Better to catch something than nothing. I wonder what you were off on- maybe ISO was on auto. Hope you get another chance- I hope to see them live one day.

Gotcha- that makes sense.

I still have nightmares where all of my equipment just slips out of my hands and breaks into lots of pieces. PTSD or sorts... :)

I had to do some research to check but I think that it was. Here is an article about it from CBS News-
"During Sunday's sail, the Constitution's crew of about 65, accompanied by 150 sailors selected to be part of event, will unfurl four of its 36 sails, Neely said. The tugs will stand by as a precaution when the Constitution sails on its own. And the trip can't happen unless the weather conditions are right.

The ship won't move in winds less than five mph and anything over about 15 mph would put too much stress on the vessel, Neely said. But the forecast looks favorable"

There were tugs nearby but I do think it was on its own for 10-15 minutes. Either way it was amazing to see.

Thanks but nothing new there that I am not already doing. The main part for me was not to smash my camera on the rocks this time :)

This is the story of a photographer that set out to get some photos of burning steel wool because I - um I mean he saw them and thought they were cool. Ok so full disclosure I'm the guy. Here's what happened. I set out for a cold dark night in Gloucester MA and after researching the perfect conditions for a particular spot I headed out on a clear and cold night. This location was out in the middle of a rocky area that is not easy to get to- so it had to be low tide, and cold enough for ocean salt water to be frozen so I could walk to an inlet of rocks with fun angles and formations. This night was just perfect but cold -around -3 F. It was windless which is rare on the ocean but a huge plus. I got setup and my model was getting ready to light up the steel wool and swing it around for me. I took a test shot that was a bit blurry so I was adjusting the focus in the pitch blackness of night and I let go of the camera for a split second when a rogue wind (not wave thank goodness) came up and blew over my camera tipping over the tripod and hitting on some solid rocks. I thought it was ok but alas no the mirror was dislodged and my next shot was just a blue blur of nothing.

I got my camera repaired (Nikon D600) and learned a lesson in extra care and diligence- and insurance needs- but more importantly I felt like I was on pause not getting any results from that shoot. I got my camera back a few weeks ago and just the other night there was a crescent moon on a cold night, during low tide, with clear skies and so I set out to finish what I started. I put up three shots- the first was my test shot that was blurry, the second is the blue blurb image that I stare at endlessly because it means so much to me-in terms of learning from my mistakes, and finally one of the images from the other night where I got my steel wool flaming shots over snow and ice. Thanks for reading :)

Test Shot- needed to fix Focus a bit


Blue Screen of Death- Camera Style


Ah yes I got my shot done- I can move on now.


Another shot from the same shoot


Another from the same shoot. SO Happy I got this out of my system :)

Wow- that's the trifecta of having a connection to a ship huh. You must have some amazing shots being the Photographic Officer- that is amazing.

Here are 2 that I have- one from a month ago because I wanted to get a shot before they put it away for restoration for 2 years, and the second one was when I saw it under its own power on August 19th 2012-It "honored the 200th anniversary of Constitution's decisive victory over the HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812, marking the first time a United States frigate defeated a Royal Navy frigate at or nearly equal size. It's also the battle in which Constitution earned her famous nickname "Old Ironsides."

Thank you for your service!

So jealous of getting to see those live. Great shots. One day I'll make it to Alaska or Iceland and I hope there is a huge solar storm of luck on my side when I do.

I just wanted to share a quick before and after image. The first is unprocessed SOOC just a raw file saved to .jpg. The second is after my one Lightroom4 GRD Filter touchup which is all that was done for that image.

Oh man I was just going to start deleting old files to free up some space but after that story - I can never delete anything ever again. Just kidding- I was never going to delete anything :)
Good job on the photos nice captures.

Excellent Shot. Even more so for the minimal PP. Congrats on the calendar cover- that's very cool.

Thank you! With that second one of the "Friendship" in Salem-I just love Salem MA and I was just there on a good night for some excellent light to get that ship. I have so many of that boat but have never been on it yet. Maybe this summer!

Took so long to post just because there are so many great photographers here and I just don't normally share with photography forums but I got to 'know' some of the regulars and thought why not?

I have done some pro work and have had work used in a book some magazines and on an NY Times article which I was excited about but documentary photography and historic artifacts are very different from trying to get those images that make people go WOW.

Its funny because it was really a great response from the group. Makes one feel welcome and not just an outsider. I see some nasty fights on this page sometimes too so I didn't want to get into any drama just enjoyment of photography. Thanks for the welcome!

Nope no HDR on any of those just some Lightroom. Camera was Nikon D600 and had multiple filters to get them all in one shot. Thank you. :)

Thank you- I have that same thought myself sometimes- and then other times I just feel like seeing the colors like I would want to see them. I have one picture that I'm always told is oversaturated and its SOOC - with a ND Filter. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.