A Celebration of Seashells and Sea Life at the Seashore!

I've got some catching up to do!  This post is from images taken 4 weeks ago on our Mexico trip for the Lunar eclipse.  Being that it was full moon, Puerto Peñasco enjoyed 6 meter tides!  It is an interesting effect of the shape of the Sea of Cortez that 1 meter tides down at its mouth near La Paz results in such a huge range at the northern extent of the Sea.  It is very much like the result of splashing in a bathtub can result in large excursions in the shallow rear of the tub.  The photo at left shows the sea a couple hundred yards out from a vantage point that would be underwater a few hours later...

Since I grew up in the Midwest, the shore has an attraction for me to explore the differences from the ordinary.  While they say that Tucson is all beach and no ocean, the beach in Rocky Point is real with little animals and shells to attract my attention like little baubles.  It is a natural place for me to bring the macro lens and see what I can see.  And any regular readers know that I'm also a fan of 3D images, so here are some more hyperstereo (generally greater depth than with your two eyes) images of shells and things...

While I've shown 3D images below here, I've always displayed them for cross-eyed viewing.  In other words, the image for your right eye is on the left, so that you view it by crossing your eyes slightly.  The advantage of that is generally with training, you don't need to use a viewer to see the stereo effect.  Of course, that upsets the people who are used to using the viewers and can't utilize the cross-eyed method.  So here, for the first time, are both ways of presentation!  I still prefer the cross-eyed version as it is less dependent on the image dimensions, where for the straight viewing the images can't be much larger than your eye separation.  So if you can't cross your eyes, try looking across the room, then diverting your eyes to the straight version of the pairs, or use a viewer if you have one.  Anyway, here goes, let me know what you prefer - they both work for me without viewers.



Cross-Eyed Vision

Straight Vision

First up is a little bivalve shell that I saw when I first hit the beach on eclipse afternoon.  Again, these are hyperstereos, so you can see stereo depth even in the grains of sand, so the effect is magnified from the stereo of your two eyes.  At left is the straight pair (left to left, right to right), and at right is the cross-eyed pair...



Straight View

Cross-Eyed View

Next up is one from the next morning and shows a little shell, likely from a snail, perched atop a sand ridge causes by the ripples of water flowing out towards low tide.  While the detail in the shell is neat, I like how you can make out the perspective of the ridge of sand too...

Straight View

Cross-eyed View

Another pair of shells make an interesting stereo pair - a close-up from what started out as a wider shot, but I ended up liking the narrow field better...

Cross-Eyed View

Straight View

A single shell atop some barnacle-covered rocks provide some interesting detail contrasts...

Straight View

Cross-Eyed View

It didn't take much of a search around the high-tide mark to find some interesting subjects for macro 3D.  Even well-worn shells make interesting views.













Straight View

Cross-Eyed View

When closely examined, you see that there are more shell fragments than sand particles making up the beach surface!

Straight View

Cross-Eyed View

And as I mentioned before, even the well-worn fragments are of interest in stereo viewing!












Before and after the stereo pairs, I went searching the tide pools for some action.  While there wasn't a lot of sea life to shoot, what I did notice is that most shells, even the microscopic ones were inhabited by little sea creatures awaiting the tide to return.  I took a couple series of time-lapse exposures, typically a shot every 2 seconds.  When played back at faster rates, it was interesting to see the snails and crabs in motion going about their activities.  I'll definitely be back looking for more action like this in the future to see what I can capture!  Oh, and be sure to let me know in comments or e-mail (click on my name at upper right) if you like the new 3D option!