this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2025
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Photography

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Wind Turbines, Near Tracy, CA, 2010.

All the pixels, none of the wind, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4491948497

#photography

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[–] mattblaze@federate.social 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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. There 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.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 4 points 1 month ago (3 children)

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.

[–] mweiss@infosec.exchange 2 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social it's an intensity you have to experience in person to really grasp.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Here, as elsewhere, infrastructure is heroic.

[–] scottley@infosec.exchange 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social the Colossi of Tracy

[–] julf@social.secret-wg.org 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social Unfortunately here in the Netherlands there really isn't any empty space, so we get to admire them much more often.

[–] pewnack@aus.social 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social

I know a lot of (rural) people hate the sight of them, but I find them to be quite graceful.

[–] tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org 1 points 1 month ago

@mattblaze@federate.social

I had a very know-it-all dog that when we would drive past the ones off I-10 near Palm Springs, would frown, sigh, and put her head down. She didn't like that they moved and she didn't understand them.

[–] chillybot@infosec.exchange 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

@mattblaze@federate.social
Gorgeous pic Matt

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 1 points 1 month ago

@chillybot@infosec.exchange Thank you