RETROSPECTS 2024 - #2 - MARITIME SUBJECTS

Port of Newport, Oregon during the Blue Hour

Already in my childhood I was fascinated by anything that had to do with boats, harbors, and coastal life. Maybe no surprise for a guy who grew up in a hilly and wooded area… Well, I still get a kick out of it and whenever there is a chance to shoot in an harbor, I have no problems to find something to aim my lens at.

The Port of Newport, Oregon was the perfect playground at different times of the day. I focussed mostly on details during the days with an overcast. Going out for dinner during the blue hour to a seafood restaurant right at the harbor provided other opportunities and walking back to the car long after sunset wasn’t without charm either.

Containers full of crabs shortly after unloaded from a boat

Maritime details are a great subject for a day with an overcast sky

The port at night with hardly any wind blowing from the Pacific Ocean

NIGHT SHOT AT THE PORT

Port of Newport, Oregon, March 29, 2024

This photo is from the same night as yesterday’s sunset image, except it was shot after dinner. Ports and harbors had always a great fascination for me and I love to watch the business around ships, boats, or on the docks.

I guess it helped a little bit having a bottle of wine with our seafood dinner to handhold the camera and make a sharp picture at 1/13 of a second 😉.  And this still required an ISO setting of 12800. A few years ago this was unthinkable with any previous camera I owned, but the technology for noise reduction we have at our hands today, while shooting and in post process, is just amazing.

Nikon Z6II, Nikkor Z 24-70, f/4 S,   @ 62mm, 1/13 s, f/4, ISO 12,800

LUMINOSITY UNDER WATER

Pacific Sea Nettle, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Newport, OR

It’s tempting to just follow the actual time line and post only the photos that reflect what’s going on at the moment of publishing. I would follow the ”journalistic path” of the blog but many photos I create, especially those on the more artistic side, would fall under the table and never ever being shared with you.

Today’s image of a Pacific Sea Nettle is one of my favorites from our recent trip. It’s not wildlife and it was all about dealing with the circumstances of shooting through the thick glass in the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Oregon.

I pressed the lens tightly against the glass of the aquarium and the rest was done by the lighting source of the tank above the water level. A few years ago I would never ever had dreamed about using a sensitivity of ISO 16000 for a photo. Now, with the great handling of high ISO settings in mirrorless cameras and much better noise reduction features in our software, this is just a matter of employing all these tools. Don’t take me wrong, I still believe shooting with the lowest ISO settings as possible is the best way to go for a high quality image. This time ISO 16000 allowed to expose at 1/640s at extremely low light conditions and to get this pulsating jelly fish still sharp in the frame.

A public aquarium tries to tell the story about the life under water for a certain habitat, that most of us aren’t able to see in their life time. When I take a shot like this I try to keep any men-made items out of the frame and hope to continue their story telling.

Here in Dubuque, Iowa we have the Mississippi River & Aquarium, one of the best in the country, and practicing many times before at their beautiful fish tanks made it easier to nail down the photo I can present for you today. I hope you enjoy it!

A NOISY BUNCH (SEE THE VIDEO)

California Sea Lions, Newport, Oregon

Back to our trip along the Pacific coast in Oregon. You have not seen Newport if you didn’t see the sea lions in the harbor. From late August through early June adult and juvenile male sea lions can be seen on the docks of the Newport harbor. The females stay in California waters all year around. During the summer months male sea lions migrate south to join the females for their breeding season. (source: information board at the Newport harbor)

You don’t need a map to find them at the harbor, just follow the barking noise. There is a constant pushing and shoving going on while competing for space on the docks. Feel free to click the video below to hear and see the noisy bunch.

Nikon Z6II, Nikon FTZ adapter, Nikon Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm, f/4,  @ 200mm