ALL ABOARD

This is an art photography image from my series titled Bumps, Scrapes and Peels. The series has a lot of photographs that I shot from my small boat that I would launch early in the morning or late in the afternoon to catch the lighting that was strong and contrasty. I would go to the big harbors that had the large container ships and barges. These were often being repaired or just tied up at dock waiting. During these expeditions I was boarded twice by the coast guard for being too close to the sometimes 6 story high ships. It was more then a little spooky to have their boat come flying in with lights flashing and with young soldiers holding machine guns at the ready. After a complete interrogation and search of my boat and my id’s I was let go with sever warnings about staying at least 300 feet away from any of the large ships. Which of course was too far for the pictures I wanted to take. It’s the sides of these large ships that have the scars of layers of paint, tire marks, scrapes and rust that I find so interesting and beautiful. By cruising the sides of these massive ships I find areas of color or graphic shapes. I like this image because besides showing the colorful scrapes and rust on the side of a large freighter it also has the numbers showing the depth of the waterline and the V shape of the hull. I also like the shadows caused by the lines and anchor chain.