Perspectives

Click and Drag within image to explore the scene.  You can zoom in and out with Cmd/Ctrl and Shift. 

After Hurricane Ike barreled through the towns of Bolivar, Glaveston, Sabine Pass, and other areas along the Upper Texas Coast, we were all inundated with photographs and video of the devastation to homes, business, and other manmade structures throughout the region.  What didn’t receive much attention was the impact of Ike on the numerous natural areas scattered along the coast.  I set out to try and document some of this impact and will continue to create images as the areas recover from the damage.

Click and Drag within image to explore the scene.  You can zoom in and out with Cmd/Ctrl and Shift. 
 

Part of this project is to use traditional still photography but I am trying to incorporate a new technique as well, spherical panoramas.  I first began this technique this past summer in Costa Rica while working on Canopy in the Clouds and am continuing to expand on my skills.  Spherical panoramas capture the world in a unique way and I am especially interested in how this type of imagery can be used as a teaching tool.  I will write much more about this technique, my setup, and my plans for how I will use it in the future, but today I just wanted to show you a few images.

The top image is taken from what remains of Front Street in High Island.  The huge debris pile is on the edge of the Texas Ornithological Society’s Hooks Woods Bird Sanctuary.  Much of the debris, including the side of the house came from the lots on the other side of the street (towards the sun) where there is no longer anything but a concrete slab.

The lower image is Highway 87 just past the entrance to McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge outside of Sabine Pass.  The section of the highway between Sabine Pass and High Island has been closed to traffic for several years because of movement of the dunes.  However while the road may not have been maintained, it has not completely collapsed but rather been buried by sand.  The storm surge associated with Hurricane Ike simply ate into the dunes, undercut the road, and you see what remains.  Previously, where you see water by the side of the road was a fragile, yet complete, dune.