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

Hurricane Sandy

Tapestry during Hurricane Sandy - Click image for larger view

We were fortunate here in Pawtuxet Cove as the tides never got as high as predicted and we were well protected from the east wind. Tapestry road out the storm with ease and no harm was done. Others here in Rhode Island didn't fair as well as there was a lot of damage. This photo was taken by aiming my headlights toward the boat from the flooded parking lot. The water level got about three feet above the high tide mark. The pilings as the end of my finger piers only had a few feet left on them before the water began to recede. Our big fear was that the docks would have floated over the tops of the pilings.  The pilings along the main dock are much taller so I don't think we would have gone far.  I had put out extra storm lines and dropped the anchor off the bow. Sorry for the grainy shot but I pushed the ISO all the way up. There was no power here in the neighborhood so it was really dark.

Shirley's Mushroom

Shirley's Mushroom - click image for larger view

Sometimes you can spot the shot from a long way off. As I was driving into Shirley's driveway I saw this mushroom along side and immediately saw the color and composition and just what lens to use. Sometimes it works out like that.. mostly it doesn't.

Ben and Pappa, and Nana - Stacking Wood

We got a load of wood and moved it from the street to the patio and stacked it. Ben thought it would be a great idea to do a stop motion time lapse of all the incredible manly action. This video runs about 2 and a half minutes but spans about an hour and a half in real time.

Mount Hope Bridge Video Followup

So while I was at the Mount Hope bridge I took a lot of video and I edited together this two minute spot that we blasted out to our concrete customers. Good response so far. . . It is quite a process and I spoke to the site foreman today who said that they got a very good finished section, and they are really loving the Stik-It.

Mount Hope Bridge with Vibco Vibrators

Mount Hope Bridge - Click image to view interactive panorama

The Mount Hope Bridge connects Bristol Rhode Island with Portsmouth, Rhode Island and was constructed in 1929.  I was down here today delivering some of our Vibco Vibrators to a company that is refacing the piers. We were working on the Portsmouth side. It was a beautiful day and I got to climb all over the construction site with my cameras and of course the vibrators did their job perfectly.

Bucket of concrete - Click image for larger view

The concrete (and me) was transported to the bridge pier by barge in these large buckets and then lifted up to be emptied into the forms.

Vibrator in operation - Click image for larger view

Here is one of our Vibco Vibrators in operation.  This is an SVRFS-4000 aluminum model with our new suction mount we call the 'Stik-It'. The ease of operation was surprising and the movement and consolidation of the concrete was fantastic.