View allAll Photos Tagged SANJACINTO
Northern Mocking Bird. This bird's famous song, with its varied repetitions and artful imitations, is heard all day during nesting season (and often all night as well). Taken while on a shoot at the San Jacinto Wildlife area Ca.
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Immature. I initially thought this was a Golden Eagle. The dark sky that morning wasn't helpful. Riverside County, CA.
San Jacinto Wildlife Area, Riverside County, CA. 3-9-19.
It's that time of year when the avocets are transitioning into breeding plumage!
As always, your comments and faves are appreciated. Constructive criticism and suggestions are especially welcome as I believe they help to make me a better photographer. Thank you for taking the time to look at my photos.
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The museum ship, USS Texas, built in 1915 is in the foreground. She is the last of the dreadnought class of ships built during that period.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Texas_(BB-35)
Across the field is the San Jacinto Monument marking the site of the battle where the residents of Texas won their independence from the government of Mexico in 1836. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Jacinto
In the far background, to the right of the monument, one can see the towers of the Fred Hartmann Bridge over 5 miles away.
Taken with a Nikon D300 and a 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens from a ship passing in the Houston Ship Channel.
A fallen Joshua Tree provides a cool-hued foreground to a lovely, warm after-sunset scene of layered mountains distant behind a group of Joshua trees still standing tall--some with almost perfect upright form and others beautiful in their leaning awkwardness as seems the predominate growth pattern of the species--in Joshua Tree National Park, California.
While we were wandering through the park earlier that day, scouting for shooting locations, we heard the incessant yipping chatter of what sounded like two packs of coyotes encountering one another somewhere in this majestic rock-rimmed high desert valley. The coyotes' tones seemed dramatic and vehement, with little to suggest that mutual understanding was their goal.
But the cooler night brought a measure of quiet as the coyotes had either moved on or found their peace, and as most other people in the wider area departed fairly quickly after sunset rather than waiting for the final colorful streaks to fade from the scene. Not far away was a little campground nestled among the openings in one of the innumerable jumbled rock formations that rise like islands in the desert, providing pleasing visuals and rock climbing thrills. The Park Service provides old-school charcoal grills on fixed posts in some of these camping areas and we could see cooking firelight flickering high on the huge khaki-hued boulders, the dancing light prominent against the dark skies filled with stars.
I imagined the fires of more ancient peoples in these lands--were they able to subsist or thrive here?--and I remember finding the tune of one my favorite older songs--San Jacinto by Peter Gabriel--flowing through my head accompanied by the scattered chirps and rustles of nature's burgeoning activity in the deepening desert night. It was only a short walk back to the car after sunset that evening, but it struck all the right notes in my mind.
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Battleship Texas is the last remaining battleship that participated in both World War I and World War II. Over her service life, the Navy repeatedly outfitted the ship with cutting edge technology. Fate spared Battleship Texas as she fought in two wars. Now she is fighting for survival against age and rust.
Powerful weapon
ship launch_800p.jpegLaunching the ship in 1912 (TPWD-Battleship Texas Archives)
The U.S. Navy com-mis-sioned USS Texas on March 12, 1914. She was the most powerful weapon in the world, a complex product of an industrial nation emerging as a force in global events.
In 1916, USS Texas became the first U.S. battleship to mount anti-aircraft guns. She was also the first to control gunfire with directors and range-keepers. These early computers increased firing accuracy.
In World War I, USS Texas joined the 6th Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet early in 1918. Her duties included laying a North Sea mine barrage, responding to German High Seas Fleet maneuvers, and helping prevent enemy naval forces from cutting off Allied supply lines.
Late in 1918, she escorted the German Fleet to its surrender anchorage.
Retooled ship
Two sailors swabbing the deck.Swabbing the deck (TPWD-Battleship Texas Archives)
In 1925, the Navy opted to modernize USS Texas instead of scrapping her. This meant con-vert-ing the ship to run on fuel oil instead of coal. Tripod masts and a single stack replaced the ship’s cage masts and two smoke stacks. Torpedo blisters added another layer of protection to the ship’s waterline.
USS Texas received one of the first radars in the U.S. Navy in 1939. With new anti-aircraft guns, fire control and communication equipment, the ship remained an aging but powerful asset in the U.S. naval fleet.
World War II
Baker-Bryant German Shell031_800p.jpgCaptain Baker and Admiral Bryan pose with the unexploded German shell (TPWD-Battleship Texas Archives).
USS Texas became flagship of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet before World War II. She had a close call in 1941 while on "Neutrality Patrol.” German Submarine U-203 had the ship in its sights and asked permission to fire. Adolf Hitler eventually denied permission to engage the ship, or any other U.S. ship.
Fate spared the battleship again when Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941: She was safe in Maine. The United States entered World War II soon after.
During the war, USS Texas fired on Nazi defenses in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Shortly afterward, German coastal defense artillery near Cherbourg hit the ship twice. The first shell exploded, injuring 12 and killing one. This was the only combat fatality ever aboard USS Texas. The second shell hit the ship, but did not explode. The Navy deactivated this “lucky shell” and returned it to the ship as a good luck charm.
After repairs, the battleship shelled Nazi positions in Southern France before transferring to the Pacific. There she lent gunfire support and anti-aircraft fire to the landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Final mission
Berthing the ship_800p.jpgTugboats bring the battleship to her final resting place in 1948 (TPWD-Battleship Texas Archives).
After Japan’s surrender, USS Texas carried soldiers stationed across the Pacific home from war.
When she completed her final mission, the state of Texas acquired the ship. On April 21, 1948, Battleship Texas was decom-missioned, and became a memorial ship.
Today, Battleship Texas is a floating museum and the last remaining U.S. battleship of her kind. She stands as a memorial to the bravery and sacrifice of the servicemen who fought in both world wars.
The battleship is both a National Historic Landmark and a National Mechanical Engineering Landmark. Ensuring her future will require a concerted effort from Texas citizens and businesses. Luck has gotten her this far, but now it’s up to Texans to save Battleship Texas.
Taken from; tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/battleship-texas/park_history
With a big cut of Autoracks on the head-end for Mira Loma a Third Section Intermodal from Santa Teresa, NM to Long Beach, CA grinds up the east side of Beaumont Hill into the late evening. With something other than the plain ole' Amour Yellow and Harbormist Gray on the point makes the low light shot just a bit better than it would have been.
Another version of this shot from the San Jacinto Wildlife Area, CA, taken sevral minutes later. I thought the cracked earth looked pretty cool so I went vertical and got up close for this shot.
Canon 5D mkII, Canon 17-40mm f/4L@17mm, f19@80 sec, ISO 50, NDX400 9-stop ND, Singh-Ray 3-stop NDG
Visitors walk in to the San Jacinto Monument at the San Jacinto Battlefield Sate Historic Site near Houston, Texas. Built to commerate the victory that gained Texas its independence and to honor the men that lost their lives in the struggle for that independence, The San Jacinto monument dominates the landscape at the place where the battle was fought. The monument is an octagonal column constructed by W.S. Bellows Construction between 1935 and 1939. It is primarily constructed of reinforced concrete, but its exterior is faced with Texas limestone from a quarry near the Texas State Capitol. The Momument stands 567.31 feet (172.92 m) tall and is reportedly the tallest monument column in the world. It is 9.6 feet taller than tits nearest rival, the Juche Tower in North Korea. The base is decorated with eight engraved panels depicting the history of Texas. The bronze doors which allow entry into the museum show the six flags of Texas. At the point where the shaft rises from the base, it is only 48 feet square (2,304 square feet). The shaft narrows to only 30 feet square (900 square feet) at the observation deck. At the top of the monument is a 220-ton, 34 feet high star, representing the Lone Star of Texas.