Wind Turbines, Near Tracy, CA, 2010.
A histogram of pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4491948497
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this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2024
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This was captured near the Tesla substation (no relation to the car company) near Altamont Pass with a DSLR and a 400mm lens, compressing the turbines in a way that made them resemble a histogram.
There's a lot of power being generated in those hills. The was an audible hum in the air and vibrations could be felt in the ground. In some spots, the camera rebooted from induced currents.
Infrastructure like this is easy to ignore, but has an accidental beauty that I think is worth examining.
The scale of these wind farms is beyond what we're equipped to process in day-to-day human experience. They conquer the landscape in ways we can't fully comprehend even when they're in front of us. In a sense, they're abstract sculptures of themselves, mostly visible in fleeting glances from interstate highways or airplane windows.
@mattblaze@federate.social
There's an INSANE amount of solar production in the red outlined section of the the map image attached. Driving through it is nuts. It's like a sci Fi movie, miles and miles of silver, towers, power infra.
@mattblaze@federate.social it's interesting to compare that to the pollution footprint from fossil plants as well. Especially where fracking is used you often get a disturbingly large plume of unhealthy air and groundwater. But just the "soot zone" (now hopefully metaphorical rather than literal) around and downwind of generators surprises many people by its size and impact.
@moz
@mattblaze
Around Palm Springs CA there are a lot of turbines. They do dominate the landscape but then again so does the interstate and all the buildings.
@Asbestos @moz I find it interesting that people are reacting to my photo by getting weirdly defensive about wind farms.
@mattblaze@federate.social It's often challenging to distinguish dogwhistling from "just making a comment".
I was reacting to the commentary more than the photo. And from Australia, where we get a lot of "look at this ghastly blight" discussion of wind farms. Hence the reminder that visual pollution might be annoying but air pollution kills and maims.
I suspect your mental context was "this is a cool photo" but "conquering the landscape" isn't a positive or even neutral framing.
@moz@fosstodon.org I wish you luck in your future efforts to save yourself from the embarrassment of making completely unwarranted assumptions.
@mattblaze@federate.social I obviously misunderstood your comment as a request for explanation. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry for doing that..
@moz@fosstodon.org Yeah, I had no idea that fossil fuels polluted.
@mattblaze@federate.social @Asbestos@pnw.zone @moz@fosstodon.org I’ve never yet had a bird object to how I photographed it.
@SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org @Asbestos@pnw.zone @moz@fosstodon.org That's presumably because the birds are over on the bird site.
@SteveBellovin @mattblaze @Asbestos @moz
THAT YOU KNOW OF.
@tomjennings
@SteveBellovin @mattblaze @moz
Steve,You better hope it's not a crow or raven that objects to your picture of the. They have long memories and will enlist help to menace their enemies.
@Asbestos @tomjennings @mattblaze @moz I took lots of pictures (and a few videos) of ravens this year, including some of a juvenile with a parent standing by—no trouble! As I always say, better a corvid than covid.
@SteveBellovin @Asbestos @tomjennings @mattblaze I have a resident magpie that does not like have its photo taken. It will tolerate me walking round my back lawn but if I get the camera out it disappears.
Which is better than their usual habit of declaring an area theirs and attacking anyone who goes into it.
@moz @Asbestos @tomjennings @mattblaze Fascinating. I've seen birds that fly off or move to the other side of a tree trunk just when I'm about to focus. Maybe it's not coincidence.
@SteveBellovin @moz @Asbestos @tomjennings At the SEPTA 30th Street station in Philly, there are these black balloon-like objects hanging from the rafters of the trainshed. They have a pattern that makes them look vaguely like an abstract giant eye. Apparently that's enough to make some birds think there's a big predator watching and move on to friendlier real estate. I wonder if the camera has a similar effect.
@mattblaze@federate.social @SteveBellovin@mastodon.lawprofs.org @moz@fosstodon.org @Asbestos@pnw.zone
They might even know it's fake but just to creepy to tolerate!
One of our dogs doesn't like the phone camera. I doubt he knows what it does, more that it's a mystery thing and doesn't smell right and doesn't trust it.
He'll watch videos on the phone though if it's clear animal stuff. But that's common enough.
@mattblaze@federate.social
@moz@fosstodon.org
I wasn't trying them and didn't think your post was attacking them. Just sort of a general observation. But I see your point
@mattblaze@federate.social In 2024 wind farms are still growing fast. The Netherlands now has approximately 4GW of sea-based wind, which delivers an average of ~50% of rated power. In 2030 they want to have 30 GW, in 2050 it should be 70 GW. I can see between 2-3 GW at 20-60 km distance from my bedroom window. No vibrations here. This is the panoramic image capturing the scene. https://share.icloud.com/photos/018OeydkiARWE2Sc2hHWCCjWg
@mattblaze@federate.social I have passed by those turbines many times! Great shot!
@mattblaze@federate.social Because getting an idle turbine started requires energy input, there’s some interesting statistical analysis of wind conditions to determine whether starting one will be a net gain.
@mattblaze@federate.social Nice photo, Matt.
I love wind turbines. I could sit and watch them for hours. Mesmerizing.