Drive 2007 - Day 01 - Drives - Beneath the Waves

Drive 2007 - Day 01

article and photographs by Ben Lincoln

On the first day of this drive, I started in Seattle and drove east through Aberdeen to Highway 101 along the coast. 101 ("The Pacific Coast Highway") is a much less direct route than the Interstate and the speed limit is lower, but it is well worth the extra time if you have it. The view (especially once you get into Oregon and California) is amazing, and there are plenty of spots to stop and take pictures. I had to consciously limit myself in that respect, because I was trying to get to LA by the weekend.

My first major stop was in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Unlike the rest of the coast in the Northwest, Cannon Beach has brilliant golden sand. I'd like to go back eventually and shoot it properly now that I'm more familiar with my gear.

Cannon Beach 1

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NIR-R-G

Greyscale NIR

Tinted UVA

G-B-UVA

NIR Luma / RGB Colour

UVA Luma / RGB Colour

NIR-RGB-UVA

Now that I have a WhiBal, I'd like to go back to Cannon Beach and try taking another set of photos. This one is pretty close, but doesn't fully capture the unusual colour of the sand.

Date Shot: 2007-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-02-03
Version: 2.0

Cannon Beach 4

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Tinted NIR

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Tinted UVA

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You may recognize this iconic rock from the Goonies, which was filmed in part at Cannon Beach.

Date Shot: 2007-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-02-03
Version: 2.0

Further south, the coast becomes more hilly and mountainous, and Oregon has taken advantage of this by building a number of lookout points on the cliffs high above the sea.

Oregon Coast 1

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This is a huge (19-shot) panorama that I shot in an attempt to capture the effect of standing on this lookout point. There is a multispectral version of a small subset below.

Date Shot: 2007-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-02-03
Version: 2.0

Oregon Coast 2

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NIR-R-G

G-B-UVA

NIR-RGB-UVA

Tinted NIR

Tinted UVA

NIR Luma / RGB Colour

NIR Luma / Tinted UVA Colour

This is a single-shot subset of the panorama above.

Date Shot: 2009-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-02-05
Version: 2.0

Oregon Coast 3

R-G-B

Tinted NIR

NIR-RGB-UVA

NIR-R-G

NIR Luma / Tinted UVA Colour

NIR Luma / RGB Colour

NIR-G-B

G-B-UVA

Tinted UVA

This is a four-shot multispectral panorama of an inhabited area along the coast. The hotspot near the left in the ultraviolet shots is an artifact of the lens - I've since learned how to remove or at least minimize those.

Date Shot: 2007-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-02-07
Version: 2.0

Near sunset I ran across an absolutely amazing beach which was uninhabited at that time.

Oregon Coast 4

R-G-B

Tinted NIR

Tinted UVA

G-B-UVA

NIR-R-G

NIR-B-UVA

NIR-RGB-UVA

R-G-UVA

NIR Luma / Tinted UVA Colour

NIR Luma / RGB Colour

NIR Luma / Tinted RGB Colour

UVA Luma / RGB Colour

UVA Luma / Tinted NIR Colour

UVA Luma / Tinted RGB Colour

This is one of my two favourite shots from this day. It's a beach area just as the sun was starting to go down.

Date Shot: 2007-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-08-16
Version: 3.0

Oregon Coast 5

R-G-B

G-B-UVA

NIR-B-UVA

NIR-G-B

NIR-G-UVA

NIR-R-B

NIR-R-G

NIR-RGB-UVA

NIR-R-UVA

R-B-UVA

R-G-UVA

Tinted NIR

Tinted UVA

NIR Luma / Tinted UVA Colour

NIR Luma / RGB Colour

NIR Luma / Tinted RGB Colour

UVA Luma / RGB Colour

UVA Luma / Tinted RGB Colour

NIR Luma / Tinted RGB and Tinted UVA Colour With Mask

Unsurprisingly, this is my other favourite photo from this day. It and the previous are also some of my favourites from the entire trip. This second shot better captures the mist that rolled over the area at sunset. Due to the low light, the UVA shot is pretty grainy even with a very long exposure. The last photo in the set is more or less outside the boundaries of using false colour to illustrate anything other than a pretty picture, but I thought it went well with how this place felt like something out of the Spectral Realm in Soul Reaver.

Date Shot: 2007-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-08-17
Version: 3.0

Oregon Coast 7

R-G-B

Tinted NIR

NIR-R-G

I couldn't resist taking one last picture of this beach. The sun had gone down too far for an ultraviolet shot.

Date Shot: 2007-08-31
Camera Body: Nikon D70 (Modified)
Lens: Nikon Series E 28mm
Filters: Standard Set
Date Processed: 2009-02-08
Version: 2.0

I kept driving well into the night, and went to sleep near Reedsport not really knowing what the area would look like during the day.

Date: 31 August 2007
Starting Mileage: 62354
Ending Mileage: 62751
Distance Travelled (Day): 397 miles
Distance Travelled (Trip): 397 miles
Gallons of Fuel Purchased (Day): 5.5
Gallons of Fuel Purchased (Trip): 5.5

GPS Map of Day 1

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