Transportation: Land & Sea | Historical & Modern

Transportation: Land and Sea | Historical and Modern

I photographed the images for this VR panorama just north-east of the Corpus Christi Port & Harbor Bridge. By shooting here, I was able to capture the:

• Replica ships from Columbus' fleet at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History

• USS Lexington Air Craft Carrier in Corpus Christi Bay

• Tug-boat Julie pushing the Yucatan cargo vessel out toward the Gulf of Mexico

• Port of Corpus Christi and Harbor bridge

Columbus' Fleet: Pinta and Santa Maria
Look straight ahead as the image opens. The original vessels transported Columbus and his crew across the Atlantic Ocean to America. These reproductions were built in Spain at a cost of $6,500,000 and took five years to complete. These little ships sailed from Spain in 1990. In 1993 the fleet arrived here in Corpus Christi, their final destination after visiting many ports along the way. The Nina is moored, yes, she's still afloat, at the T-Heads in Corpus Christi Bay.

USS Lexington
The Lex transported aircraft and people across the oceans into battle. She's now designated as a National Historic Landmark and still, to this day, transports people's imaginations to far away places, as they walk the many decks and marvel at the size of her runway and the view from her bridge. A local TV station has a camera, referred to as the Lex-Cam installed high on the Lex.

Tug-boat Julie and the Yucatan
Leaving the safe harbor waters of Port Corpus Christi, the Yucatan will traverse the Corpus Christi Bay, cross the Intra-Coastal Waterway, pass through Port Aransas, cross the deep, warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and then head out to destinations unknown.

The Port of Corpus Christi and Harbor Bridge
The Port of Corpus Christi is rated as the fifth busiest port in the USA. The port's main cargo includes grain, cotton, oil and chemicals.

The Harbor Bridge opened in 1959 and is 243' tall. It has a 138' clearance for ships. An additional 60' of clearance is required for some of the larger, modern, ocean-going vessels.
The bridge also has a pedestrian walkway which offers amazing views of Corpus Christi's North Beach, the Texas State Aquarium, and of course, the bustling Port of Corpus Christi.
Highway US-181 crosses the bridge and connects Corpus Christi with the causeway to Portland.
Planning is currently underway to replace the bridge with one that can accommodate taller, modern ships.

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USA-Canada / USA-Texas

Lat: 27° 48' 42.54" N
Long: 98° 24' 43.32" W

Elevation: 8'

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

I use Nikon D70 bodies and lenses. For this immersive image, I used:

• 10.5mm f/2.8 lens @ f/13

• Gitzo G2220 tripod

• Manfrotto 303 SPH panorama head

• Photoshop CS2

• PTGui

• Peter Nyfeler's Photoshop Nadir Action

• Pano2QTVR