U.S.N.S. Edwin D. Patrick
I just discovered that the most recent ship towed out of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, U.S.N.S. Edwin D. Patrick, was one of the ships I had the priviledge to explore on a recent trip to the Fleet.
She was first of the 6 ships, towed out of the fleet, that I have had the chance to photograph, which is why I'm a bit sadenned by the news. While that might sound strange to many of you, it's something that happens to us explorers/photographers when we see a place we've visited often be demolished or renovated.
Throughout the last year, I've made a number of trips to the Fleet and each time, I discover something new, which leads to a stronger attachment to the ships. This ship in particular was interesting to me because she was a troop transport ship and contained many elements most military ships do not, such as a monetary exhange booth, theatre, church and rec room.
During my trip to the Fleet, I was told that U.S.N.S. Edwin D Patrick and her sister ship, U.S.N.S. General John Pope had been sold for scrap, but there was no indication of when this would occur.
U.S.N.S Edwin D Patrick was a troop transport ship commissioned in 1945. In 1950, the Navy reclaimed the ship and placed into Military Sea Transportation Service, where she served as a transport ship during the Korean War. She was decommissioned in 1967 and places in Suisun Bay shortly thereafter. In 2005, she was scheduled to be transported to Alang, India for scrapping, but concerns about the condition of her hull prevented this from occuring. In March 2010, U.S.N.S. Edwin D Patrick was sold to ESCO Marine in Brownsville, Texas.
She was towed out of the fleet on April 15, with no announcement in the media or on the Port of San Francisco roster. She now sits in the dry docks at BAE Systems in San Francisco awaiting her trip to Texas to be scrapped.
Photo by Dave R
Photographer Showcase: Rustyjaw
I stumbled upon Rustyjaw's flickr, when I just started to become serious about photography and wanted to learn about HDR's. I must admit, it was an incredibly refreshing find.
Prior to that, I never liked HDR's, in fact I avoided trying them myself because I always saw examples that resembled an altered reality with their incredibly saturated colors, soft focus and unrealistic contrast. I never believed in an HDR subtlety, until I saw his work.
I was enamored by his talent for processing incredibly realistic, beautifully toned and detailed photos. Not only that, but his eye for intriguing compositions and his unique creative style completed the triptych of skills photographers should posess.
Every photo submerges the viewer into his world as he documents the old relics, slowly fading from our lives.
Photo-documenting the Colorado River Bridge / Hoover Dam Project
Photo by Jamey Stillings
Photographer Jamey Stillings has been following the Colorado River Bridge / Hoover Dam Bypass project since March of 2009 when he first encountered the construction site. Since then, he has photo-documented the project and the construction of the future new vehicle route diverting traffic around the dam, a 1900 ft bridge. This new bridge requires thew creation of a 1,060 ft arch spanning the Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada. When the project is complete, it will be the longest concrete arch span in the US and the fifth longest in the world.
Check out Part I & Part II of Jamey's absolutely incredible photos.