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NOVEMBER 16, 2013: NORTHEAST SHORE OF SAIPAN

I headed up to the Northeast shore (Cowtown area, over the old Japanese Bunker) in the hopes of getting some grand full moonrise shots. Well, nature kinda conspired against that. But the waves were bigger and more energetic than I have ever seen up there.
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I wanted to get some great moonrise shots, but the wind was just the wrong direction: A second or so with the camera facing where the moon was going to be and the lens would be totally coated with salt spray. However, this place is GORGEOUS when the sun is at the angle where everything but the waves is shaded and the waves alone catch the color and intensity of the setting sun behind me.
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I wanted to get some great moonrise shots, but the wind was just the wrong direction: A second or so with the camera facing where the moon was going to be and the lens would be totally coated with salt spray. However, this place is GORGEOUS when the sun is at the angle where everything but the waves is shaded and the waves alone catch the color and intensity of the setting sun behind me.

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  • I wanted to get some great moonrise shots, but the wind was just the wrong direction: A second or so with the camera facing where the moon was going to be and the lens would be totally coated with salt spray. However, this place is GORGEOUS when the sun is at the angle where everything but the waves is shaded and the waves alone catch the color and intensity of the setting sun behind me.
  • See what I mean? So even with the salt spray, I could not resist taking some quick snaps. Yank the camera up to my eye, aim, push the shutter, and then turn around and hunker over the camera to shield it from the spray.
  • I like how it's almost hard to see where the wave ends and the background clouds begin in this one. The waves were bigger and more energetic than what I have ever seen up here.
  • As you can see, I did get the moon, but without the ability to use long exposures and a tripod-mounted camera, this was as good as I could get.
  • As I got back to the little lagoon area, where I could face the camera away from the breeze (and the salt spray was not as dense), I decided to attempt some tripod-mounted longer-exposures. You can see Suicide Cliff upper-center. The Japanese Bunker is just out of your view to the left -- where the water comes to the little point at the left margin of the photo. Those of you familiar with this place will no doubt recognize that the water is considerably higher than the norm.
  • It can seem pretty mystical here.
  • Usually from here I walk over pretty much the rocky area where you see the water draining down to get out. I could have done that on this evening, too, but it looked a bit more scary (again, these waves were pounding more than I have ever seen them). So, I truly "bushwhacked" a path parallel to my usual course, but enough inland to be safe from the waves. I'm not sure how long it took me to progress the 30 feet or so from here to the bunker, but I was glad when I saw that I was at that point. The bushes, for the most part, were considerably over my head, so I could really not see how far along I was. I could see the ground, so I knew I wasn't going to step off the bluff or something, but otherwise I had to progress slowly by feel and sound. I had a head-mounted flashlight on and was out of breath, so I have no idea how many bugs I swallowed (I lost count). T'was a fun evening, but I was very glad to get home. I doubt if I put too much of a dent in the natural insect population.
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