Shot in heavy overcast weather, as is typical of the paintings and photographs produced of the many famous sailboats in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Rhode Island. Levels to increase contrast and the hue/saturation was boosted as well, while leaving abit of the muted colors of the original scene/lighting.
Still pulling images from Ranger's pass by our chase boat... One of the most amazing experiences you can have is to be on the water next to an original J class yacht blowing by at 15-20 knots. You can literally feel the power of this boat as it moves through the water.
The J-class yacht Ranger won the 1937 America's Cup, defeating 4-0 the Endeavour II of Britain, raced at Newport, Rhode Island. It would be the last time huge J-class yachts would race in the America's Cup.
Harold Stirling Vanderbilt funded construction of the Ranger, and it launched on May 11, 1937. It was designed by Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens, and constructed by Bath Iron Works. Stephens would credit Burgess with actually designing the Ranger, but the radical departure from conventional J-class design was more likely attributable to Stephens himself.
Ranger was constructed according to the Universal Rule which determined how large various dimensions of racing yachts, such as sail area and length, could be. Often referred to as the super J, the Ranger received a rating of 76, the maximum allowed while still fitting within Universal Rule constraints.
Overall length: 135 ft Length at water line: 87 ft Beam (width): 21 ft Draft: 15 ft Displacement: 166 tons
This is tops for a nautical image. These "boats" were designed to get out and deliver maximum performance in less than ideal conditions. You can count yourself fortunate to have been able to see and experience this very special craft.
With my dSLR, I can use a bulb setting which will allow me to leave the lens open as long as I want... however, after 2-5 minutes, the exposures become unusable, due to the heat generated causeing excess noise in the image, even at low ISO speeds. With film, this isn't a problem and 1-2 hour exposures beome possible.
I also agree with your setiments on the ocean... I think it is that primal connection to a force that while it's constantly changing, also has remained the same for thousands of years. There is something about just being alone next to the ocean early in the morning that is very grounding and humbling.
it must have been a dream to be out with all of this priceless boats screaming across the water...
I set my digital camera on manual mode and set the exposure for 16 seconds; the highest amount of time it will let me expose the film. I hear on film cameras that one can sometimes exposure the film as long as one wants...thanks again for liking my shot! Your pictures makes me want to come out to New England, reminding me of JFK's thoughts on the sea.
I really don't know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes and the light changes, and ships change, it is because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came.
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{K:6678} 7/28/2006
