Well, I may have cracked the code on the tides, with these nearly constant winds we’ve been having. I had to test my theory, yesterday, so I ventured out into the swamp. It was sunny and warm, but windy, like usual. I’ve been finding lower tides on the creek when we’re between moon phases than when the moon is full or new. My working theory is that when the high tide is higher it takes longer for the water to escape the estuary with the wind holding it in. If there is a lesser high tide, the water level doesn’t have as far to fall to get a good low tide.
If you didn’t understand any of that, don’t worry about it. In a nutshell, the past few times I’ve gone mudding, I’ve avoided the spring (extreme) tides, and I’ve had some great mudding opportunities. Sunday, June 2, was no exception. The tide was plenty low, and I had more than two hours to play. I ended up getting a little too much sun, and I was pretty exhausted by the time I cleaned up.
I slogged around in front of the camera, a bit, and I set up one of those scenes where I am treading mud. You know, where I have to sweep my arms to keep from going under. I saw a movie once, where the guy in the mud had to struggle to stay afloat. I thought that was pretty exciting. The sad thing was that the first place I picked had some water pooling on the surface and it would always pool around me when I was about to go under. That makes it impossible to go under slowly, because the water runs up your nose, into your mouth, ears, etc. So, I had to finish my “drowning” in a different spot. The going under sequence is really good. There is just a noticeable scene change towards the end of the sink. Sigh. I had lots of time, so I played for quite a while after I turned the camera off. It was warm, and the mud was very inviting.
I’m way behind on releasing videos. I just uploaded the claypit video from May 21 to my clip store. I have at least 3 swamp videos to finish and upload. I’ll probably shoot several more before those are on-line. If you’ve got a tight budget for purchasing clips, don’t purchase anything until after June. By then, you should have a nice selection of new videos from which to choose. If you like to buy my videos as fast as I can make them (thank you, for that), brace yourself, because I’ll be releasing one or two a week for a few weeks, unless I have a really busy week in the office.
Sorry I don’t have more video captures from yesterday; it has been a busy day. There will be an out-takes reel here to download, soon. Take care everyone, and thanks for your support.
Hello Doug…
Looks like you’re in for some rain over the next few days if the precipitation maps for the next five days play out.
Haven’t had a chance to view your adventures in the clay pit yet, but will get to the clip soon. Had surgery on my right knee for a meniscus tear, plus an increase in work for the faculty organisation I head up. It’s budget time in Sacramento, which always means more advocacy (lobbying) to be sure funding stays firm.
Your two recent clips…you in quicksand and Jim in quicksand…are most complimentary…great fun to watch the two of you sinking. Great picture quality…as usual. Would have liked to watch Jim pull himself out of the mud.
Yea, it looks like we’re going to have a tropical storm drift through. We have gotten nearly 2 inches of rain this week, but we could still use some more.
I must have stopped the camera before Jim pulled himself from the mud. I don’t remember why.