STILL LIFE 113 – HAWSER 2

 

 

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Mooring line on board the Thekla: there is another image of this ship’s hawsers, and some context, here.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto the larger image to enlarge it yet again.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom; East Mud Dock, Bristol; 12 May 2017.
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STILL LIFE 112 – HAWSER 1

 

 

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Mooring line of the Thekla, a ship housing a live music and night club venue, which lives in Bristol’s East Mud Dock.

Composition: the rugged, solid, eminently workmanlike personality of a ship – tough, massive ropes attached to strong, thickly painted ironwork – even though this particular ship nestles eternally at the quayside in Bristol’s sheltered harbour.  Two things strike me here.  First, there is this great, thick rope cutting diagonally across the frame, with another view of it, just catching the light and wound around very stout ironwork, at upper right.

And then there are two strong and opposing linear features – the diagonal hawser already alluded to, and the sharp, upper edge of the dark metal behind it, which descends at a similar angle and almost seems to cut into the rope – both of these being almost at right angles to the very strong lineations of the cream and black ironwork which cut through the image from lower left to centre right.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto the larger image to enlarge it yet again.

Technique: X-T2 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, including the Classic Chrome film simulation; 12 May 2017.
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ARCHIVE 270 – REFLECTION OF A SMALL BOAT

 

 

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The prow of a small boat in Mevagissey harbour, Cornwall, on a still morning; 24 Oct 2012.

I think this must be the most perfect reflection photo I’ve ever taken.  Conditions were ideal – an overcast morning with barely a whiff of breeze. 

This boat was moored at the quay, and the rusting chain is its mooring line.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

D700 with 70-300 Nikkor at 240mm; 5000 ISO.

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PEOPLE 232 – BOAT OWNER

 

 

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I rarely get enthusiastic about boats, I can’t even swim, but as soon as I caught sight of the Sharon Tracey in the little harbour at Porthleven, it was love at first sight!   I mean, what a dinky (in the British sense of the word) little boat, decked out in blue and yellow, lounging around slightly askew at low water, her little boarding ladder on the left, and one of her tiny propellers visible on the right.  Here is almost toy-like beauty.

But this is flagged as a post about people and, although Sharon may well have a personality of her own, this photo – to me, anyway – is about the man, whom I’m presuming is the boat’s owner.  Here is someone who must be into boats, seriously into boats, and how happy and proud he must be to skipper this little floating gem.  We Brits have a phrase – messing about in boats – and here’s someone, in jeans, Wellington boots and body warmer, who does it a lot – and doubtless enjoys it a lot too.

I would guess that he’s a fisherman of one sort or another, maybe he has some crab or lobster pots a little way offshore, something like that, or maybe he actually fishes.  What a life, far away from urban sprawl, commuting and rush hour traffic.  I don’t know him at all, but I would imagine that he loves being in this little boat, that he has some good quality of life, and that he’s happy in what he does – as modern idiom would put it, “WAY TO GO, MAN, WAY TO GO!!!”.

Click onto the image to see a (much!) larger version in a separate window.

X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 300mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Porthleven harbour, Cornwall; 18 Oct 2016.
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STILL LIFE 67 – GANGPLANK

 

 

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Safety ropes on the gangplank of a floating restaurant; Bristol Bridge, central Bristol; 16 Sept 2016.

These undulating ropes, set against the shadow of the ship’s side, were eye-catching.  I tried taking the image into black and white and then restoring the ropes’ colours, but actually a straight colour version does rather better. 

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window.

X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 6400 ISO.
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STILL LIFE 62 – THE COLOUR OF THE SEA BENEATH A SMALL BOAT

 

 

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A small, blue boat rides at anchor – a very simple image, that’s really all there is to see.

The only solid facts are the simple, elegantly curving lines of the boat.  Beyond them, the sea’s surface takes on a silvery hue where the light catches it. But in the craft’s brief shadow, this paleness disintegrates and fragments as, approaching closer to the graceful blues of that wooden hull, the emerald greens of the sea deepen and, gently but firmly, draw us further in and deeper down.

X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon lens at 305mm (equiv); 400 ISO;  St Ives, Cornwall; 21 Sept 2016.
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BRISTOL 101 – CANDLESTICKS IN A FLOATING RESTAURANT

 

 

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Silhouetted candlesticks in The Three Brothers Burgers floating restaurant; Welsh Back, central Bristol; 5 August 2016.

A second early morning foray into Bristol city centre, on another day that promised a lot of sunshine.  The 0608 bus got me down there earlier than more sensible souls, the sun kept promising to rise above a low cloud bank, and I went walkabout, looking at anything and everything – while hoping for blazing, low angle, early morning sunlight.  Years ago I read that our legs are amongst our most useful photographic tools – always keep moving, keep looking with an aware, open and receptive mind, keep altering viewpoint – this simple plan of action has very often worked for me.

So later I found myself meandering along the side of the Floating Harbour, heading up towards Bristol Bridge.  To my right was the water, with three floating restaurants that were broadside on to the now blazing sun.

I drew abreast the middle boat, The Three Brothers Burgers restaurant, and the sun was pouring into its dining room, throwing two large candlesticks into sharp silhouette.  The atmosphere in that dining room looked dusty and hazy, the whole place reminded me of a painting, and the camera caught the feel of the place exactly.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window – recommended.

X-T1 with 55-200 Fujinon at 168mm (equiv); 800 ISO.
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ARCHIVE 228 – BOYS FISHING

 

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Luo boys fishing at Dunga, near Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya; April 1979.

I love the colours and slightly upturned prow of the boat, and its reflection too, and also the overall feeling of relaxation, with time passing slowly on a hot day by the side of the teeming lake.

OM-1 with 75-150 Zuiko at 150mm; Agfa CT18 colour slide, rated at 64 ISO.

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ARCHIVE 173 – FISHING BOAT

 

 

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Fishing boat hauled up onto the quay; the harbour at West Bay, Dorset; 5 Nov 2008.

F6 with 70-300 Nikkor; Fuji Provia 400X colour slide, rated at 1600 ISO.
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DORSET 29 – IN THE HARBOUR 2

 

 

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Reflection of a motor boat on the harbour at West Bay; 21 Apr 2015.

Click onto this image to see a larger version on a separate window.

The first image in this series – also of boats but in very different style – is here.

D800 with 70-300 Nikkor at 170mm; 200 ISO; flipped.
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