Salt Ponds

Sweet 'n' Salty

Photography is a progression, both in terms of skill as well as style, eye, taste, and interest. The photos I'm taking in 2019 are different from the photos when I first got *really* into photography in 2011. Some of it's just plain boredom - the scenes that interested me 8 years ago have been photographed so many times that I have no interest in them. Some of it is just that my tastes have changed. Social Media is also to blame - I've seen so many photos of places that they lose their appeal to go visit. "I can just pull it up on Google Earth - why do I need to go there?", Sammi once said to me. Lately I've had fun doing drone photography. The new DJI drones have made some huge leaps and bounds allowing some amazing drone photos and photographers like David Thompson, Miles Morgan and Ryan Dyar had inspired me to pick up a drone last Black Friday. Some of the places in the Bay Area that I've photographed a bazillion times with my dSLR are now interesting again. One thing I love about drone photography is that the entire shape and texture of the landscape can come alive when you get above it. What might have just been a boring stream, ebbs and flows with shape and interest when you get a few hundred feet in the air. This particular sunset was predicted to be nice (thanks Escaype) and it didn't disappoint. In fact, the little drone sensor couldn't handle the color and had to be toned down to bring detail back. Willie and I flew the drones above these salt flats as small streams picked up the sunset colors. The shapes just suck me in and the reflected light warmed the soul. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5, 1/30 sec, ISO 250

Miles' Hairpin Rerun

When Willie and I got our drones during last years Black Friday sale, it opened up a new door to our photography. Scenes that we were bored of became exciting again because you could see them from a different angle. And in some cases, places that were hard to access (rather, impossible to access), accessible. Take these salt flats, for example: trying to walk out in these would have just resulted in getting stuck and needing to be rescued. But with the drone we could explore the area, enjoy its shapes and patterns and the way the light hit the edges of the ponds. We had visited this particular spot a few times when Willie asked if I wanted to do something new: meet Miles Morgan. YES! Miles and I had been Flickr friends for years but never actually met each other in person. When I heard he would be in town for a night, we knew we had to meet and take photos. We met for Mexican food before sunset, then went out to the salt flats to fly our drones and hopefully not crash into each other. Sunset turned out to be a dud when the fog rolled in and blocked the light. Miles was pissed. PISSED! Of course he decided to come back a week later. These salt flats change quickly. The water levels have dropped considerably from 3 weeks ago when we first explored them. More salt is visible. There's more tendrils and shapes and curves and your imagination can run wild. I almost find myself picturing animals sneaking out of this land. I was drawn to this particular spot for 2 reasons: one, the bend in the river created a perfect composition to draw your eye in, and two, the yellow color in the water which beautifully matched the glow on the edge of the stream as the sun dropped low in the sky. It's funny how a few minutes can completely transform the scene: what had originally been overly blown our areas in this scene, all of a sudden came alive when the low edge light came out; then just a minute or two later the entire scene became flat as the sun dropped below the mountains. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO 100

The Eagle Watches Us

Every time I fly the drone I'm still amazed how different scenes look from above than when you're on land. From the sky you can see new shapes and colors and how the land connects together. From the ground you see what's most close to you and so much can be hidden. As a photographer we look for the lines and shapes closest in front of us and how it plays into the things behind it. From the sky the plane becomes flatter and you look for shapes to come out. When we first launched the drone from here I flew it straight up and spun the drone in a circle, looking for anything that might create interesting shapes. I had spotted this scene, which was a medium flight away and made sure to get the drone there before the sun went behind clouds and was lost. I came back to this spot several times as the light changed. Whenever I see this scene I see the shape of a bird, with its flat beak sitting just to the right of center; its eye watching over us, and its open mouth streaking to the left of the scene. Can you see the bird to? From the ground you'd have no clue this existed but from the air I saw different animals coming out of the scene (oh, and in the bottom right corner you can see a flock of birds hanging around in the pond). DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/4.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 320

Do YOU see it?

There's a few tricks that Willie and I use when we get inspiration for our photography but the 2 more popular tools are: 1) being inspired by photos other people have taken and 2) exploring Google Earth. Sometimes another photographer will have taken a similar photo that inspires us to want to explore that area and sometimes we find things on our own with the aid of satellite pictures provided by Google. When we go to a place, we'll pull up Google Earth and scroll around to see if there's anything interesting. For drone photography, this is a particular useful tip as you can get a sense of what the place will look like before going. We saw this particular "U" shaped bend in the river from Google Earth and knew we wanted to photograph it. Doing a little further research showed that at least one other photographer had photographed this before -- that was enough inspiration to convince us we should go check it out. We just loved how the shape of the bend here helped guide the eye through the photo, especially with the little fingers. The first time we visited here was on a foggy morning. The flat light allowed us to take photos and explore the area for quite a long time. But it also meant that the light was flat and not that interesting. We returned a few more times under better conditions and that's when the scene began to glow, as you can see the ground is picking up the golden sunset light. We also loved that the river was filled with yellow algae. I came back a few weeks later and the stream was completely clear, as different algae now lived in it due to the salinity of the water changing. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 100

Salt Monster

A coworker asked me the other day how often I go take pictures. Lately I've been out photographing quite a bit, but it hit me that I haven't used my big camera in quite a while. It's been all drone photography lately. Flying the drone has added a new element to photography. Not only is flying fun, but it's so different from what I've been doing before. All of a sudden I have energy to stay up late editing photos again. Something to be excited about! The more we fly the drone, the more we've looked to maximize our flight time. That means trying to find launch zones that are close to what we want to photograph. It minimizes time flying to the scene, and flying home so that we can spend more time taking pictures. This spot we found by accident as we were looking for a closer spot to photograph a giant "U" shaped bend in a salt-river. I loved this area because the salt streams created what looked like a little monster with legs. Perhaps it's a critter? Some kind of salt bug? The first morning we flew here was foggy but I came back again to photograph it on a clear day when the sun caused the ground to glow with warmth. The vegetation, with its different colors, and especially the *reds* excited me because it meant some different colors could be added to this Salt Pond gallery. Hope you enjoy. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 100

Creeping into the Flats

As I've been spending more and more time working *on* photography at SmugMug, I've found less and less motivation to photograph the same places and things I had previously enjoyed photographing. The city, which was once a constant source of inspiration and focus for my camera, has become too much of an effort to go photograph. Seascapes, which I still love for the motion and power and color, lost interest as most non-photographers continued to lack interest in them. I needed something new to inspire me. I've seen some amazing drone photos from a number of photographers lately. Originally these drones could take great videos but lacked great sensors for still photography; DJI now has a number of well-priced drones that also do great still photos! I picked up a DJI Mavic Pro 2 in November and I've been having a lot of fun flying and taking photos. It's provided a renewed sense of purpose and excitement with my photography. I love getting above the land and seeing its shapes from the sky. It's amazing what just a hundred feet can show you that you would never see from the ground. And when the sun hits it at the right (low) angles, some magic can happen. On this particular night the sunset went blood red and orange in the sky and the streams of water managed to pick up the color beautiful! DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5, 1/15 sec, ISO 640

Smokestack

Willie and I have been photographing these particular salt ponds for over a month now and I love some of the abstract scenes that we've been able to capture. One spot I kept seeing but couldn't get a photo I liked was this edge of the river where th circular shapes seemed interesting but also made us struggle to find something we thought looked pleasing. On my last flight at the pond I came flew the drone low and tried to capture the circular patterns in a way that almost looked like smokestacks -- with the smoke coming out of the stacks in little buffs. The ground caught the setting sun and cast a glow, as if there was a fire above the stacks. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO 100

Tree Branches

If you've read my other captions you're probably sick of reading about the times we went to the salt ponds. If you haven't read the story, just go look at one of the other Salt Pond photos' and you can learn all about them. On this particular sunset, we had clear skies which enabled the ground to pick up the golden glow of the setting sun. I particularly liked this little stretch of the pond because it looked almost like a tree of life. The white salt at the top are the branches and leaves, while the yellow stream (yellow due to the algae that's survived), is the trunk of the tree. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 100

Don Slinky

Over the years I've begun to appreciate the beauty of putting together and entire collection of photos related to a particular theme. It's a little contrast to my typical sharing of one random photo spread out one the course of lots of time (I'd love to post more but I get distracted! Sorry!). When a group of similar photos are shared together they help elevate each other. After flying our drones over salt ponds 5 times in a month, it was clear we were well on our way towards putting together a "Drone Salt Ponds" collection but it needed some different colors, shapes and patterns. Although just a quick jaunt from our other flying locations, we knew this area would have a little bit more *color* in the scene, particularly green. The area here is a little further inland, away from the man-made salt ponds that dry out all the vegetation and allow for salt to grow. I was drawn to this particular scene due to the shape of the stream. It meanders through the shrubs, creating a beautiful back-and-forth motion that reminds me of a slinky. I can just picture this slinky making its way over the beautiful marshland here. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/4.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 400

Wormy Worm

One great thing about being so close to beautiful landscapes is that I can photograph them as they change over time. These salt ponds are a great example -- as time goes on, more of the pond dries up, leaving new things exposed. The salinity of the water changes and different algae is able to survive, giving off different colors to the streams. When we first started visiting this salt pond, this particular spot of the pond had clear water (it appeared "dark"). But as the weeks progressed and the salinity changed, the stream became yellow. Hexagonal patterns in the salt started to form as the salt water dried up and left salty shores behind. And of course the white salt came out as the water levels dropped and left behind the salt. This particular evening had clear skies, which allowed the edges of the salt streams to glow orange from the setting sun. Just before we lost the sun behind the mountains, there was a nice balance of light and shadow that brought this particular curve in the pond out. I loved how it looked like a little worm, slinking through the mud. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 200

Birthday Balloons

Willie and I have spent the last month and a half exploring the salt ponds in the Bay Area. These man-made ponds are used by sea-salt companies where they harvest the salt and then sell it. As the water drains, amazing shapes and formations are exposed and we've loved flying the drones above it to capture the various patterns that come out. We came back to this particular spot because sunset was supposed to be colorful and had hoped we could reflect the red sky back down int other streams and on the surface of the salt formations. As these ponds have dried up, there's also been more hexagonal salt formations created. When we first flew here I saw these circular patterns at the edge of the water and was intrigued if I could make a good photo out of it. It's been tough but on this particular evening I couldn't get "birthday balloons" out of my head when I saw these. It just looked like a string attached to a balloon with lots of confetti pouring out as it popped. Can you see it, even though it's kinda upside-down? DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/4.5, 1/50 sec, ISO 100

Brain Erasor

Flying the drone above a landscape and pointing the camera down affords the ability to take some fairly abstract photographs. The scenes look different when there's no frame of reference, no skyline, no buildings, no sun. Instead we just see shapes and lines and the textures of mother earth. I loved pointing the camera straight down right at sunset to capture one of the salt rivers. The setting sun cast a warm glow on the ground, which was contrasted by the stark-white salt river. The low angle of the sun also cast a beautiful orange glow on the edge of the river, creating even more of a mystical feel. I imagine that the salt pond is a brain, and someone took an eraser and just erased this portion! DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO 100

Gold Rush Pond

I've always loved photographing salt flats because of the hexagonal shapes the salt creates as it dries. Apparently these spots, though are called "salt ponds" because they're man made by a sea salt company who drains the bay to get at the salt below. From the ground you see the salt hexagons in a plane that disappears as you look forward. But from above, thanks to the drone, you can look directly down on the plane of salt, seeing its entire shape and patterns. I liked this particular spot because it had the most hexagonal shapes I could find in the area. Throw in a few dots of red vegetation and we had a pretty scene on our hands. The edges of the salt caught the golden setting sun, making what appears to be a field of gold waiting to be harvested. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/80 sec, ISO 100

Cut through the Heart

Recently I learned the difference between a "Salt Flat" and a "Salt Pond". Both are the same, except that a Pond is man-made and is usually created to harvest sea-salt for food production. As the water level drops, the salinity rises and different kinds of algae can survive in the water. These differing algae create the various colors we see in the salt ponds. Willie and I were flying our drones for the first time in this particular area when I spotted all the lines and patterns out here. Willie didn't particularly like all the intersecting lines but I found something calming about them, so I flew my drone over there anyways and captured it. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/3.5, 1/25 sec, ISO 400

Oasis Hunting

One of the things I love about drone photography is how its view is a completely different perspective from what we normally see. When you look down on a scene from above it brings out things you wouldn't notice -- it's an entirely different plane. When Willie and I first started photographing the salt ponds with our drones we flew high and looked out far. Next we started pointing the camera straight down, removing the sky and looking for interesting shapes. Then we started to look for different colors that we hadn't seen before. Finally we started flying low, giving yet again a different perspective. I loved this particular spot because of the shape of the salt here. It just zigged and zagged like tentacles. And I loved the dichotomy between the vegetation and the drying salt flat. I waited for a cloudless night so I could capture the setting sun glowing off the edges of the stream. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/4.5, 1/120 sec, ISO 100

Scoprio the Salt Man

It's amazing how different lighting can completely change a scene. And it's also amazing how quickly nature changes. The first time Willie and I ventured out to this Salt Pond, the sky lit up with orange and reds and we spent most of our time composing scenes that included salt and sky. Later on, when we had clear skies, we focused our attention straight down, where the last bit of sunlight caused the edges of the salt formations to glow orange. This was our 4th visit to the salt ponds and it was an evening of clear skies. We knew that our cameras would be pointed to look for the glowing edges, but to our surprise, some of the rivers were starting to turn orange as the algae in the stream reacted to increase salinity levels. The orange color of the streams matched the orange flow on their stream banks. What I loved about this scene was how the salt formations created what looked like scorpions on the ground. Every time I look at this I have a slight shudder as I can imagine 3 or 4 scorpions coming out of the ground to hunt for food. Combine the critters with the golden stream and you get this photo. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/40 sec, ISO 100

The Tree of Salt

Willie and I had flown our drones over this spot a bunch of times but every time I struggled to take a photo of this area that I really liked. It was either too busy, or the light too flat, or the colors just didn't turn out right, or it became too dull. But the more you try, sometimes the more things work out. It's funny how often the first time I visit a spot I tend to "screw it up". As a photographer you may have a preconceived notion of what photo you want to take, which can often be beneficial, but sometimes throws you off and inhibits your ability to be creative. You have to let go, trust your eye, trust the light, and be inspired by what you see around you. I Loved this spot because it reminded me of the tree of life. The streams and tendrils of salt come off the river as if they're leaves on a tree branch. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/4.5, 1/30 sec, ISO 100

Salty Stretch

I flew my first drone in 2015 when I borrowed Ben Von Wong's drone for my trip to Iceland. At the time the sensor in the drone wasn't equipped to take great still photos, so I spent most of the trip recording video. When I flew to Norway in 2017 for some backcountry skiing, and a small drone could fit in our ski-jacket pocket I knew I was hooked. As typically happens, technology gets better and new doors open up. I've seen some amazing drone photos from people recently but none more inspiring than the photos my friend David Thompson has been taking. In November I decided to take advantage of the Black Friday sales and grab myself a drone: the DJI Mavic Pro 2. I've been flying the drone a lot recently, mostly with Willie. It's taken the same scenes that we've photographed for nearly 9 years and added a new spin. We can see them from a new light. From the air they take on different shapes, most notably you get to see a greater sense of scale and how they interact and engage with the landscape. Rivers and hills stand out the most as you can see how they meander over the earth, grabbing your eye. On this particular evening Willie and I planned to meet the infamous Miles Morgan, a photographer and pilot from the Pacific Northwest who I've been Flickr friends with for years but had never met in person. We met at a Mexican restaurant nearby, caught up over dinner, peed in the women's bathroom (someone was taking too long in the mens!) and then left to go fly the drones. High clouds had excited us for a colorful sunset that would be reflected back in the streams of the salt flats, but Jeff had predicted the fog would roll in and he was absolutely correct. Although the sunset never got colorful, we did get a few patches where the golden hour light cast a beautiful glow to the salt flats. This particular set of "fingers" had captured me the first time we came to this spot. In just a few weeks it was interesting to see how the landscape had changed: water had retreated, some of the fingers were fainter, some more distinct, and new tendrils of mud and salt had come out. From this angle I loved how it looked like everything was creeping into the fingers, eager to reach out and grab it. The stream that flows just above the fingers helps to draw the eye through the photo. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5, 1/50 sec, ISO 100

White Salt Road

It's funny how you can spend a few hours exploring a place, and just as you're ready to pack up and leave you spot something you want to photograph. That's how photography works -- you can get so fixated on a particular scene that you don't see what else is out there. Or a scene has so many interesting spots that you just can't find them all. Willie and I both found this right as we were winding down and bringing our drones back. We had launched from nearby and usually we send the drones out far, then come back closer as the battery drains -- so it's not that much of a surprise that we found this late. By the time we found it, though, the light had disappeared and the scene was left fairly flat. I loved how the salt streams here created 2 separate paths in the landscape. I keep thinking to myself "oh, this looks like the yellow-brick road from Wizard of Oz, except it's white! And salt!" The vegetation, especially the little red plants, added a nice little bit of color to the scene as well. I used a cloudless sunset to capture some of the glow on the edges of the drying stream. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/5.6, 1/30 sec, ISO 320

Plant Maze

From the ground you'd just see a bunch of brush and some salt and mud. When you fly above and look down, though, shapes and patterns come out. It's one of my favorite parts of flying the drone; i can see patterns that didn't exist from on the ground. I gravitated to this particular spot because of the red and yellow brush that was growing after the water levels dropped. The salt formations created ridges that reminded me of a maze, where the treasure is a few green plants popping out of the ground. DJI Mavic Pro 2 w/Hasselblad L1D-20c: 10.26mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO 100