The Tale of Two Sailboats

 


Here in Navarre, Florida, while not taking a direct hit, we did feel the wrath of the two recent hurricanes, Sally and Zeta. Unfortunately many homes were damaged, along with many boats of all kinds and sizes. 
These two beached sailboats just happen to be very accessible to photograph and adjacent to the Navarre Beach Bridge and skyline. For most of the shots, you will see the Navarre bridge and or skyline in the photo, this is done on purpose, to give the subject a sense of place and be recognizable to local viewers. While not making light of anyone's misfortune, they do make nice subjects

The two photos above where taken on the same evening at sunset. I knew the high clouds would make for some beautiful colors as long as they would catch the light of the setting sun, of course that all depends on the lower hanging clouds on the horizon and what light they let through. We were lucky this evening, there were low clouds blocking the light, but also small breaks in those clouds to let the light through. I will say, that kept me on my toes, as just when you thought the light was done, bam it would appear again. The sunset colors in the first photo are much brighter rather than pastel due to shooting more directly at the sunset. This particular sailboat was anchored on the other side of the sound and surprisingly enough made it through hurricane Sally. However, when Zeta came along, what was weakened by Sally gave lose and brought her ashore here.


This particular shot is the same boat, taken in the morning. I really prefer shooting in mornings, the light seems to be softer and the quiet of mornings is just so peaceful. Problem is, I don't like getting up in the mornings, crawling out of that warm comfy bed, is just unnatural....lol. However, when I do, it is well worth it! This morning was no exception, the clouds were low but had many breaks to allow the light to shine through. After the sun had risen, all those breaks allowed the sun rays to shine down through the clouds. I aliened myself and the boat so the rays were pretty much in the middle allowing for a nice calming composition, the bird flying in from the right was an added bonus. .


The above and below shots are of sailboat number 2, located on the other side of the bridge and directly across from the Navarre Beach skyline. Just to the left there is a small marina where this sailboat was moored, the marina sustained significant damage along with all the boats there during Hurricane Sally. Many of the boats were removed and placed onshore for salvage, this one was placed here on the sandy beach while awaiting disposal. Sailboats, damaged or not, are very elegant in their lines and shape and as said before make great photo subjects, this one again is no exception. The top photo as you can tell was taken after sunrise, the low hanging clouds made for a very moody scene. You can also see a horizontal break in the clouds, I knew if I waited till the sun came through the break and I made the appropriate camera settings I would get a nice Sunstar. That was the plan and luckily it happened!


I arrived well before sunrise for these shots, since I hadn't really scouted out the area much before coming down, this gave me a chance to see just how I wanted to shoot the boat. Two things caught my eye here, the lit up Skyline across the sound and the low fast moving clouds above. I set up my composition with Navarre Beach directly behind the boat and adjusted my camera setting to capture a few second exposure allowing for the illusion of movement in the clouds. This just added a little something extra to the photo. Not long after I captured this shot, the lights turned off and the scene was gone.


Back to sailboat #1 and what a difference a day makes. This morning there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so hopes for a great shot wasn't looking too good. However as the morning progressed and before the sun rose, the beautiful pastel colors of the sky began to appear. I already had my composition lined up, I wanted the old pilings in the shot and aliened them with the boat to my liking. Now, it was just a matter of waiting till the light was at it's peak, of course there was one more element that had to be accounted for, that pesky flag. There was a bit of a breeze blowing, the light was right so I had to fire off several shots to get the flag just the way I wanted it and this turned out to be the best of the bunch.

I hope you enjoyed this little journey with me to photograph Sally and Zetas wrath, sometime out of destruction can come beauty if you capture it right.

Thanks for coming along and if you see an image that strikes your heart, drop me a line and I can make a beautiful print for you.

To see more of  my images Kevin Lehmann Photography 

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