Back to the Future
Location: Davenport, California
Created: 07/30/12
Camera: EOS Canon 7D
Lens: EF 10-20mm @ 10mm
Aperture: f/11.0; 30 sec.; 10 stop Neutral Density Filter; ISO 100
I parked in a turnout, about 200 yards from the cliffs, and walked out to find a good composition. I had never been to this place, and was surprised to see other photographers leaving as I was arriving. In any case, I set up my tripod on the cliffs, and waited for sunset. The shot was actually captured a full 30 minutes after the sun had set, and I still had to use a 10 stop ND filter (a very dark filter that blocks tons of light) to allow the 30 second long exposure. The long exposure produces the silky appearance of the ocean and the waves on the beach. Oh, and after I walked back, in the near dark, upon arriving back to my vehicle, I was flabbergasted to have to remove about 30 ticks from my pant legs.
These pilings are the remnants of a pier that was used by the nearby cement plant to load ships. Settlement in the area of today’s Davenport got its start in 1868 when Captain John Davenport, a sea-based whaler by trade, built a 450 foot wharf off what became to be known as Davenport’s Landing (near El Jarro Point). The wharf was used to export local timber by boat to San Francisco. The history of the modern town of Davenport is wholly wrapped up with the Davenport Cement Plant. The town was built in 1905, by the Coast Dairies and Land Company, to house workers for the cement plant. The cement from the plant was used to rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 quake, build one of the Panama Canal locks, and even construct the dry docks in Pearl Harbor.
