In this post I’m sharing more photos from Cumberland Island, a barrier island off the Georgia coast. I captured these images early one morning as a strong wind was sweeping grains of fine white sand down the length of the beach, just above the hard-packed sand left by the last tide. The fine airborne sand was forming little drifts in the lee of the various beach relics. The darker sand from the last tide, packed and firm, provided a background of contrasting tones. The sand particles created particularly nice trailing shapes around the horseshoe crab shells. Everywhere there were small white sand drifts in interesting shapes, reflecting the aerodynamics at play. The wind was moving at just the right speed and direction to pick up the little sand grains, and to then drop them, as the airflow slowed down in its rush around shells and small pieces of wood.
In this image you can see that grains of fine white sand carried by a strong wind have formed a kind of scrim along the surface of the hard-packed sand, highlighting shells left by the last tide.
This is a relatively intact shell of a horseshoe crab, less the spikey tail. The fine white trailing sand drift is created by sand grains dropping in the wake of the shell. The shell consists of a large front piece and a smaller back piece that has spikes on either side. (The shell in the photo at the top of the post is the back piece alone.)
An upside down horseshoe crab shell with its legs and their claw-like tips highlighted by the sand filling the shell.
This trailing white sand drift, with its various textures, looks a bit like the exhaust plume from a rocket.
In this photo the smaller back end of the horseshoe crab shell with its spikey edges is highlighted and trailed by the powdery fine white sand.
The upper and lower parts of this horseshoe crab shell are filled with sand in a way that accentuates the precise edges of a normally complicated-looking creature.
There’s a beautifull amber color to the edges of this shell.
In this photo just a fragment of what appears to be a horseshoe crab shell remains, joined by some tufts of grass.
These little bunches of dead grass look like they were hit by a snowstorm.
A little piece of driftwood gets into the action, seeming to just be completing an acrobatic move, and trailing effervescence.
Little clam shells combine with the drifts and sand textures.
A twisted blackened stick and its trailing sandy cape looks to my eye like a speeding Velociraptor. The trailing splotches might have been little pieces of sea foam that the sand adhered to.
The finest details of this piece of driftwood board are filled in and highlighted by the tiny grains of airborne white sand.
