Saw the tall ships recently. These mighty titans once were scattered across all the seas a couple of centuries ago, but today they’re mostly seen on the big screen — enter Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, travelling on the HMS Bounty.
The first day the ships were tucked in port at Lake Erie, which meant that their massive sails were down. With just the masts and ropes showing, they looked more like tall wooden toothpicks.
| Tall Ships |
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As always, the question was what to shoot? I looked around and all I saw was rope. Rope to tie the sails, rope to stabilize the masts, and even more rope to tie other ropes. This didn’t seem all that interesting but as I tried to make the most of it and along the way snapped this sideboat.
| SideBoat | Rope All Around |
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However, later that night I learned that Capt. Wayne Bratton of the Holiday was planning a last chance to cruise near the tall ships at full bloom, and get close and personal before they left the port.
Called the good Captain the next day, reserved a spot, paid, and in no time, I was literally coasting just a few feet away from these beauties. Close enough for a ship portrait if there is such a thing.
Luckily, the morning threatened to rain so there was some great cloud cover to make these vessels really stand out. Plus, brought my polarizer (the one lens that Photoshop can’t mimic) to get the most blue out of the sky.
| Tall Ships St. Lawrence | Tall Ships Europa |
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| Click to Enlarge! | |
What a day! More soon.
[Excerpted from Photography Insights, Volume 1, by Scott Ober, MD, Copyright © 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]