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Patience – never give up on a sunset!

Lanes Cove sunset
Memorial Day sunset at Lanes Cove Gloucester

We knew it would be close! The sun was going down and my wife and I could see the color popping up under the rather large cloud layer that had moved in. So driving along 127 in Gloucester towards Lanes Cove kept bringing the question, are we going to miss it? As it turned out we were just in time. Shooting at water level made a huge difference.

I made this image handheld with the lens OIS on. The exposure was 1/50s at f 5.6 with the ISO at 400. This image is sharp as a tack. The OIS is outstanding on the Fuji 18-55. As you can tell by the flag it was blowing pretty good. A slower shutter speed at a lower ISO with a tripod would have meant the flag would have shown more movement.

I really like this shot of the glow on the horizon as the sun dipped below it.

 

Lanes Cove
Sunset over Lanes Cove

Then I switched to my Fuji 10-24 to see if there were any good wide shots available. I tried a few different compositions but nothing really felt good so I headed back to the car. Just as I was about to climb into the car my wife said; turn around you’re going to miss it. So I turned around and this is what I saw. My first thoughts were wide and the crop will be 16:9 and that is what I ended up with.

The exposure was tricky but Lightroom was able to pull the shadows and calm down the sunset so it all worked. The exposure on this wide shot as the light level started to go down was 1/25s f4.5 @ ISO 640. I would have rather had the tripod for this shot so I could have shot at a lower shutter speed. ISO 640 might be a little high. When I print this I will see what the shadows print like.

Ditty Bag Making – A photo story

A well used ditty bag sits as an example of how it’s done during the Ditty Bag Workshop held at the Waterline Center of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex on Sunday morning. KIRK R. WILLIAMSON/ photo. 3/31/19

This past weekend I had the chance to photograph people making ditty bags to hold their sailing tools. I wish I had been able to stick around for the end but it was still fun talking with people and learning why they were making these canvas bags meant for holding tools used by sailors for eons.

The Ditty Bag Workshop held at the Waterline Center of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex on Sunday morning was a big hit as a large group of participants joined in to make their own ditty bags. KIRK R. WILLIAMSON/ photo. 3/31/19

I’m always looking for an interesting angle to give an overall and this was it. The Waterline Center at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum is a great place with all sorts of cool things, like boats hanging from the ceiling.

Susannah Winder directed the Ditty Bag Workshop held at the Waterline Center of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex on Sunday morning. KIRK R. WILLIAMSON/ photo. 3/31/19

Susannah was doing a great job of helping everyone out and in the photo above was talking about how the ditty bag is stitched together.

Steve Jones works on his sewing skills during the Ditty Bag Workshop held at the Waterline Center of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex on Sunday morning. KIRK R. WILLIAMSON/ photo. 3/31/19

Steve and his friends were making do sewing for canvas for the first time and having a great time doing it.

Caitland Peterson, age 12, left and her mom Bethany Peterson work on sewing a seam during the Ditty Bag Workshop held at the Waterline Center of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex on Sunday morning. KIRK R. WILLIAMSON/ photo. 3/31/19

Caitland and her mom Bethany were going through the sewing process together and having a ball doing it.

Christopher Campbell, left, and Janelle Bannon work on seeing their ditty bags during the Ditty Bag Workshop held at the Waterline Center of the Essex Shipbuilding Museum in Essex on Sunday morning. KIRK R. WILLIAMSON/ photo. 3/31/19

Varying between wide angle and tele long shots breaks up the perspective and gives the viewer a different look at virtually the same thing. I wish I could have stuck around to see the finished product to really end this story.