Minimalism

Sunday morning, not long after dawn.  The white balance was off, but I liked it.  Something to contemplate over coffee.

A77 and 16-50mm f/2.8 zoom @ 24mm, 1/200 @ f/8.

Fu Da at Twilight

I know… it looks like some other shots I’ve taken from a similar vantage point.  But, don’t a lot of them? 

If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t shoot it.

ISO 100, 8 seconds @ f/8, 105mm Sigma macro.  Large-radius contrast masking applied in Photoshop to open up shadow areas after Lightroom development.

The evening’s shoot started out as an academic exercise.  I was trying to figure out how best to use the long “G” zoom in difficult lighting. 

The solution, it seems, is to remove said lens and slap on the Sigma.

Problem solved!

Majesty

I shot this on the day before Thanksgiving, but things got pretty hectic right after that, so I’m just getting around to posting it now.

Just another (yawn) shot from the front porch on yet another cloudy day, but I really liked the way the red deck paint popped out on this one, as well as the cloud/fog formations in the hills on the Washington side of the river.

A77 with 70-300mm G zoom @ 160mm.  1/500 @ f/5.6, ISO 200

Oh, Just Click On It!

This is a cross post from my other blog, which tends to be more general in topic.  This image seemed to fit both.

The image is a result of the (new) A77’s “sweep panorama” mode, Adobe’s Lightroom 3 post-processing and minor work in Photoshop CS4. 

Yeah, I’m still having fun with the new gear.

Shot at 16mm and 1/200 second, but past that, I can’t tell you a lot… the camera’s mode took over.  I think there were between 15 and 20 frames involved in the stitching, but I didn’t really try to count.  I was too busy panning with my finger on the shutter button.

The hard part (the panorama stitching) was accomplished in-camera in less than a second after the series was shot (on a Class-10 card… be prepared to wait with something slower), and the balance of the post-work was done in a couple of minutes in LR3 and CS4.

Bumping Around in The Dark

After years of waiting, my new camera arrived yesterday.  I spent most of yesterday getting it set up for the way that I plan to use it and finally set out for some serious experimentation this evening.

Having a full moon rising as the sun slipped over the horizon was a very welcome coincidence.

From the Cannery Pier Hotel parking lot/pier. ISO 800. 70-300 “G” at 230 mm actual, 1/30 @ f/9.5.  Why that combo?  I don’t know except to say that I’m trying hard to learn to NOT accidentally change the settings by the control wheels.

I’m very pleased with this.  No messing around in post-processing except to remove a spot of flare from the moon.  The A100 just could not have handled this kind of dynamic range without significant post work.  I spent more time selecting the image than I did getting it prepped for the web.

ISO 100, 10 seconds @ f/5.6, 16-50 mm zoom at 22mm, tripod mounted. Developed in ACR, no crop.

ISO 160, 4 seconds @ f/5.6, 16-50 mm zoom at 35mm (effectively a “normal” lens shot).  Developed in ACR, no crop.

Could There Be a “New Ship” Smell?

Maybe that’s what made me double back to the East Mooring Basin tonight to check out the gleaming Nantong K.  She was swinging on her anchor chain, pointing her bow right at me (and Calamity Jane, who got there a few minutes before me).

I marveled at the nearly pristine paint on this hull.  It really was amazing.  There was only one set of chain marks across the bullnose!  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen such an unmarked hull before.  A detail shot (click to see the larger version):

When I got home, I did some searching.  So much of what I saw made me think that this was more than just a fresh paint job.  The hull plates aren’t buckled, the anchor chain still shows new paint on the links, none of the railings are bent… basically, it looked nearly virginal.

I found this.  Yes, she is about as new as we’re ever likely to see, having been delivered on July 21, 2011 from Kawasaki Heavy Industries.  Is this her maiden voyage after completion of fitting out?  I don’t know that.  But it’s probably only her second or third voyage at most, as not enough time has passed since her delivery to make more transits than that.

Having inadvertently followed the end of the Sammi Crystal’s career, it’s interesting to stumble upon the beginning of a new Handy-size carrier’s lifespan.

Another Oddity

I popped over the crest of 15th this afternoon to see beautiful shades of sunlit green on the Washington shore and (huh?) a splash of haze gray in the shipping channel.

That particular shade of gray in this river means one of two things: a USN  or an MSC (Military Sealift Command) vessel.  Or perhaps a commercial shipping line wants to make itself a target of international terrorists and I haven’t heard about it yet.  It’s possible, but unlikely.

Since the Rose Festival fleet headed out to sea weeks ago and the silhouette is a bit full, I assume it’s MSC.  The Shipfinder app gives me the name of the vessel, and the stripes on the stack give the rest away.  It’s the SS Cape Intrepid.

I made the larger version a little bigger (double-click on the image) than normal because she’s so unusual.  A single crane mounted forward, a bunch of who-knows-what stacks mounted amidships, and a “launch ramp” that Evel Kneivel would lust after just ahead of the house.  And then there’s the house itself, mounted well forward of typical positioning.  Followed up with the ro-ro ramp at the fantail. 

This is truly a horse designed by committee, but it seems to me that they didn’t screw it up altogether.  It’s still a nice-looking ship!  It just has parts of a break-bulk tramp, a car carrier and something else entirely built onto it.  And it’s got a really nice, rakish bow.

So, she’s no thoroughbred, but she’s not a camel, either. 

I looked around online for some history.

She started life in 1976 as a Lykes vehicle carrier.  Really?  That was pretty good looking as car carriers go. Then became the Arizona (wonder if the crew said extra prayers nightly?), then the Jupiter, and finally the Cape Intrepid.

I’ve seen some photos from other phases of her service, and she’s changed a bit. 

Her mission these days is said to be to support a Marine Amphibious Brigade.  Makes some sense, given her configuration, but something tells me that she wouldn’t be at the point of the spear.  That ramp requires a dock.

The Arrow 2 was heading out to intercept another outbound ship and I happened to catch a view of the Cape Intrepid’s stern.  Not the prettiest hull in the harbor, but she looks like she’s up to the job.