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Cogs of Yesterday | New Bern, North Carolina Note of scale: The gear lying to the rear right is at least 12 feet tall and I could put my arm through the links on that chain. Heavy, heavy stuff indeed! Along the river is a large park complete with a boat ramp, dog run, elaborate play sets and a disc golf course. What many people don’t realize is that this park has quite a history, dating back to the 1920’s when it was local retreat featuring a dancehall and ferry to cross the wide Neuse River. Even more surprising is that during World War II, it was used as a camp to house Nazi prisoners of war- many of whom were captured after a U-boat was sunk by the Coast Guard near Cape Lookout. When I first came upon these massive gears and chain, I really didn’t know what it was. They certainly seemed far too big to have been dumped there by someone just looking to get rid of the garbage. Upon learning of the German POW camp that was set up here and a mill that is said to have been operation at the time, I quickly thought it to be a fascinating relic of that time period. I was finally able to get in touch with a local historian, Jim White, who said that in his research he learned that it was part of the ferry that ran at the site at one point. He wasn’t sure of the exact dates, but his answer put to rest some of the questions I had about the hulking pile! The shot: 3 bracketed exposures, tripod mounted, remote fired. Merged in Nik HDR Efex Pro, tweaked with Color Efex and Viveza. Finished with a slight Glamour Glow in Color Efex to add a little ‘dreamy’ look to the scene. —Join me on my other social networks: Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+
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Cogs of Yesterday | New Bern, North Carolina

Note of scale: The gear lying to the rear right is at least 12 feet tall and I could put my arm through the links on that chain. Heavy, heavy stuff indeed!

Along the river is a large park complete with a boat ramp, dog run, elaborate play sets and a disc golf course. What many people don’t realize is that this park has quite a history, dating back to the 1920’s when it was local retreat featuring a dancehall and ferry to cross the wide Neuse River. Even more surprising is that during World War II, it was used as a camp to house Nazi prisoners of war- many of whom were captured after a U-boat was sunk by the Coast Guard near Cape Lookout.

When I first came upon these massive gears and chain, I really didn’t know what it was. They certainly seemed far too big to have been dumped there by someone just looking to get rid of the garbage. Upon learning of the German POW camp that was set up here and a mill that is said to have been operation at the time, I quickly thought it to be a fascinating relic of that time period. I was finally able to get in touch with a local historian, Jim White, who said that in his research he learned that it was part of the ferry that ran at the site at one point. He wasn’t sure of the exact dates, but his answer put to rest some of the questions I had about the hulking pile!

The shot: 3 bracketed exposures, tripod mounted, remote fired. Merged in Nik HDR Efex Pro, tweaked with Color Efex and Viveza. Finished with a slight Glamour Glow in Color Efex to add a little ‘dreamy’ look to the scene.


—Join me on my other social networks:

Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px | Google+

Testing Near Gear at Glenburnie Park

Today I decided to head down the road (or up, I just know it’s close to me) to the boat ramp at Glenburnie Park. It was my first visit to the park and it is huge! There is an 18 hole frisbee golf course along with many pavilions and trails. Much to my delight, there are also several geocaches hidden on rough terrain (5/5 on the Geocache.com terrain scale) requiring hikes into the woods overlooking the river. It also has a dog park and a fishing dock over looking a very wide portion of the Neuse River just before it gets to New Bern. The whole park offers countless photographic vistas and points of interest for me. For all of these reasons, I can see myself putting in a lot of time at this park.

I took my new D90 and lenses out on a maiden voyage to the park today. I only spent about a half hour there shooting just 75 images; just getting a feel for a larger and more advanced camera. I didn’t get a chance to use my 70-300mm lens today, but I hope to be able to get that out soon. The weather looks cloudy and chilly tomorrow, but this weekend it will in the low to mid-60’s with nothing but sunshine! A trip to the beach may be in order. Can’t wait to see what I can do with this new equipment there! I hope you enjoy this very small photo set of the water front area.

Photos both shot with Nikon D90 camera and 18-105mm VR lens…hopefully I can see some wildlife next time so I can pull out the bazooka lens.