A THUMS Island

[Brian Moore]

The THUMS Islands are man made islands in Long Beach Harbor. I think there are four of them. They were built by oil companies to suck oil out of the sea bed. They've been decorated so as to not look like too much of a blight on the seascape.

THUMS is for Texaco, Humble, Union, Mobile and Shell.

I took this shot from the bluffs on Ocean Avenue in Long Beach one night recently. I used the Cheap-As-Chips Camera (Konica Autoreflex TC) with Kodak Plus X film. I used a fence railing for a tripod--which wisnae easy because it wisnae flat--and held the shutter open for about 25 seconds. At f5.6 I think. I developed the film in Rodinal 1:100 for 90 minutes.

 

[Pete Askew]

That is very nice Brian. I like the central positioning and the burnt out glow from the lights. I especially like the way you have deliberately tilted the camera on the 'tripod' for a fraction of second to get the lights reflected in the sky! Was it one of those fancy Sarah Dip & T jobs?

 

[Brian Moore]

Thanks Pete. Miss Sarah is often good to me but I am getting a wee bit annoyed with this prediliction for refracting light in long exposures with my Cheap-As-Chips Cam that she has recently manifested. Not sure I like it at all!

 

[Pete Askew]

Is there a filter on the lens Brian?

 

[Brian Moore]

Aye, Pete! That's what it is I think.

 

[Paul Lange]

I like the way that initially the island seems to be the focal point of the image but after a second or two you look down and your eye locks onto the barrel-like thing in the foreground that then becomes the most important part of the image once you have seen it.

 

[Brian Moore]

Thank you Paul. I liked how the beach and that barrel on it showed up too. That barrel is one of many 50 gallon drums on the beaches here that are used for trash bins.