HDR Photography
As promised, images from the Corinthian Yacht Club’s Friday Night Race. I’m told that the boat in the lead is particularly valuable enough that it should be in the lead.
The light changed over the course of the evening, lending the setting a different feel that matched the coastline west of the center of San Francisco.
During the summer months, Tiburon’s Coninthian Yacht Clubs hosts the Friday Night Race Series. Though images from last week’s race are coming soon, I was most struck by this scene of a sailor on a trimaran watching the delicate blue-hour colors above San Francisco.
A study in the contradictions of California and the importance of federal lands: In the foreground is Coronado, home of resorts and Navy SEALs. This is the developed, modern California. The cliffs in the background are Cabrillo National Monument, where the first Europeans reached the West Coast in 1542. I imagine that the peninsula would be equally carpeted with homes if not for the presence of the monument. I appreciate the contrast.
Toaster glow sunlight was the result of through marine-layer haze coating San Diego every evening. I couldn’t help but notice the three abnormally large ships in this image: In the distance, two Navy aircraft carriers are the essence of industrial, practical form. Moored in the foreground is a truly massive sailing yacht that is 100% style. Look at how it dwarfs even the ostentatious motorboats beside it. Quite the contrast.
It’s not hard to imagine why folks would go out sailing on a nice day like this on pictured here in the Bay Area.
The ferry across Lake Champlain is brief—no need for cabins when a few benches will do. The calm of mid-century American design makes the place feel like every other ferry you’ve ever been on.
Cars and bikes waited on the deck below. I rather like the notice about stopping motors and setting brakes above two vehicles for which that isn’t likely to be an issue.
Our recent trip across Lake Champlain to Burlington, Vermont with the Mini (you can see it hiding in the bottom-right corner) included time on the ferry behind these four motorcyclists from Quebec. That medley of Ducati, Honda, KTM, and Harley-Davison, set against the backdrop of far-off sailboats and mountains, makes for a strong “adventure trip” vibe.
Friday marked the end of exams, and students and faculty alike celebrated by checking canoes and kayaks out of this little boat house on St. Lawrence’s campus. (If it’s true that our school resembles a ski resort in the winter, it also resembles a summer camp during the warmer months of the year.) Nothing really says the year is done (and grading with it) like floating along in complete relaxation.
On my way through upstate New York, I paused for a day in Lake Placid. This strange Alpine-style town is the home to the US Winter Olympic training efforts, but also happens to have a gorgeous series of lakes and forested Adirondack mountains nearby. Tiny boathouses and grandiose hotels dot Mirror Lake, but this single, ideal little sailboat (with its appropriately patriotic sail) seemed apart from them all. The photograph shows the effect: the boat is isolated on the mirrored surface of the lake, apart from the summer business on the shore.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Colin Hill.
Here is the boat lauch ramp on the shores of Lake Pontoosuc, just north of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Although spring has arrived and the sun takes longer to disappear behind the mountains in the distance, the water is still icy cold to the touch.
Sunset over Puget Sound are always something special (assuming its not too overcast!), with views towards mountains and the silhouettes of small pleasure craft anchored just off shore.
Oakland isn’t always the most gorgeous place to behold, with more than its fair share of graffiti-laden, disused industrial areas. (You can see little hints of them for yourself in today’s shot.) When I get down to the San Francisco Bay, and the tenor changes, I can appreciate it so much more. Unlike the east seaboard of the U.S., much of which has a consistent architectural style, the Bay is a mish-mash of little buildings that fulfilled whatever roles were needed when they were constructed. I get a warm, satisfied feeling from the way the chaotic clutter of boats separates the sometimes-distressing Oakland from the clean, crisp water of the Bay.
Berkeley Marina is a wrench-shaped peninsula in the San Francisco Bay; the “handle” supports a bumpy road to the area itself, while the “head” has docks and a smattering of yacht clubs, restaurants, and smaller hotels aimed at the people mooring there. The larger boats (mostly of the sailing variety) are in the center of the Marina, but on the southern side, in a slightly-sheltered area, are the docks for the much smaller boats. Here, locals come to learn the basics of sailing and wind surfing in the shadow of the Port of Oakland and its massive container crains.
Having taken sailing lessons here myself, I can confirm that the placidity is an illusion. In a boat with a center board instead of a keel, the degree of resistance to the wind is much less, and the crew is required to really use their weight to control these little boats. Today’s shot captures the boats as I prefer to remember: ready to sail, but sitting calmly at the dock.
In Pillar Point harbor there were a couple of lonely boats anchored here and there, and not moored to a pier. As the sunset I grabbed a shot of this one silhouetted against the setting sun.
Decaseconds 