I am a history and vintage sailing buff! So when I get the chance, I am all in when it comes to documenting a project that involves both. Wooden schooner builder Harold Burnham of Essex is working on a long term project rehabbing a wooden schooner that is over 100 years old. So back in February I was over at his shipyard working on a video about the beginnings of this project as he cut red oak planks. After he was finished cutting planking we ventured up to the third floor of his house to look over the plans for the Beal. I was using my Fuji X-T3 and the Fuji XF 16mm f 1.4 for the tight space he was working in. This lens was perfect for shooting in the tight confines of his office.
This lens is beautiful for this type of work it’s f1.4 aperture is wonderful for dimly lit scenes. In this case the lighting was not bad as there was a window and a lamp providing some great lighting. The image above was made at f 5.6 which is optimum for this lens. I just love how the depth of field flows out into the background. The close focus ability of this lens is another outstanding feature as you can see above. The whale weight used in holding splines in place is only about three or four inches long so I was pretty close.
the image above was made at f4 and also shows the closeup ability of this lens. It was a great couple of hours with Burnham over at his shipyard and some of the images I made are very nice. Photographing documentary projects is a great experience for folks to learn to use their gear in varied circumstances. Problem solving while working in a fast paced environment is something all photographers need to learn. In the video below Harold tells a wonderful story of how he obtained the naval architecture tools he uses for every boat he works on.
