Very Changeable

The weather couldn’t make up its mind today.  After trying to  do some macro work out near Fort Clatsop (and getting soaked in the process), I found a rainbow struggling to be seen above the Neptune Pioneer and the Mandarin Sky. 

Both ships have weighed anchor after the turn of the tide and are now upriver.

The Ushuaia (the ship in the twilight photos) is still sitting still outside my window.

It’s not an obsession…

…more like a game.  Shoot this ship whenever it’s in town.  The Sammi Crystal (yawn) shows up again.

Last time was shortly before Christmas, heading outbound in the fog when Andrea and the kids were visiting.  Just over a month later, here it is again.  This old beast must be wearing ruts in the Pacific by now.

This is a crop.  I figured I’d get better results with a small portion of an image from the 105 than I would with an accurately composed shot with the old Minolta zoom. 

Casual observers might think that ships riding at anchor are sitting still in the water.  They’re not!  My first attempts at this shot had the shutter gaping open for 30 seconds, and it’s really disappointing to see that “perfect” alignment of rigging shift and sway visibly between the first slap of the mirror and the last “snick” of the shutter curtain.

Oh, yeah… did I mention that the anchorage looks especially full tonight?

ISO 200, 3.2 seconds @ f/8. (tripod mounted)

Back in Experimentation Mode

Still playing with the new editor.  There’s so much that I like, but I haven’t got the photo stuff tweaked quite yet.  The big versions haven’t been.  Big, that is. 

Trying something different this time with another shot from last night.

Trying to get the text wrapping sorted out once and for all, too.

Wow.  This looks like it might be coming together!

 

 

 

 

 

Sigma 105mm, ISO 100, 6 seconds @ f/8

My Own Attempt

At the end of a long day of shooting on Saturday, we mounted Andrea’s camera on the tripod and had her shoot some twilight stuff.  I liked what she got.

My own camera’s batteries were both dead by that point, and so all I could really do was lend equipment, an idea or two and then hope for similar conditions sometime soon.

Got my chance tonight.

As I post this, a foghorn is felt more than heard throughout the neighborhood, but as it was shot, the evening was clear and cool.

Sony Alpha 100, Sigma 105mm f/2.8 macro @ f:8, ISO 100 @ 1 second.  (Tripod mounted, of course)

Gotta Love the Curves

Bumping around the boatyard in Ilwaco, minding my step so I didn’t do a faceplant in the mud or on the concrete pads, I stopped and looked up for a second and thought “Damn, will you look at that!”  All I had with me at that moment was my little point & shoot, but I had to take it.

Just another one of those “can’t believe the luck” things… two hulls of very different boats sharing nearly parallel lines.

(No crop.  Panasonic DMC-ZS1)

Yet Another Experiment

I’m trying out another editor for use with Blogger.  So far it looks easier to use than the standard Blogger interface, but the proof will be in the publishing.

Photo above is from the series taken on Friday, but this one shows a “DIY HDR” attempt using three different RAW developments of the same frame to increase the tonal range.

Original exposure: Sony 18-70mm @18mm, ISO 200, 1/30 second @ f/5.6 (handheld).

An Experiment

The anchorage was pretty packed this morning. So, lacking anything urgent that needed tending to I fetched my tripod from the car and set up to attempt a panorama that included all nine ships at anchor and the one passing through at that moment.

The resultant file is beyond huge. I probably would have made my old computer explode, or at least fall over with a whimper.

But it's done and it wasn't all that difficult. Now, what's it going to look like when it shows up on the blog?

For the record, this is a combination of six individual frames shot at the 35mm equivalent focal length of 67mm.  You WILL need to click in the shot below to make out any details!  Blogger kept the file size reasonable, so even the larger image is pretty small.

The Calm Before...

...Or is it after?
This morning we had winds that had the trees leaning and the rain coming in horizontally.
This afternoon I had to make a detour on the way home and was treated to this view of Young's Bay.
The forecast for the weekend is still pretty miserable, so maybe this is just a breather between storms, but it was beautiful, anyway.

Posers

This one isn't new. I was looking for something else in the files and my eyes settled on it. I just loved the way that three of the four in the foreground were posing and the fourth was oblivious.

It also reminded me of the warmer, brighter days to come.

Shot in March, 2007.

One That's Getting Away

It happens all the time, but I never like it.

Weather and light are conspiring right now to create a photograph that I can't possibly get to in time to record it..

Earlier in the day, I was preparing to walk out to the railroad right of way and await the failing of the light on the river.  The tripod was packed, lenses cleaned, all was ready... and then the rain squalls moved in in earnest.

So I started in on laundry instead.

Walking back into the living room and looking out just now I realized that the light I was hoping for was there now and would not be in the fifteen minutes that it would take me to run out there and set up the gear.

Overall, it probably would have been a good day to camp out (literally, to avoid being soaked to the bone) and record the range of weather that we can get here in a day.

But you only know these things in hindsight.