DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Local Landmark Shipwreck in California Burnt Out for Instagram Photo

Feb 23, 2016 by John Aldred 52 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

ss_point_reyes_feature

Perched on a sand bank in Tomales Bay, CA, the ship nicknamed the “S.S. Point Reyes” has sat for a great number of years, left to rot and decay naturally.  The exact number of years it’s been there is something of a local secret, adding to the mystery of the wreck, which has been a significant local tourist attraction.

Sitting in the bay, and not the Pacific Ocean is the reason why the wreck has remained around for so long, and has been of great interest to photographers visiting the area, which has a long history of shipwrecks.

On Sunday night, it became of particular interest to one unnamed Instagram user who thought it’d be a great idea to start spinning red hot wire wool behind the boat for a photo.  As one might expect, this caused a fire which went on to consume about half of the wreck, and was still being battled by local fire fighters into Monday morning.

This is why we can’t have nice things.

The original post has since been removed from Instagram while we were preparing this post, however, the comments stated that the photographer who created this image is denying responsibility. The claims are that he just happened to be walking by with his camera while others were already “performing” around the boat.

Personally, I’m disinclined to believe these claims, as without somebody there holding a camera, I’m not sure what the point of standing in the middle of a bay spinning molten steel wool would be.

With the sun risen, and the fog beginning to clear, the true damage to the wreck has become immediately obvious, thanks to Facebook user Jane Vait.

Before all this happened, it was a fascinating sight to see and photograph, and there are a great many images on Instagram and Flickr to stand as testament to that.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCHq_knn9qz/?tagged=pointreyes

Now, a Park Ranger has deemed the wreck unsafe, and it has been suggested that it will be getting removed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Chris (@sanfranglasgow)

While this was obviously a very public and popular spot, events such as this are one of the main reasons why many photographers keep their shooting locations a secret.

The vast majority of photographers are very responsible and thoughtful people, but it only takes one inconsiderate person to ruin it for everybody.

The feature image at the top of this article is from a screenshot from the removed Instagram post.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Vandals destroy local landmark “Duckbill” Rock at Oregon’s Cape Kiwanda A Photoshoot at a Shipwreck: Part Two of Von Wong’s Epic Underwater Project Australian Landscape Photographers Are About To Lose A Legendary Landmark This photo of “crowded” California beach is not what it seems

Filed Under: news Tagged With: California, Fire, instgram, Inverness, S.S. Point Reyes, shipwreck, Tomales Bay, urban exploration, Wire Wool

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Bob On The Rock And When Inspiration May Seem Like Copy
World’s Fastest microSDXC UHS-II Card Released by SanDisk – Up tu 275MB/s »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Sony unveils three wireless microphones for content creators
  • This is why you should stop shooting music videos
  • First look at the Laowa Proteus Flex interchangeable flare optics
  • The Fotodiox RhinoCam Vertex shoots medium format images on L mount cameras
  • San Francisco filmmaker tracks stolen camera gear, police do nothing

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy