Shady Lady
Old boat, chipped paint, barnacle encrusted underside. How can that be appealing? But it is….to me. When I paddled my kayak up for a closer look at the Shady Lady, my eye was drawn to her aft port side — telling me her story of age and neglect. I could have photographed her bow or pilot house or even her stern, which were not as revealing of her long days against sun, wind and salt water. But not this time. No. She deserved better. Her story was in her weathering. Her cracks and decay were a work of art. Her lines and shadows were pleasing in their simplicity. She was a grand old gal who was still hard at work earning an honest day’s pay. I snapped this shot, paid my respects, and paddled on. June 10, 2012.
Specs: Canon PowerShot, F/8, 1/400, ISO 80.
Miss Carolyn
Recently, when Jenny and I were kayaking on Broad Creek, I photographed many of the old deadrise work boats. The Miss Carolyn is a beauty, and I liked the way she was sitting here with the dark sky and rusted tin roof of the boat shed adding some tonal variation to this sepia image. June 10, 2012.
Specs: Canon PowerShot, F/4.9, 1/500, ISO 80
A Golden Moment
Sitting on the bridge of my old motor yacht, I have the perfect vantage point to observe life on Broad Creek, a bustling waterway of marinas, boatyards and river homes in Deltaville, Virginia. The creek, which spills into the mouth of the Rappahannock River at its confluence with the Chesapeake Bay, was especially active this past Memorial Day weekend as families flocked to the water. This shot captured a father and daughter kayaking with the family dog, the water-loving Golden Retriever. The sun’s sparkle on the kayaks and water droplets off the paddles added to this “Golden Moment”.
May 29, 2012. Camera: Nikon D7000, Focal Length: 270 mm, Aperture: F/11, Shutter: 1/8000, ISO: 6400
Wind Power
An umbrella comes in handy on a breezy day for this Broad Creek kayaker. Because I did not want to crop out the boats at the top, since they offer some perspective, I used a color focal zoom technique against a B&W waterscape to help the subject stand out.
Deltaville, Virginia. August 14, 2011
Nikon 200 mm, F/6.3, 1/640, ISO 200
In My View 