Call me mistaken. Pipeline road construction only seemed to start in earnest yesterday. This morning, Burtech heavy-machinery gouged a long narrow trench—what my wife calls “the mote”—down our street. We are overwhelmed with disruption—like the car being blocked from leaving its assigned parking space—and constant noise. But that’s okay, because the road crew clearly makes tremendous progress. Maybe we won’t be besieged for months, as I had feared.
To document the moment, but not make the workers too uneasy, I used iPhone X instead of Leica Q. Smartphone snapping is familiar to most people and less threatening. In the Featured Image, you can see the trench, for new water pipes, going down the street. I wonder: What about the old ones? Do they just stay in the ground? Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 20, 1/2288 sec, 4mm; 10:39 a.m. PST.
The second photo gives good closeup of the digger and small pile of unearthed dirt, using the X’s other camera lens to 2X zoom. Like the first, I shot from our parking lot. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/857 sec, 6mm; same time as first.
I took the third pic from my office window, which, while first floor, is elevated above the parking lot and street. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/706 sec, 10:59 a.m. All were recropped 3:2.
Something I got to say about the trench: It’s deep, some places. Men work in it as I type; for the guy in my direct line of sight, only the top of his white helmet is visible.