Dredging at Quonset

Dredge No. 53 - Click for larger image

Today I had the opportunity to go out onto the bay (via tugboat) and visit a dredging operation off of Quonset Point. I was very impressed with the entire operation, especially with the accuracy with which they are able to control the dig. The captain told us that they can dig as little as a tenth of a foot off the bottom and have dug trenches as deep as 150 feet! The clamshell bucket in the picture below will pull up "two dump trucks full' of dirt in a single bite. If you look at the barge tied along side of the dredge in the picture above and you can see that it is split in half. That is how it empties, they the haul the dirt to a spot about 6 miles west of Block Island, 9 miles south of the Rhode Island shore- an eight hour trip from this location. A truly incredible operation. Thanks to everyone at the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company for their great hospitality

Digging Water - a demo of the bucket

The dredge company logo

Early Morning Light

Early morning rocks - Click for larger view

I shot this the other morning when I took the picture of the house in the post below. I was experimenting with HDR and ND filters around the Old Stone Dam waterfall in the early morning light. I liked the way the sunlight was warming up the rocks around the cool colors of the water. This is an HDR shot of 5 exposures which I developed in Photomatix and Photoshop. Not the best composition and it really doesn't have a subject that sticks out, but I like the action of the water and the contrasting colors.

Hope Valley Morning

Hope Valley Houses - Click for larger view

I got down to Hope Valley early this morning and took a lot of shot around the Old Stone Dam and as I was walking back to the car this view presented itself to me... I liked the light and the New England feel to the scene.

Dawn at 60 MPH

The Windmills of Providence - Click for larger image

Almost every morning as I commute to work I see the most wonderful weather along the way and especially as I cross the bay's head at Providence. And of course I am on the highway and traveling at 60 MPH so have little chance for serious photography. This morning, through drippy windows, shooting without framing, with one hand on the wheel, I got this shot.  Just before the sun came up the light was perfect. This shot has everything you could want in a photo, mood, fog, smoke, the American flag, oil tanks, the 3 new technology wind turbines (Made in China and paid for with stimulus money) and of course Cheaters Gentleman's Club. God bless auto mode. . . .

Stop Motion trip to Ohio

This stop motion video was shot June 5th 2006. It was shot using an Apple iSight taped to the dashboard of our rental car as Edrex and I drove from Rhode Island to Cleveland, Ohio. The iSight was attached to my Mac Powerbook and I was using iStop-Motion software. We captured at the rate of one frame per second, saving every half hour or so to an external hard drive.  The powerbook and external drive were plugged in to a power inverter. This video represents less than half of our trip, as we then went on to Illinois to visit my brother and back to Rhode Island, recording the whole way. I wish I had todays technology to play with... not even HD. The sound track is Mmm Skyscraper by Underworld  And as a simple observation, well after the fact, I seem to pass everything on the road!

The route