The Gardenia K Arrives

In Morning Lights in Hoquiam, my most recent post in the Photography Lovers community, I mentioned that my work schedule had changed and I would therefore be able to get out for more early morning photography.

Yesterday was such a morning, and I found myself on the railroad tracks behind Dog Marsh just as our local tugs were guiding the Gardenia K along the deep water channel in the bay to the Port of Grays Harbor terminal.

I meant to be walking along the railroad tracks, photographing the fall colors in the trees that line the tracks on both sides there. I was just scoping out the area when I caught the ship, gliding by silently, out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't make it down to the water before it was past, so I clambered atop a concrete barricade at the entrance to the marsh for this photo.

Photo notes: The rays of sun were visible to the naked eye, but almost completely washed out in the RAW photo. My aperture was f/8 and perhaps I should have stopped down all the way to f/20. I'm not sure. Using the Camera Raw filter in Photoshop, I lowered the exposure significantly to bring back the rays. I also brought down the highlights, which I find is a great trick to bring back detail in the sky (it works every time). The resulting photo is true to life, I think, but much darker than it was just standing there.

Ship notes: According to Vessel Finder, the Gardenia K's most recent port call before Grays Harbor was Corinto, Nicaragua, where it departed on September 26. It appears to have passed through the Panama Canal around September 14.

The Gardenia K is the second ship I've photographed arriving to port in Grays Harbor this year. For broad daylight, detailed photos of a vessel coming in (including a video of the tug boats turning the ship 360 degrees to dock it), see my post The MP Ultramax 2.