This bow belongs to an aging cargo ship docked
near Escanaba, Michigan. My father, eldest brother and I were enjoying a 3
day break from work to get in some fishing. During the trip, we took a
break from our break to motor around the docks. There were several dozen
commercial ships in various states of disrepair which, coincidentally,
yielded several dozen excellent images. This one just happens to be my
favorite – if only because it reminds me so of my father.
I won’t venture a guess as to how long this ship has toiled on the Great
Lakes, but I couldn’t help but feel it’s done so faithfully and without
complaint. That’s my Dad! I don’t know a soul who’s worked harder than
him, not only for the benefit of his family, but also his friends and his
patients. It’s a cliché for sure, but as much as I didn’t understand my
father when I was growing up I certainly, as a father myself, understand
now. His commitment to a steady, strong and faithful service to those in is
life testifies not only to his character, but also his legacy a role model
for those of us following his footsteps.
Technical Details: 1/125th sec at f/8 - 18-200mm lens at 200mm -
Cloudy plus 2 WB - JPEG ISO 100
This image exemplifies the vibration reduction technology in today's modern
lenses. Even though I was racked out at 200mm, only shooting at 1/125th of
a second and hand holding a camera while standing in a 18' boat
in 1/2' waves, the image is still tack sharp. Prior to VR there would
be no
way I could have recorded this image this environment. I used matrix
metering, and as such the image was underexposed - I had forgotten to dial
in compensation for all the white in the image. Considering I was
fishing (read beer drinking), I'll forgive myself for the mistake.
Fortunately I was able to adjust the exposure in the pixelroom without
destroying the contrast needed to make this image successful. As with
many of my images, when the aperture doesn't really matter, I choose f/8 as
it is the optical best for the lens I was using.
