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Benchmark Picture Contest !


Black Dog Trackers

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Some benchmark pictures are really excellent! Sometimes I "set as background" one for my computer for a while, until I find another really good one. I propose a thread here for posting really good benchmark pictures, either your own or someone else's. :unsure:

 

Contest rules: (yeah I know, I'm always proposing so many rules; ... anyway...)

 

1. No intersection stations (the station IS the tower, building, etc.) Why? Well they all look pretty good, but they're not really all that 'benchmarky'.

 

2. The disk has to be at least vaguely visible in the picture. No - 'view from', 'the area', etc. with no PID marker in it. Why? It's gotta be a Benchmark picture!

 

3. It has to be a PID in the database, or at least one of its reference marks or its azimuth mark (in case they don't have their own PID).

 

4. No closeup of just the disk. (Comeon, it's just a disk - where's the nice scenery?)

 

I went through the recent benchmark gallery and picked some, and here are some entries (no, none of these are my pics):

 

__PID____Artist__

AB5056 tom4props

GU4007 Kewaneh & Shark

HP0354 imapackrat

JV4769 mustanglx

SS1666 CallawayMT

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Wow, some amazing pics. I will have to look more artistically at my picture taking opportunites and less like it is a job. Hard to beat the first one though--there is certainly no view like that around here.

 

Did I miss the part about what we win though? :unsure:

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Here's my entry. It's in portrait format, so it won't work as a desktop.

 

KT2092 It's the Point Cabrillo lighthouse near Ft. Bragg, CA. Absolutely gorgeous.

 

7bf39139-2e5d-4218-916c-00b8f876c2f9.jpg

 

I have a larger version of the picture, but this is how it resized.

 

I also have this shot. It's of a US Army Corps boundary marker. It's not listed on Geocaching.com, however. But I really like the picture. It's located on Table Mountain just outside of Jamestown, CA.

 

USACE%20572%20Side%20Edit.jpg

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Your post reminded us of this one. (it's an old age thing).

 

1849492_300.jpg

 

It is from benchmark HO0620

 

And if you don't mind an oldfart in the picture you can use it for your screen background! :blink:

 

The mark is in front of my feet.

 

John & Shirley

 

Added where the marks is and adjusted some spelling.

Edited by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)
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How about this one? It is not "just a disk" On the other hand, it is NOTHING ELSE BUT a marker.

 

15219_100.jpg

 

This marker is on the border between El Paso, Texas, Sunland Park, New Mexico, and Juarez, Mexico. The junction of 3 states and two countries. This is the first of a string of markers going from the Rio Grande to the Pacific.

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Thanks for the comments, guys. I kept waiting for that guy to leave. But trying to get a photo without people in Yosemite on a Saturday is nigh impossible.

 

Sadly, we didn't make it to the top of Half Dome on Monday as planned. A lightning storm turned us back. I'm surprised that there is no benchmark listed for the summit of Half Dome. Curious.

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I kept waiting for that guy to leave. But trying to get a photo without people in Yosemite on a Saturday is nigh impossible.

If people don't get out of my way I find a way of making them a part of the picture just like you did. Silhouetting them against a sunset works well. I find it actually makes the photo more interesting.

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Wow! What fantastic pictures!

 

MOCKBA may have the edge because of the puppy in the scene.

(Of course, the one with the 'old fart' in it is cute too).

 

<_<

 

Keep them coming...enjoying them all very much, thank you.

 

Shirley~

 

Edited; to include a compliment to my honey--can't hurt...he does take me with him... <_<

Edited by 2oldfarts (the rockhounders)
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(I really need to get our pictures online.....)

 

From a series of benchmarks I am more than a little obsessed with.

 

The aerial photo of the benchmark.

 

CZ2339

 

Willey Javelina's photo of another in that series.

 

The benchmark is in the center of the cross. The Army flew OV-1 Mohawks and used these benchmarks for camera alignment and resolution studies in the 1960's.

 

Maybe not the most exciting benchmarks, but how many can you see in aerial photos?

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Two of my favorites from a recent trip to Maine, :blink:

 

f69cc5c2-f921-494a-86f9-a8dd53abab72.jpg

PE1894 Somesville Church Spire, Somesville, ME

 

69540cb1-ecdf-423e-9fcd-3711962015f3.jpg

PE1902 Savage Mountain 1870 Northeast Harbor, ME

 

Within a few paces of this chair were two reference marks and the copper bolt placed in 1870. I'm sure that the stone chair was placed awhile ago as there is nothing to see from the sumit, many trees have grown up and obscured the view.

 

Midway Cafe

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Hey, I finally took a pic I thought might be worthy enough to appear here! It is of a power plant stack and it was really just a grab shot from across the Susquehanna River when I looked for another mark. The stack is behind a power pole as that was the only shot I could get, but in retrospect that is kind of prophetic because the tower is carrying lines from the station the stack is at.

fc26b13b-8473-473d-90a4-fe690bbcf4bf.jpg

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These intersection station pictures are really cool, but not really part of this 'contest';

Black Dog Trackers Posted: Jun 17 2004, 09:56 AM 

Contest rules: (yeah I know, I'm always proposing so many rules; ... anyway...)

 

1. No intersection stations (the station IS the tower, building, etc.) Why? Well they all look pretty good, but they're not really all that 'benchmarky'.

 

.........

 

Here are a couple of really excellent benchmark contest pictures that I saw in the recent benchmark gallery!

 

KL0768 by beatnick:

85a38358-6937-4b72-94e4-511493e63831.jpg

 

ME2693 by JeremyA:

476aa514-e72e-48a5-9a35-667b5fc35a94.jpg

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John,

How did you EVER find that one? Amazing skills in searching! :P

 

Also, I looked at JeremyA's find and thought it was a reset mark, so I emailed him and he finally saw my point--the mark is described as being in concrete but is in a stone wall. I suspect it may have been reset but not redescribed. He will be submitting to Deb to see if she agrees that it is destroyed. So this thread has been valuable and not just pretty!

 

Matt

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Actually, that should be logged as a not-found, so far. As you said, what you did find was the azimuth disk for station Mattina. Finding the azimuth disk is not a find for triangulation station Mattina, NC1302. The station disk will have a triangle in the middle of it instead of the arrow.

 

The real NC1302 is about .25 mile away, according to the description. It is a location-adjusted mark, so your GPS if you have one, should lead you to within 15 feet or so of the disk.

 

If you find it, then log a find for NC1302. You might also be able to find a couple of reference mark disks near the station. They will all be stamped Mattina. You should try to take pictures of the whole collection! :P Reference mark #4 might be a bit difficult as it is below ground level.

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Mattina Family,

It may NOT be a coincidence that the disk and your name are the same. Do you have a family history in the area the disk may well be named after your family or had been set on their property. I have recovered Bower on the Bower property and at least three others like that. So it is quite possible the mark is somehow "yours".

 

Matt

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These intersection station pictures are really cool, but not really part of this 'contest';
Black Dog Trackers Posted: Jun 17 2004, 09:56 AM 

Contest rules: (yeah I know, I'm always proposing so many rules; ... anyway...)

BDT:

I like your rules much better. I just went through couple hundred gallery pictures. I see some people use the site to post family pictures. JW1513

 

family history in the area
M:

It occurred to me as well but I didn't think they would wonder if that was the case. The question should have been posted in another string instead of this "contest" string.

Edited by Colorado Papa
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Actually, that should be logged as a not-found, so far.  As you said, what you did find was the azimuth disk for station Mattina.  Finding the azimuth disk is not a find for triangulation station Mattina, NC1302.  The station disk will have a triangle in the middle of it instead of the arrow.

 

The real NC1302 is about .25 mile away, according to the description.  It is a location-adjusted mark, so your GPS if you have one, should lead you to within 15 feet or so of the disk.

 

If you find it, then log a find for NC1302.  You might also be able to find a couple of reference mark disks near the station.  They will all be stamped Mattina.  You should try to take pictures of the whole collection! :unsure:  Reference mark #4 might be a bit difficult as it is below ground level.

Since we are still very new to Geocaching in general and Benchmarking in particular I was unaware that this is an "azimuth" mark. Thanks for the clarification. We looked for the three other disks supposedly in the area and only found a hard plastic-type dome that may or may not have been covering one. Is this possible? I'll take a pictire of it, what would the purpose of putting a "cap" over a survey marker?

 

Also, what would the significance of the name on a marker be? In this case it being called MATTINA is of particular interest. Are they named for a reason or is there a naming convention used by the USGS on these???

 

The Mattina Family Seekers ~ Geocaching Gang

http://www.mattinafamily.com :ph34r:

Edited by The Mattina Family Seekers
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They often tried to use local names of towns, property owners names etc. Names that relate to the area. Maybe someone by the name once owned that land? Maybe someone by that name helped or worked with the survey when they were in the area and thus they paid tribute to that person by naming a mark after them. Maybe they owned a hardwares store and the survey crew did business with them, maybe a girl friend someone met. Chances are slim you will ever know for sure.

 

But it could just as easily be a name picked at random, Maybe someone on the crew came in contact with someone by that name.

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