The Salvage Begins

[Stagecoach]

Some may remember a series I posted around 18 months ago of a cargo ship that had sunk in our harbour. In the past week salvage operations have commenced, the first operation being to remove the hatches and retrieve the remaining containers.

Unfortunately I had misjudged the FL I would need and had only taken the 16-35mm and have had to crop a fair amount.

No real action at the moment but I took the opportunity tonight to gather some data for a planned time-lapse.

No 1 - 13 minutes before sunset


No 2 - 5 minutes after sunset


Comments and suggestions welcome as always.

Grahame

[Shadowman]

Nicely captured.

[Manfred M]

That rusty old salvage barge looks like it could join the ship on the bottom if the salvage operators are not careful! I remember diving a number of wrecked salvage vessels that joined what they were trying to raise back when I was doing a lot of scuba diving.

A few thoughts. In general, I prefer the warmer tones of the second image, but prefer the sky in the first one. I think that the image might need to be rotated a couple of degrees clockwise, as the horizon does not look quite level.

I'm not loving that big orange anchor line buoy in the foreground and find that hot spot just above the mountains on the left a bit too distracting. The barge and tug are in shadow and just a touch of localized lightening there might be worth considering.

[Geoff F]

The first image has a good dramatic feel to it but I wonder if all that black sky is making the scene appear a little 'top heavy' ? Maybe a slight crop from the top and right side?

[Stagecoach]

That rusty old salvage barge looks like it could join the ship on the bottom if the salvage operators are not careful! I remember diving a number of wrecked salvage vessels that joined what they were trying to raise back when I was doing a lot of scuba diving.

The barge was towed over from Australia as far as I'm aware Manfred but visible surface rust is never a reliable indication of hull condition.

A few thoughts. In general, I prefer the warmer tones of the second image, but prefer the sky in the first one.

Both have the same WB but I also prefer the warmer tones of the image taken after the sun had dropped. Sunsets as always in this area are unpredictable.

The position I shot this from is the closest I can get to it but also have options to shoot from the right (on a bridge) which will be more into the sun or from the left which will provide more illumination on the subject with a less bright sky.

I think that the image might need to be rotated a couple of degrees clockwise, as the horizon does not look quite level.

The water shoreline horizon is a bay so will not necessarily appear level, the crane wires are a good indication if we trust gravity

The barge and tug are in shadow and just a touch of localized lightening there might be worth considering.

Part of what I wanted to assess with these was the amount of shadow I could pull out with global adjustments rather than having to revert to localised.

[Stagecoach]

The first image has a good dramatic feel to it but I wonder if all that black sky is making the scene appear a little 'top heavy' ? Maybe a slight crop from the top and right side?

I agree Geoff and I could have produced a tighter crop top and right if I had taken the right lens

[John 2]

The buoy doesn't bother me. It's really only part of the overall story but losing the hot spot and lifting the shadow areas slightly as Manfred suggests, would be worth while.

[Manfred M]

The water shoreline horizon is a bay so will not necessarily appear level, the crane wires are a good indication if we trust gravity

While I do trust gravity, the crane cables are not necessarily a good measure of what is vertical. In general, with this type of equipment, the cable end with the hook will be tied down when not in use to reduce risk of damage. When this is done, the cables will not be vertical.

[Stagecoach]

While I do trust gravity, the crane cables are not necessarily a good measure of what is vertical. In general, with this type of equipment, the cable end with the hook will be tied down when not in use to reduce risk of damage. When this is done, the cables will not be vertical.

Whilst it's good practice to tie a hook block of this size to the deck when not in use to stop it swinging if the deck eye pad is off centre to the jib block you are almost certainly going to see the block tilted and the cables curved, which are not evident in the image.

Unless of course you are a crane operator like a couple I have come across that have used the crane to tension the deck lashing and then blamed equipment malfunction when there was a big bang

[Manfred M]

Grahame - many years ago I used to work in an industry that made heavy use of gantry cranes. Standard operating procedure was to have a small amount of tension on the cable attached to the tied off hook to ensure that it was stable and stationary. The only time the situation you mention occurred was when the hook was lying on the ground, which was also a safe resting position. It was never left that way at the end of the workday.

All that being said; when I take landscape shots I tend to use a bubble level on the hot shoe of my camera (the camera's built in level is not quite as accurate or as easy to use). I find that sometimes even when I shoot this way, the horizon line in the scene looks off a bit. A perfectly level camera does not necessarily mean the image looks level. I will always pay attention to what looks level in the image rather than what the bubble level says.

[Stagecoach]

Grahame - many years ago I used to work in an industry that made heavy use of gantry cranes. Standard operating procedure was to have a small amount of tension on the cable attached to the tied off hook to ensure that it was stable and stationary. The only time the situation you mention occurred was when the hook was lying on the ground, which was also a safe resting position. It was never left that way at the end of the workday.

I spent an entire career Manfred placing things on the seabed with heavy lift equipment. One of the things we had to know was exactly what was happening (load and curvature) with that cable/wire between it's point of entry into the water and where it touched down which could be directly beneath or some way off. Exactly the same principles apply with cables in air.

Very simply, there is absolutely nothing in this image to suggest that hook block is being pulled off centre to the jib block and it can not be relied upon to be vertical. This is also supported by being able to pass a line from the centre of the jib block, centrally though the hook block and the hook shaft and the cables running parallel to this as near as you can check. The only way this would not be the case would be for some idiot to place an absolutely ridiculous tension on it between jib and off-centre deck lashing point.

All that being said; when I take landscape shots I tend to use a bubble level on the hot shoe of my camera (the camera's built in level is not quite as accurate or as easy to use). I find that sometimes even when I shoot this way, the horizon line in the scene looks off a bit. A perfectly level camera does not necessarily mean the image looks level. I will always pay attention to what looks level in the image rather than what the bubble level says.

I find the cameras built in level very easy to use and accurate enough. I will also use my eye and experience to level things with the tools available in PP as required other than when I forget.

[Stagecoach]

The buoy doesn't bother me. It's really only part of the overall story but losing the hot spot and lifting the shadow areas slightly as Manfred suggests, would be worth while.

I would agree about the buoy John, the image is primarily a 'record' shot rather than a work of art

Hot spots in the sky are going to be problematic when working with this light range and maintaining the ability to lift shadows adequately. For a single image it's relatively easy to control but my intention is to eventually take about 300 shots over a 45 minute period around sunset that will also have continuous cloud movement.

[george013]

I would agree about the buoy John, the image is primarily a 'record' shot rather than a work of art

Hot spots in the sky are going to be problematic when working with this light range and maintaining the ability to lift shadows adequately. For a single image it's relatively easy to control but my intention is to eventually take about 300 shots over a 45 minute period around sunset that will also have continuous cloud movement.

Having an object on the foreground, special a red one is said, is enlarging the perspective of the image. It should be there.

George

[JBW]

I would agree about the buoy John, the image is primarily a 'record' shot rather than a work of art

Hot spots in the sky are going to be problematic when working with this light range and maintaining the ability to lift shadows adequately. For a single image it's relatively easy to control but my intention is to eventually take about 300 shots over a 45 minute period around sunset that will also have continuous cloud movement.

Or remember that i am a troglodyte, This will end up as a video?

[Stagecoach]

Having an object on the foreground, special a red one is said, is enlarging the perspective of the image. It should be there.

George

An interesting 'perspective' George

[Stagecoach]

Or remember that i am a troglodyte, This will end up as a video?

I have recently been playing with 'time lapse' photography Brian, making short videos around 15 seconds long of events that have taken place over a far greater time.

The plan here is to take enough shots over a 45 minute period (20 min before and 20 min after sunset) to produce 15 seconds of video. The greatest challenge being the change of light intensity with of course the hope that there will be reasonable movement and action.

[Manfred M]

I spent an entire career Manfred placing things on the seabed with heavy lift equipment. One of the things we had to know was exactly what was happening (load and curvature) with that cable/wire between it's point of entry into the water and where it touched down which could be directly beneath or some way off. Exactly the same principles apply with cables in air.

Very simply, there is absolutely nothing in this image to suggest that hook block is being pulled off centre to the jib block and it can not be relied upon to be vertical. This is also supported by being able to pass a line from the centre of the jib block, centrally though the hook block and the hook shaft and the cables running parallel to this as near as you can check. The only way this would not be the case would be for some idiot to place an absolutely ridiculous tension on it between jib and off-centre deck lashing point.



I find the cameras built in level very easy to use and accurate enough. I will also use my eye and experience to level things with the tools available in PP as required other than when I forget.

In that case I will defer to your knowledge on waterborne heavy lift equipment as my knowledge is mostly land based. There is one dredging barge I dove on several times, but as it went down in the late 1800s, it certainly is not anywhere like this technology. That being said, I still find that visually, the image does not look like it is level.

[FootLoose]

I think the first image works best. It has atmosphere, character and rhythm. While the light on the water in the second image is attractive, it comes at the expense of a problematic sky.

Incidentally, when covering hot spots in the sky with other clouds as Manfred has done the light on the water also needs to be dealt with. Apart from the bright water that now has no source of bright light Manfred has neglected the cloud shadows on the water.

[JBW]

I have recently been playing with 'time lapse' photography Brian, making short videos around 15 seconds long of events that have taken place over a far greater time.

The plan here is to take enough shots over a 45 minute period (20 min before and 20 min after sunset) to produce 15 seconds of video. The greatest challenge being the change of light intensity with of course the hope that there will be reasonable movement and action.

and a glorious sunset

[Manfred M]

Incidentally, when covering hot spots in the sky with other clouds as Manfred has done the light on the water also needs to be dealt with. Apart from the bright water that now has no source of bright light Manfred has neglected the cloud shadows on the water.

Agreed; this was definitely not a full edit, but rather me trying to highlight a few points. I guess I could go back and tone down the water too, but that would take more than a minute or two...