Wading bird tracks rendered abstract along shoreline.

Salt Pond A23 is a disused salt pond located just north of Station Island. The pond, which is not connected to tidal flow, has a relatively high level of residual salt. I can always count on A23 to present the vibrant colors associated with high salinity. It is also a good pond for ground textures along its salt-encrusted shoreline. The pond gains water from precipitation during our rainy season and then dries out during our rainless summers. This tends to leave stratified marks along the shore recording the stepped phases of this filling and emptying. The high-salinity brine that fills this pond seems to resist the small surface ripples produced by wind. While the winds during this session were quite variable, ranging from 5 to 15 mph, the surface of A23 stayed mirror-like for much of the session. This produced some pleasant visual effects as the sun set.

The session’s variable winds kept me on my toes. I started with a Sutton 16 but it proved underpowered. After shifting to a Sutton 30, I had adequate and sometimes excessive lift, but I was also bedeviled by lulls in the wind. These caused several occasions where I went into a full bore “cradle recovery drill,” rapidly inhauling line to keep the camera cradle from being pickled in the salt brine. Happily, it worked out.

I am taking these documentary photographs under a Special Use Permit from the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. Kite flying is prohibited over the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge as is access to this part of the refuge without a Special Use Permit.

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Make:	Canon
Model:	Canon EOS M3
Exposure:	1/2500 sec
Aperture:	f/5.0
ISO Speed:	200
Focal Length:	17 mm
Lens:	EF-M11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM