Boats and waves

A quick stop at the fishing boats, where I photographed primarily texture to use in my photomontages. But across the way, the yellow fishing vessel Desire gleamed brightly against a cloudy grey sky. And then on the way home, we stopped at Seal Rock because the lighting was so dramatic and the waves were really snarly. I used a quarter-second exposure to create these two shots. They're not sweeps nor swipes nor swoops -- they're swirls. I swirled the camera in a circular pattern during the exposure. It's been a good day. ©Carol Leigh

Fishing boat abstracts

Christmas Day and most of the fishing boats are in port, lots of them weighed down in the water with loads of crabs, waiting to offload after the holiday. Bright sunshine created pretty reflections and dark shadows, which are fun to work with. The same bright sunlight made our beach exploration tough for photography, but it's a brand-new beach and it's PACKED with photo potential. Next overcast day that's where I'll be. There's even a little waterfall there.

What you see here is a spliced rope in front of a bright blue and black reflection. Then the aft section of an orange fishing boat reflected in the water. And finally a plain old white-prowed boat. Love the shadow on the right. Very stark image, and it's my favorite of these three. All taken with a Canon 70-200mm "L" lens and a polarizing filter.

Wonderful day. Hope yours was, too. ©Carol Leigh

Boat hull and reflection

Another shot taken on the docks in Newport yesterday. ©Carol Leigh

It's all about the light

Late afternoon sun creates pretty reflections in the water and the yellow buoy marking the site of the sunken Helen McColl stands out beautifully against the darker background. I like how the yellow of the buoy echoes the yellow in the reflections. 

In the second photo, what makes it for me is its simplicity, symmetry, and that little shimmer of sunlight on the right. But here's what kills me: I'm not sure that, when I clicked the shutter, that I consciously noticed that little bit of sunlight. I was more concerned with framing the boat's hull, making sure it was vertical. I don't recall being too concerned about the bit of sunlight. And that makes me realize I still have a long way to go on this photographic journey. ©Carol Leigh

A quick trip up to Newport

Thursday is our day to run errands -- trip to the library, various stores, and, if we're in the area, a quick zoom around the fishing boats. Most of the boats are out right now, pulling in crabs, re-baiting the pots, and throwing the pots back in, so there aren't many boats to admire/photograph. In the first photo, two boats share the same cleat, and I liked the semi-symmetry of the lines diagonating outward.

A cormorant popped up next to me and, since I had my camera obscuring my face, I don't think he knew I was human (perhaps simply another vertical post) and so he hung around a bit longer than he would have. I liked his silhouette on the water and especially liked how his head and neck are turned, creating a backward line. I purposely left more space on the right to accommodate that left-right implied movement.

And then finally the fishing vessel "Judy" comes into port, loaded down with Dungeness crabs. Whenever I see this boat, I think of you, Judy T.!

During these first three days of crab season, the fishermen are assured a price of $1.75 per pound. A good haul is 15,000-18,000 pounds of crab, giving them a potential gross of $26,250-$31,500 per haul. Where the price goes after these three days, I don't know. Just a bit of crabbing trivia for you . . . ©Carol Leigh

Pre-dawn

There was a big moon in the sky this morning and a lot of fishing boats out on the horizon. It's difficult to get dressed, leave a warm house, a snuggly cat, and go out to shoot. But I did. (Oops, I should have said "and a loving husband, as well." Sorry, Chris!)

I parked at the Seal Rock overlook and took a few photos. Nah, too much foliage in front of me. I grabbed a flashlight from the car and found a path up to a higher vantage point. The path dipped, I didn't, but nothing broke.

The moon was so bright. The lights on the fishing boats were bright. And the foreground just about pitch black. Tough exposure situation. Clouds scudding across the face of the moon helped tone things down.

The moon disappeared for awhile behind a fog bank, but then reappeared for a few seconds before leaving the scene for good. I was using a 28-135mm lens for all these shots, which was fine for overviewish images, but not ideal for the moon. No regrets, however.

I was hoping for some pink lighting on clouds before dawn, but nope, that didn't happen. So I fumbled my way back down the trail, using the tripod as a walking stick, and headed toward home.

And that's when I saw the fog moving in among the hills over the Alsea Bay. More to follow. ©Carol Leigh

The end of the day

The end of the day. The boats are back, the pots have been set, here's hoping for a good season for these folks. ©Carol Leigh

Crabbing season has begun

Crabbers can begin setting out their pots today, but can't begin pulling in crabs until (if I recall correctly) December 3rd. So after midnight last night they were out there, little lights bobbing on the horizon, doing their thing. I walked out to the middle of the Yaquina Bay Bridge this morning, hoping to photograph a few stragglers heading out, boats loaded down with pots, but the only boats I saw were the ones coming in, having dropped their pots and perhaps coming back for a second load.

Here you see the Delma Ann coming back into port and then the Golden Dolphin (not a crabber) heading out. Hate to say it, but the guy at the stern of the Delma Ann looks suspiciously like he's taking a leak . . . But nope, my telephoto lens as the boat got closer indicated nothing flashing as the boat "whizzed" past . . . ©Carol Leigh

Thirty-five minutes on the docks . . .

Taking advantage of a brief break between storms, Chris and I headed up to Newport to the library late this afternoon. The light was so pretty, we stopped at the docks so I could take a quick swing around. Everybody's gearing up for crabbing season, which begins after Thanksgiving, and pots are all loaded up on a lot of the boats. I shot an overview of the scene and then moved on.

I'd forgotten about the Helen McColl. This very old wooden fishing boat sank a few weeks ago. All we can see are her masts sticking up out of the water.

A red-necked phalarope (thank you, Bruce K. for the I.D.) was swimming about in the reflections. Man, these guys are fast. All I had with me was an 18-55mm lens, so I couldn't zoom in tight on him, but I still like the look.

And then I can't seem to stay away from these colorful fenders, and this one, hanging down from the deep orange-red Miss Berdie, looked particularly luscious.

Good light. No rain. Lots of color. Exhilarating! ©Carol Leigh

Port of Alsea, Oregon

Yesterday it was just sprinkling, so I made a quick stop at the Port of Alsea here in Waldport to see what I could find. An overview shot (which I softened and sepia-toned) shows one fisherman doing a bit of crabbing. And then I saw this little bird darting about below me, snagging things off the surface of the water. I've yet to look him up in my bird book to see what he is. And finally I saw this whimsical thing — yup, it's a seahorse! ©Carol Leigh

Boats in Depoe Bay

We made a quick stop in Depoe Bay this morning where I found a couple of colorful boats to shoot. Used an 18mm lens (for those of you who care, and you know who you are!). ©Carol Leigh

An old-fashioned look

I'm learning different Photoshop techniques (as usual, by scrounging around online looking for tips, which works great for someone with my limited attention span). I took a rather monochromatic photo of a fishing boat yesterday and this morning did all sorts of things to it to create this rendition, which looks like it was perhaps taken in the 1920s. (It helps that the boat itself is quite old.)

Now I just need to go back and figure out all my steps to see why I did what I did and how. My days are simply not long enough. ©Carol Leigh

On the docks again . . .

Thursdays are sort of our "errand" day and as we venture out, I try to always visit the fishing boats, even if it's just for 15 minutes or so. (I'd be foolish not to, right?) We had great clouds today, so I took a few overviews as well as taking my usual abstract weird stuff. Rain's expected this weekend, so a "sun fix" today was definitely in order. ©Carol Leigh

On the docks . . .

Last Thursday, while running errands in Newport, we stopped (naturally) at the fishing boats to see if there were any "new" boats in town and to check out the light. There are a lot of boats in from California right now, and the lighting was interesting but challenging.

I returned home with a lot of woefully underexposed images. This is the best I could do with what I got. I used a bit of Topaz Adjust and some dodging and burning to bring out what I could. Way too much post-processing work. Should have spent more time on-scene analyzing what I was doing. Hmmmm . . . guess I'm going to have to go back! ©Carol Leigh

F/V Miss Berdie

Looking up at the anchor and bow of the fishing vessel "Miss Berdie," and then down at the reflection of the bow in the water. Major redness going on here. ©Carol Leigh

Aboard a fishing vessel

I was photographing paint splotches on the dock when Captain Tom came over to ask why I was photographing bird poop ... Good conversation starter. He invited us aboard his fishing vessel and we didn't hesitate to scramble over the rail.

You can see Diesel the fishing boat cat peering over the bow of the boat. The nicest, friendliest cat you could ever meet. Abby should take lessons ...

In the second shot you can see the lures and hooks they use for tuna fishing. And then you can see the downside of fishing -- a finger that got sawed off, caught between a ladder and a Russian trawler. And finally Captain Tom himself -- knowledgeable and so giving, sharing his way of life and the equipment he uses with three clueless landlubbers. (By the way, fishing boats use "fuel," not "gas.") Turns out his aunt lives a couple of miles away from June in North Carolina. She's going to look her up!

Small world. Getting smaller. ©Carol Leigh

Blue morning

It's always great having a fellow photographer come to visit. Chris and I took June to photograph the fishing boats early in the morning when the waters were calm and reflections at their best. Then it was on to the crab pot staging area, lunch, and then more photography at a place where fishing nets are stored. Hoo ha! These two boats and their reflections are some of the better ones I got on the docks. Add to that the blue bumper hanging off a blue boat and we've got quite a threesome.

For the first time ever, we were invited aboard a fishing vessel to (a) meet the two cats (Diesel and Sherman) and (b) to see all the gear, fathometers, plankton finders, temperature finders, fish finders, and more. What a treat. It must have been June's charm that encouraged the captain to invite us aboard . . . ©Carol Leigh

Boats

It was a beautiful afternoon on the Oregon coast — almost too sunny to shoot! We met David and Letty at Canyon Way for lunch in Newport and then Chris and I took them down to the fishing boats to do a bit of shooting. It was a tough go. This boat hull photo was inspired by a photo taken by John Wright on his blog, and I thank him for reminding me to look for such things. The first thing that caught my eye about that scene was the bright orange reflection of the boat's bumper in the water. Then I remembered John's boat hull shot and so I lined everything up just so. ©Carol Leigh

This is running errands?

During a trip to Staples we took a slight detour so I could walk among the fishing boats for a few minutes. Always a worthwhile stop. ©Carol Leigh

Newport, Oregon

A trip to Newport to run errands and, since it wasn't raining, a quick detour to spend half an hour among the fishing boats. A lot of what I photograph there consists of paint splatters on the docks, rust patterns, paint dribbles down the sides of boats, etc. All of this is fodder for my photomontages, and elicits a lot of strange looks and humorous remarks from the local fishermen. "You certainly have an unusual hobby," was today's comment. ©Carol Leigh