There, to my delight, was the Mallard II clamshell dredge, which was working on rebuilding the levees along the former course of Beard’s Creek.
Having planned a quick demonstration of kite aerial photography for the end of the field trip, I set up a quick session with the dredge as a subject. Unfortunately, the time was late and the winds were fading so aside from a few low and distant shots I had little to show from that demonstration session. I made a note to return and last Sunday had a chance to do so.
When I returned the Mallard II was still parked along the Beard’s Creek levees but was not actively dredging on the weekend. The dredge was about 500 feet downwind from the road adjacent to a levee made impassible by deep soft mud recently placed by the dredge. It appears from the aerial photographs that the dredge is making a second pass down the levee adding additional spoils along the levee centerline.
I was able to position my camera relative to the levee using my nifty new Nikon Forestry 550 Laser Rangefinder/Hypsometer, which uses a pulsed IR laser rangefinder to measure distance, an accelerometer to measure angle of elevation, and then uses trigonometry to calculate and present the triangle representing camera cradle distance, range in plan, and height. It is a delightful bit of kit.
I spent some time photographing the Mallard II around 4 pm PDT and then returned again around 7 pm PDT when the shadows were longer. The set contains a few shots of the Beard’s Creek salt pond as well.
I am taking these documentary photographs under a Special Use Permit from the US Fish & Wildlife. Kite flying is prohibited over the N Ponds without a Special Use Permit.
Mallard II at Beard's Creek
A few weeks ago I took my Documentary Photography class down to the salt ponds for a field trip. After poking around La Riviere Marsh, the Red Hill Gravel Quarry and the Coyote Hills we headed out to Dumbarton Point to see the old landing. There, to my delight, was the Mallard II clamshell dredge, which was working on rebuilding the levees along the former course of Beard’s Creek.
Having planned a quick demonstration of kite aerial photography for the end of the field trip, I set up a quick session with the dredge as a subject. Unfortunately, the time was late and the winds were fading so aside from a few low and distant shots I had little to show from that demonstration session. I made a note to return and last Sunday had a chance to do so.
When I returned the Mallard II was still parked along the Beard’s Creek levees but was not actively dredging on the weekend. The dredge was about 500 feet downwind from the road adjacent to a levee made impassible by deep soft mud recently placed by the dredge. It appears from the aerial photographs that the dredge is making a second pass down the levee adding additional spoils along the levee centerline.
I was able to position my camera relative to the levee using my nifty new Nikon Forestry 550 Laser Rangefinder/Hypsometer, which uses a pulsed IR laser rangefinder to measure distance, an accelerometer to measure angle of elevation, and then uses trigonometry to calculate and present the triangle representing camera cradle distance, range in plan, and height. It is a delightful bit of kit.
I spent some time photographing the Mallard II around 4 pm PDT and then returned again around 7 pm PDT when the shadows were longer. The set contains a few shots of the Beard’s Creek salt pond as well.
I am taking these documentary photographs under a Special Use Permit from the US Fish & Wildlife. Kite flying is prohibited over the N Ponds without a Special Use Permit.