dennis lee

Call me Ishmael...er, rather, call me Captain Dennis.

Caption in review area, comments welcome.

After being trapped by ice in Morris Canal (Liberty Harbor, Jersey City, NJ) the tug Sea Bear came to our rescue by breaking a path to the center of the Hudson where we could follow one of our own boats back home to Weehawken, NJ. That's the lower end of New York City in the background. -- For those interested, an Otter is a 65', triple engined, jet propelled ferry capable of carrying 99 passengers with a 2 man crew and making way up to 30 knots/hour. The problem with ice and jet boats is two-fold: a) Slush enters your cooling strainers and clogs the filters stopping the flow of water and causing engines to overheat. You cannot let your engines overheat! b) When you start getting into a lot of small ice, or large sheets, ice under the water intake slows the flow through the jets and as momentum slows and ice builds at the bow, you simply lose the power necessary to keep pushing through. The boat can also be elevated just enough to lose power from the jets. Reversing (dropping the buckets) often helps as the buckets push and block the ice in your path and blow 'clean' water under the intakes. Once you get stuck however, it'll usually take a boat with wheels (propellers) to break the ice around you, creating enough 'clean' water to break you free. This shot was make at about 1/4 sec. wide open, following the Sea Bear at a distance of 10-20 feet doing approximately 10+ knots. Special thanks to super deckhand Joao Gomes for standing by, ready to pull back on those throttles.

 

Comments Welcome.

Ha, I like it. My first thought was "Wow, this guys cruisin'." I like the idea. You certainly gave it more thought than I did when I put it together the other day. I like your analysis. Why is it that other people see things in our pictures that we don't? Hey, I liked your boys school photos, would have liked to have seen them before the contractor moved in right?

Don't crop, great shot, love the goggles etc. in GI Joe, I hope I do as well photographing my son when he's this age. Nice portfolio.

Both good shots, I feel the fear!

Reed, the answer is without a doubt "No." The image, as I see it, has to stand on it's own merits, not everyone can read. I'm sure there are plenty of times when one could argue differently, but...if it needs words, the 'package' becomes a story or an editorial piece, no longer a stand alone photo. I like showing stuff like this because it don't get seen otherwise. Thanks for the comment, please re-tort.

Here's a quick sample:

When I first saw this in the photo of the week list I thought "oh

man, not another bug shot!" But, then I looked a little closer.

Composition and of course the water drop make this shot rock. I

would like to make one suggestion however, put a black line

around the outside to hold us viewers in. 1 or 2pt. is all you

need, all that white has a tendency to spin us right out of the

picture. Great shot, thanks for sharing.

DL

comments welcome

My buddy Mo was haranging me for quite a while to go out one night and get a cover shot for his band's new album "Out of the Junkyard Onto the Curb." He finally caught me on a night when I really couldn't come up with a good excuse, so we had a couple beers, smoke, and went a wandering.

We found the homeless guy, photo on the left, finishing a sandwich on this stoop. While debating whether to ask him to lie down for a minute so we could take a couple pictures, he put away his food and layed down entirely on his own. We waited for a couple minutes then crossed the street. He was out like a light. I put the camera on a fire hydrant for stabilization and Mike hailed a cab to light the scene. The cabby flicked on his high beams I shot about five frames bracketing I don't know what, Mike slapped the cabby a fiver and we were off.

We shot Mike lighting the cigarette with another sleeper in the background after we found this nicely lit Virgin Mary.

Mike passed away about two years later around this time of year. I'm always glad he was so persistant in getting me to go out and do these pictures. It was a great time we had together, and this little triptych is in his honor. Just thought I would share that with you. Thanks, DL

Tow trucks were called in to help get the circus vehicles out of the mud. When it became obvious that their efforts would be futile, the big guns were put to the task.

Hi Reed, Nope, no crop, full-frame hail Mary out the window while driving. Thanks for the comments.

You know Richard, I think you might be right!

Hi Reed, thanks for the comment on my photo.

I like all three of your shot's here. At first glance this shot appears to be a little mundane. But when I opened it up I began to like the subtle quality of the light and the softness of your boys face. I'm assuming he's your son or something close-to. I think all three of the shots you currently have showing have this same nice subtle quality. The great thing about that is that they grow better for the viewer the more they're viewed. Obviously that is also the problem. People who don't know good pictures/photography won't give it the time and flash by it like a snapshot. So what else is new, right? Anyway, I think all three are strong. I look forward to seeing more, and I'm going to try and watch if you get any more comments on theses. One more thing, this is one of those great shots to hang on the wall because it does grow.

 

thanks for sharing

Big swells off the coast of Washington State would create big

lumbering rolls on this Maritime Academy training ship. I was

able to get this one frame off before they broke up the inspection.

The guy on the far left kills me, I'd like to crop him out because

he didn't keep his feet together (what kinda sailor...!) and

disrupts the lean. Everytime I try the crop it just doesn't feel right.

What do you think?

Hi Jill, I wouldn't change a thing (except maybe the contrast), great shot !

Thanks for sharing.

Hey Gareth, yep, I prefer corners too. This Beemer was a loaner for a ride out to Photographic Workshops in Santa Fe. We did a BMW magazine cover shot with it out at the workshops. That aberation on the left is from the horrid lens that was on the camera. It's not even a flair, I think it's the sun reflecting off the plastic of the lens itself. And the wobble, well, I think it's kind of inherent to 21" wheels that go off-road. My honda would do the same thing. When it was really weird was in the 90+ sweepers out in Utah. Man that's some nice riding country! Thanks for the comment.

Nice shot, well composed, good moment. Print could be a little snappier. I like it!

 

Thanks for sharing.

Nice shot John and congratulations, but let's get down to the real

question, how's the fishing?

The 'golden rule' you know is a shiny thing, all maleable and

pretty. We're attracted to it because it makes us look good. But

most importantly it teaches us value, the value of being clean

compositionally, clear in our thinking. Probably one of the best

learning tools ever described for a profession. The reason it is

so great is that the more we learn from it, appreciate what it has

taught us, the less we need it and the less we use it. The

lesson is learned, the foundation is laid, now intuition can take

over and allow personal style to emerge; as John beautifully

demonstates here. I think the 'golden rule' lives in every good

photograph. Long live the 'Golden Rule!'

 

Thanks for sharing! DL

If you like riding straight and fast Nevada is the place to go. We crossed Nevada at close to the ton the whole way. This bike had a slight but predictable wobble over 90 so this shot was probably made around 80mph. This camera was very poor quality but did have a 28mm lens. It had such a long delay in the shutter button that I threw it out of a moving convertible a year later. In case you're wondering this shot is a hand held Hail Mary.

Yes, I agree, truly beautiful and bizarre!

 

thanks for sharing.

Out of all the pictures of the Wall I don't think I've ever seen this one before. Very nice, if anythng, the image here could use a little contrast. Really excellent though.

 

Thanks for sharing.

Great shot!

 

thanks for sharing.

Very nice, would like to see that background come down a little bit in brightness, but very well done. Pretty much tells the story doesn't it?