A First Voyage?

I was drawn by good weather to Pier 1 this afternoon.  I’ve missed a lot of the visitors to the log pier, as the old dock opposite it has been in the process of being ripped up and (I hope) refurbished.

I picked my way across the exposed bents to get to a decent vantage point for the first time in months.

The ship that’s tied up, the Swakop, is especially shiny and new-looking, so I checked what I could find about her.  Marinetraffic.com’s info indicates her build date as 2013, and really, that looks plausible.  But there’s other info that indicates that she had a former name, and very few details are available.

I have to guess that the “former name” was a builder’s placeholder, waiting for the buyer to take possession and properly name her. 

Not only is the paint new enough that the crew probably still smells it, there isn’t a single chain-mark on her bow, and her anchor appears to have never seen a harbor’s bottom.  On top of that, she’s got that newfangled (and none-too-pretty plumb bow that’s all the rage in naval architecture these days.

Please Stand By…

My formerly reliable blog-authoring utility has decided that it no longer likes most of the photo file-types that I’ve been using for years.  It’s strange… I haven’t changed anything in the workflow in prepping them for web use, or file-type, or anything, really, but they still won’t display properly.  More to the point, the photos just don’t show up. Period.

It’s true that I haven’t been especially active for the last few weeks, but I’m surely not dead! 

The picture of the Arrow 2 on stilts took three different edit attempts to publish correctly, and that’s just goofy.

This is supposed to be fun, not work.  I’m exploring alternatives now.  I tried one on my other blog and all hell broke loose.  I ended up having to change the look of the entire publication, but it might have been worth the effort. 

Something akin to that may be in the offing here.  Suggestions are welcome.

Scott

I Hope It’s Not a Bad Thing

I hadn’t noticed the Arrow 2 sitting high and dry prior to Monday, and even that was pretty much an accident.

Yes, if you know where to look for her, you can see her as you slip down off the lift span, heading east on the “new” Youngs Bay Bridge, but unless you’re a passenger, you should be paying more attention to the road.

But, there she is.  After 50 years of service, and after becoming (very probably) one of the most-photographed working boats on the planet, she’s perched on spindly blue stilts, awaiting her fate.

After all of these years of watching her and photographing her, Monday was the first time that I ever touched her.  Not knowing what her future holds, I was glad I got the chance.

She has a tremendous following.  I have very high hopes that she’ll end up on a more glorious perch somewhere nearby in years to come. 

For the time being, though, it’s rather sad to see this rugged workhorse out of her element with no clear future ahead of her.

Blue Hour Again

It’s been a very busy day on the river, and I haven’t been able to take much of it in.

By definition, the “blue hour” had been over for at least 20 minutes when I made the shot.

You could fool me!

It’s the Sinar Kutai riding at anchor just west of the Mill Pond area.  I love that the water is brighter than the sky.  There was actually clear sky overhead.  The massive cloud bank topped out a few degrees above the upper edge of the frame.

105mm @ f/8, 4 seconds, ISO 200.

Coming This Saturday

Prints on Display…

Two of the images that I’ve posted here (and seven other non-maritime photos) are currently on display at Astoria’s Baked Alaska restaurant.

The image area on each of the prints us roughly 12 x 18 inches, and all are professionally matted and framed.

Stop by and take a look, if you’re interested.

Scott

Experiment Within An Experiment

This was shot several weeks ago.  Photographically speaking, it’s a tough set of conditions.  The ships’ lights are very bright unless you’re comparing them to, say, the sun in a clear sky.  The visible stars are faint by comparison, but when you’re standing there, you see it ALL. 

The camera’s sensor can, too, but not all in the same frame.  The dynamic range is too great.  But I just had to try.

The most frustrating part of this process is that last step… getting it presented on the web.  Even when reduced and optimized for web viewing, hundreds of stars remain visible within Photoshop when I make the final review.  But, as I look at the preview, only a handful show up.  I won’t know what will be visible after a click on the image until it’s actually uploaded to the server and viewed in a browser.

Wish me luck!

ISO 200, 18mm with the A77.  25 seconds @ f/9.  Noise reduction in LR4, optimized for web in PS CS5.

Post-publishing note:  Well, that’s disappointing!  It’s better than what Facebook does, but not by a lot.  Click on the image for full(er) effect.

I’m trying!