Landing Ruins at Dumbarton Point

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This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best"

picture the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.

 

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Before writing a contribution to this thread, please consider our reason for having this forum: to help people learn

about photography. Visitors have browsed the gallery, found a few striking images and want to know things like why is it

a good picture, why does it work? Or, indeed, why doesn't it work, or how could it be improved? Try to answer such

questions with your contribution.

 

KAP is an interesting area of technical photography to obtain a large® area plan view when pointed straight down. It's almost akin to a gigantic flatbed scanner since in most instances objects photographed are of low(er) elevation. It is no small feat to get a rig working to the state of making pictures as in Cris' portfolio, and risks are high in the catastrophic failure while in use but Cris seems to have it down to a reliable routine.

 

There really isn't much one can say about aesthetics in the traditional sense as the captured image is often a surprise - as Cris states in his bio.: "Composition is accomplished in absentia as I imagine what the camera above would see.", although I imagine it is possible to rig a wireless video downlink at greater complexity to frame a shot.

 

Wonderful work, Cris, and thank you for sharing background and details on your web site.

is this an areal photograph? i am finding this most interesting trying to figure out exactly what is being displayed here! i imagine that this is an old jetty of sorts. interesting choice of colours for the water indeed.

Is this realy an areal photo ?!!! ^^^ Wonderful view & excellent composition ^^^ Warm regards & Best wishes

 

***Ali***

At the first glance I thought this to be a shot of someone's tools on a wall.

It's great to see that every now and then someone comes up with a technique that, while still producing photographs as we know them, looks new.

I can only hope to be as intuitive. Well done Cris.

Until I read Michael Chang's response (thanks, Michael), I never dreamed that this is an aerial photograph. My first impression was that it's an abstract done in a minimalist style. Having said that, I must congratulate Cris for his ingenuity and creativity. Once Michael set me straight, I realized that the detail of the structures is quite amazing, and the color tonality and contrast are awesome.

 

Congratulations, Cris.

 

michael

nice shot, good colors

POW is proving more and more effective at bringing diverse and interesting work to our attention. This for me is possibly the best example yet. Although I was aware of KAP as an approach I had seen very little of it displayed - no doubt I haven't been looking in the right places. Cris Benton seems an obviously accomplished exponent. This choice of this particular photograph from his collection for POW is well considered since, as seen in comments above, more than in most of the others the content does not seem to register at all at first glance but is gradually revealed as we look closer and overcome our initial confusion. Perhaps interesting to compare with the work of David T Hanson ( http://davidthanson.net/ ).

 

'Similar / Related Photographs' facility is a nice innovation.

 

PF

From a kite?! I was sure that this was shot from a fixed-wing aircraft, but was not sure how. I read some things on your site about the technique. This is fascinating stuff, and the images truly are original.

 

Any statistics on camera mortality using these approaches?

 

--Lannie

I like the relatively rare perspective, and the few moments it takes to determine the scale and perspective only adds interest to the photo.

While I enjoy looking as such a photo, I have a hard time fully relating to it because it's something I'll never be able to do; I feel the same

about astrophotography, one of my favorite subjects. Thanks for sharing.

I think this type of work is truly representative of an interdisciplinary approach to photography; ones requires a fair bit of knowledge in a multitude of disciplines in order to successfully create such work. Like astrophotography, it takes commitment of study, patience and gear-making to create anything at all, then comes the art of making it better and better through refinement of technique and understanding the underlying sciences. The quality of Cris' work is not surprising given his years of dedication to the art and craft of KAP.

 

I think his work can be appreciated at several levels. Without knowing anything about KAP, one can appreciate the beauty at face value. Scientists may study previously unobserved findings, and technologists may refine the art of kite making and camera rigs based on Cris' publications. Best of all, it's an activity that can be shared among friends, with children, family and colleagues. At a personal level, I can see how such activities can progress to higher levels - perhaps larger kites, or balloons to reach higher altitudes.

We are missing something. How do we measure size here? There is little with which to judge. I guess that's part of the beauty and interest in this photo. I see the salt along the edge of the water on the beach. The strange colored shalow water lends an overall pattern which is interesting. Most unusual and well worth examining, as are other photos in your portfolio which use a similar technique.

 

The pilings, if that is what we are seeing, are not as straight with the edge of the picture as they could be with a bit of cropping.

 

Willie the Cropper

Wow, Fantastic........

 

As my friend Michael Linder said it took me some time to disagree with myself that this is not a picture of a toolbox.

 

Without casting any apprehension on the authenticity of the photo, I have to admit it is a superb shot. Hearty congratulation to Cris and thank him for sharing it with colleagues at PN.

Cris, I am certainly a fan of your photos, and this for quite a few years, but honestly, this is disappointing. It has such a digital feel to it, that I am really not surprised to read that this is a photo-montage, although I can't tell what was done to create this image. I do remember your previous POW, which was a truly wonderful image, and I do understand what you are trying to achieve - which is well summed up by the "quote" in Michael Chang's first post. But where does "reality" stop and where does fiction start ? At the end of the day, I think it would have been nice, after so many years on this site, to at least state in your technical notes, or in a later comment, that this was a photo-montage - as you bothered stating on Flick. I hope we'll at least learn now how it's done, although I don't hold my breath, given the number of comments you have posted here over the years...

 

Admittedly, this is a very interesting picture for a discussion, but even aesthetically speaking, I can't really say if I like it or not, because this needs to be viewed much larger. At this size, it almost looks like a purely computer-generated background for some air-plane combat video game... What I like in most of your images is the real SENSE OF EARTH I get from looking at them. Here I don't feel or see this - at this size, at least... So my conclusion would be that the Elves might have picked here your most unusual image, but one that singularly lacks any life, and where explanations and enlargement are needed if we are to truly appreciate anything about it.

Interesting. It grabbed my attention trying to figure what I was looking at. I needed to go to the portfolio to realize it was an aerial. It's very original. Aesthetically & compositional it jut doesn't work for me. But that's only personal taste

I was a little disappointed at first to learn of this image being a montage even though the the two comments Iwrote above were made toward Cris' general body of photographs. I, however, don't believe there was intent todeceive nor confuse. The fact that this is manipulated (as noted on Flickr) perhaps should have been noted here,and indeed Cris may have forgotten to. However, PN is a site where full disclosure is optional and often photosare discussed only based on the merits of "as presented".

 

I was more concerned with last week's POW being a montage, to be honest, but didn't want to stir a hornet's nestunless I was able to be sure, which I wasn't.

 

I think the bottom line is that Cris is a committed KAP enthusiast and has contributed significantly todisciplines including photography.

I've tried to find this site but just cannot. I love this graphic image and just cannot seem to find this

point with these ruins on a map. Cris has a wonderful portfolio.

This is very fine. The aerial perspective, composition, use of light, and play of shapes against a color field makes it a very powerful photograph. I wish I had made it.

This is really a great abstract work. Not easily understandable in thumbnail even not if I see it at enough screen size if there is no explanation. Really great idea to execute Cris..... Congratulation for the reward as POW...!

At first look I thought it was about some setup. Yes, from the air it looks like a setup. This is very creative concept and it takes a lot of time and a great eye to find amazing and playful sights from above. Earth has magnificent patterns to explore. Almost an unearthly, one can think. Person can practice a spatial awareness through it.

And the whole portfolio is very interesting and reach in color that I personally like it a lot.

In hindsight, this is a remarkable image. What is initially seen and what is perceived are totally different. I think the magnitude/scale of the subject matter and the angle in which it is taken alludes to the simplicity and minimalism, which is anything but that. Almost like a contradiction in terms. The colours certainly add to that illusion. This photo can easily be a work of abstract art as much as a documentary piece.

Eye catching colors, not so clear to determine what it is though. Interesting.

I beleive that this shot is of the old Dumbarton bridge just West of Newark, Calif. Ken, check it out , you're not to far from there. I used to live in Newark and there was an old wooden bridge that was built by the Army during WWII. It used to connect Newark to Palo Alto. After the war, a man by the name of Dumbarton, bought the bridge from the Army and used to charge a $ .50 toll to use it. It was quicker than going all the way to Oakland and crossing the Bay there. It spanned the old salt flats in that area. I left that area in 1963 and I think they closed it down shortly there after because it really wasn't very safe. By the way Mr. Dumbarton made a lot of money off of that bridge. Maybe Cris can verify this!

This shot makes you open it fully and investigate what it is. You then fully understand the caption. It looks abstract yet it's real.

Enjoyed your perspective. Something simple but froma different angle.

I offer my thanks to all for their comments and to the Elves for placing the fostering discussion of the image. I am moderately embarrassed by the lack of specific in my description of the image and my lateness in response.

Just before our Fall 2008 semester began I posted a gallery of images from the salt ponds of South San Francisco Bay. These photographs were selected from several years of shooting in that area and were posted en masse. It had been my intention to then complete the posting by adding descriptive information during the following weeks. Unfortunately, I became sidetracked during the semester and only today, as the Fall Semester is ending, discovered that the selection of this image as POW – a most pleasant albeit embarrassing surprise. I will try to make amends.

Landing Ruins at Dumbarton Point belongs to a series of aerial images I have been taking of cultural sites in South San Francisco Bay. Don Peterson correctly places the subject at Dumbarton Point, west of Newark, California but the landing that once thrived here predates both the salt ponds in that area and the earliest of the Dumbarton Bridges. It belongs to the late 19th Century, a time when commerce-related transportation in San Francisco was decidedly nautical. The landing ruin can be seen from the eastern end of the contemporary Dumbarton Bridge.

You can read more about my project and this site in a newsletter article I wrote for the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (http://www.fws.gov/desfbay/pdf/Tidelines/tideline%20summer08-C.pdf) . The article includes an oblique aerial photograph of the Dumbarton landing site taken after I secured permission to visit the actual site.

This POW photograph is a stitched montage of two adjacent digital photographs taken with a Canon S500 Digital Elph. The resulting image was cropped to be rectangular. I took this photograph in 2005 I held restricted permissions from the Don Edwards refuge and could not approach this site directly. So, from a location that was accessible I sent a camera out over the landing. The geometry was such that I needed to use an underpowered kite so that the camera would stay relatively low for the 500-foot range to the subject. As it turns out I was underpowered and the camera was too low to photograph the entire landing ruin.. Happily, there were two adjacent images that, stitched together, provided near complete coverage of the landing site. While my original motivation was a documentary view of the site I have also found the image pleasing as a minimalist, abstract composition.

Michael Chang’s comments art, science, and technology resonate strongly with me, as does Art X’s reference to the documentary aspect to this image. One of the aspects of kite aerial photography that has sustained my interest is the ability to have multiple readings of the same image. That said the principal intrigue for me in this image is its role as a window through which I can imagine the lay of the land when this site was a hub of activity and I tend to agree with Marc. G.’s ambivalence regarding its aesthetic merit (although it does look fine printed at 8” x 12”.)

Regarding a few questions in the comments:

Michael Chang wondered about using a video downlink as an electronic viewfinder. I have built three rigs that do this only to find I dislike the approach in the field. Video adds complexity, distraction and expense. At the end of the day I prefer to think through the shot.

Landrum Kelly wondered about statistics on camera mortality. In 13 years I have lost two cameras, both Canon Digital Elphs. I let one fall into San Francisco Bay (on purpose) and another met an untimelyend at the University of Virginia. For details see:

http://steel.ced.berkeley.edu/cris/kap/discuss/comments.php?DiscussionID=36 and
http://steel.ced.berkeley.edu/cris/kap/discuss/comments.php?DiscussionID=30

Again, thanks to all for their comments.