Shot of the Day – 35 – California Wind Turbines

San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm (22 March 2019)

Driving west on I-10 toward Los Angeles from the desert resort towns of Palm Springs and Palm Desert, one passes through San Gorgonio Pass and a massive wind farm. Begun in the 1980’s, the complex now has over 3200 turbines that deliver 615 megawatts of juice to that ever-growing Southern California market.

San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm (22 March 2019)

I was not driving when this picture was taken…thank goodness. From the passenger seat, I shot through the windshield with the zoom lens at its long end to gather in the distant ridges bristling with spinning wind mills.

As I noted in an old post on what to do when shooting through the window of a moving vehicle, the main objective is to overcome the vibrations in the moving car. I lowered the f-stop to its smallest number. This produces the widest shutter opening which lets in the most light. Depth of field is not a concern since the focus is on infinity. More light means a faster shutter speed to make the exposure right. Faster shutter speeds mean less blur…despite the fact you’re hurtling down the highway at 70.