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Stars from the Deck of the Spirit of Columbia |
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It makes no sense to try and take long exposures at night from the deck of a moving cruise ship. The vibrations from the motor would come up through the deck and blur the ship; and the movement of the ship would blur the stars. But the water was calm, the ship was on a steady course, and maybe the motor vibrations weren't so bad. I went to get my tripod and give it a try. I was truly and pleasantly surprised when I got my slides back. The ship looked good and the stars were interesting, whether streaked or not. These are some of my favorite photos from our cruise. |
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The Big Dipper is above and to the left of the flag. The North Star is at the very top of the photo and directly above the top of the flag pole. |
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The Big Dipper is above the flag, the North Star is close to top center, and Cassiopeia (shaped like the letter "W") is above and to the left of the bridge windows. |
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The moral of the story is: GO AHEAD AND TRY. You have nothing to lose but time and a little film. Most photos were taken with a 15mm semi-fisheye lens at f/2.8. Exposure times were generally in the 30 second to 2 minute range. The middle photo was taken at f/5.6 for 6 minutes. Film was Kodak E200 slide film rated at 640 and pushed two stops in processing. Photos were mostly taken between 11 PM and midnight, Alaska Daylight Time. It was COLD on deck. The Spirit of Columbia is a Cruise West ship. |
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October 7, 2000 |
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Copyright © Jim Doty, Jr. All rights reserved. |
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