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Sand Castles, 2008
Monday In 2008, I was in Wildwood, New Jersey once again. This beach has the best sand for sand sculpting that I have found, and plenty of it! I am told that the beaches in the Wildwoods (North Wildwood, Wildwood, and Wildwood Crest) are the only beaches in New Jersey that are getting larger, rather than shrinking. I don't know that for sure, but this is definitely a wide beach. The sign is at the foot of Rio Grande Avenue, one of the three routes onto the island, if you are in a car. |
 "It's a big W, I tell you!" Those of you who have seen the movie It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World understand that quote. For the rest of you, find a weekend when you have 3-4 hours free and rent the movie. Very long, but one of the great comedies of the last 50 years! |
 Monday, I started with a few low towers and an arch a little less than a foot wide. It was windy in the morning, so the tower at the left (the first one of the day) was already showing signs of erosion by the time this photo was taken. |
 The lantern atop the dome and the square room atop the square tower were added after the main portion of those towers were completed. Moving a carved object made of sand is not easy to do, but it can be done. |
 The dome was formed by using a piece of 5-inch PVC pipe (rolled in a circular motion) to scrape away the excess sand at the top. |
 What goes up must come down, and this arch lasted about 4 minutes after this photo was taken (I had told two observers that it would take "less than 15 minutes.".) |
 A wider view of the castle, with the ocean in the background. |
 A view through the large and small arches. From this angle, it is difficult to judge the size of the structure. |
 A view from above. The tire tracks from the beach patrol's truck spoil the illusion that this is a large structure. |
 Looking through the large arch in the other direction, the arc-shaped sign on the Wildwood Convention Center is visible. |
Nothing lasts forever... Wind-blown dry sand has worn away most of this tower, leaving just a roof balanced on a thin column of drying sand. No matter how well you build a sand castle, it is eventually going to return to dust. It may take a few hours or a few days, but it will fall eventually to the forces of wind, sun, waves, or unsupervised children. Take your photographs when you are done constructing your castle - that is the only way to preserve your creating for years. Either that, or use concrete and find a place to store what you have built. |
Tuesday Real castles from the medieval period (and earlier) had mostly small windows, for several reasons. First, any large windows were higher up or facing the inner part of the castle, since these locations were harder to attack from outside. Second, a large window is a big hole in the wall, and the wall is what is holding up everything above. Large gaps in the structure weaken it. Third, glass was difficult and expensive to make, so most windows were either open (to allow air and light inside in the Summer) or closed (to keep out the cold wind in the Winter.) The winter shutters also kept out the light though. |
 Taking a photo from a "normal" angle (standing, with the camera at eye height) can produce a good image, but the people in the background can be distracting. |
 Assuming that you do not own the beach, how do you eliminate the people in the background? One way is through the use of photo manipulation software. Photoshop is a popular example. |
 Another way to eliminate distractions in the background is use a low angle. This is much easier with the modern digital cameras, some of which have LCD displays that can be tilted, so the camera can be an inch above the sand, but your face isn't in the sand. Shooting up at the castle also gives the impression of great height. Having something of interest in the foreground is not a bad idea either. People are fascinated to see how I make these small houses. The techniques are the same needed to make the larger towers, but since they are smaller and use less material, they take much less time to make. |
 Here is the other side of the gate in the photo to the left. More detail in the foreground would improve this scene. |
 Look for anything in your photographs that you don't want there. The photographer's shadow in this image does not help improve the photograph. |
 Sometimes, moving in closer is a good idea. Focusing on one tower, rather than trying to include the entire castle can emphasize details. |
Wednesday A tall thin tower is not easy to build, and is prone to rapid drying on hot or windy days. If you can get one to stand up, people are bound to notice, though. |
 Houses in medieval cities were often built against the city wall or the castle wall. |
 The gate house was the easiest way into the city or castle - at least in normal times. When enemies threatened, the gates were closed, and the gate house was one of the most strongly-defended places in the city. |
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 Here is an overall view of this castle. Towers like that one on the right were actually rare, not just because of the difficulty in building them, but also because the thickness of the walls needs to increase closer to the ground - which reduces the amount of useful space in the lower part of the tower. And there were no elevators - would you like to climb all those stairs every day? |
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 Here is the tall tower, about 10 minutes before it fell, having been dried by the wind. |
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