The Flickr Gwyn Image Generatr

Hopefully no one got hit with a direct splat!.

The USS IOWA represents the largest — and last — class of battleships built by the United States Navy. The IOWA class battleships served in every US conflict from World War II through the Gulf War in 1991.
pacificbattleship.com/

I knew about the Iowa being a museum and right next door to where we were docked in the port. My plan was to check in on the Coral Princess then jump off and walk over to the Iowa to spend a few hours. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men....

In my planning I forgot to factor in one crucial element, that being we were docked in a working port. Evidently the government doesn't exactly like everyday folks just wandering around on the docks and they put up some BIG fences to prevent it so I had to settle for a couple of photographs.

The Iowa is definitely on our (actually my) list of places we need to visit once we get on the road.

I shot this in AP, wasn't quite using Manual Mode yet so there's some motion blur from us sailing by. At least now I know how to fix it!

"On 20 January 1989, during an improperly authorized gunnery experiment off Vieques Island, Iowa fired a 16-inch (406 mm) shell 23.4 nmi (26.9 mi; 43.3 km), setting a record for the longest-ranged 16 in (406 mm) shell ever fired. "!

The USS IOWA represents the largest — and last — class of battleships built by the United States Navy. The IOWA class battleships served in every US conflict from World War II through the Gulf War in 1991.
pacificbattleship.com/

I knew about the Iowa being a museum and right next door to where we were docked in the port. My plan was to check in on the Coral Princess then jump off and walk over to the Iowa to spend a few hours. Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men....

In my planning I forgot to factor in one crucial element, that being we were docked in a working port. Evidently the government doesn't exactly like everyday folks just wandering around on the docks and they put up some BIG fences to prevent it so I had to settle for a couple of photographs.

The Iowa is definitely on our (actually my) list of places we need to visit once we get on the road.

I shot this in AP, wasn't quite using Manual Mode yet so there's some motion blur from us sailing by. At least now I know how to fix it!

:Lots of traffic and congestion, much like the streets of LA!

Niccy and I just got back from a cruise that took us to Puerto Vallarta Mexico, Huatulco Mexico, Puerto Chiapas Mexico, Puntarenas Costa Rica, Puerto Amador Panama, through the Panama Canal, on to Aruba and ending up in Fort Lauderdale.

As we were leaving I was lucky enough to get this shot of the port in action. It's a busy place with trucks coming and going.

I made this in B/W because it seemed fitting for the scene. It's not a beautiful place where tourists tend to hang out, it's commerce at it's finest.

Does anyone still call Cop cars Black and Whites?

At the core of port security is the Los Angeles Port Police force, a specialized law enforcement agency that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week to protect the Port from threats whether by land, sea, air or cyberspace. Comprised of more than 300 sworn officers and civilian personnel, the force’s jurisdiction spans 7,500 acres along 43 miles of waterfront.

In addition to using advanced technology to augment its security operations, Port Police capabilities include K-9 units for vessel and container searches; a full-time dive unit for inspecting critical infrastructure; a Cargo Theft Interdiction Program to prevent and investigate cargo theft; a marine unit for conducting high visibility patrols to deter and detect infrastructure threats; a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area anti-drug task force for targeting drug trafficking activities; and a Sea Marshall Program to inspect all inbound and outbound cruise ships and vessels of interest.

I shot this in color but the water was a brilliant St. Patty's Day green, a reflection from the Evergreen Ever Most that we were passing by. Black and white solved the issue.

We were escorted out of the port by these fine gentlemen, probably wanted to make sure we were really leaving!

Something to contrast my shot of the Three Caballleros!
www.flickr.com/photos/nyalr/54367445984/in/dateposted-pub...


Taking a flight brings out the gambler in you. You're betting that the flight is on time, you're betting on the captain to get you to your destination, and you're betting on your luggage arriving at the same time as you do. Now if all these bets pay off you'll make it to your destination on time with your luggage in hand.

From what I've seen the house has an edge when it comes to your luggage since they hire the luggage handlers. Hopefully they hire people who actually care about you getting your dainties in a timely manner and are not just there for a paycheck. In this instance I'm wondering whether or not I made a sucker bet!

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

Everybody knows that airports (at least here in the US) are boring as all get out. I know they're not supposed to be an amusement park, they're just a flying taxi bus stop. So whenever we're at one I wind up wandering around looking for things to shoot.

Sometimes I find an interesting subject, other times I wind up taking a photo of an airliner in front of a control tower at an airport in the middle of biggest city in Arizona with the hopes I can make something out of it when I get home. Looks like this time I wound up with the latter.

One thing I know for sure is I don't use my Nifty Fifty nearly enough. I really like the results it gives me. Maybe next trip.....

"The term Johatsu literally translates to “evaporation” in Japanese and is used to describe people who voluntarily disappear from society.
japandaily.jp/the-johatsu-japans-evaporated-people-who-va...


My first go at using Shutter Priority (Tv on the dial) on my camera. I was shooting handheld, guess I'm not as steady as I thought I was! This is my attempt to make lemonade out of the lemon of a shot I took. I did add some reverse vignette (thanks Jim Frazier) for the idea.

I recently watched a documentary on the people in Japan who voluntarily and willingly disappear themselves from family and friends. The Japanese call these folks Johatsu. They do so for a variety of reasons, including overwhelming financial debt, societal pressure, personal failures, or even to escape abusive relationships. There are also some on the legal fringe companies called known as yonige-ya” (夜逃げ屋) or “night-moving companies”. These services operate in the shadows, offering discreet assistance to those who wish to vanish, for a fee of course.

Japanese authorities typically do not intervene in Johatsu cases unless there is evidence of criminal activity. Since most disappearances are voluntary, they are treated as personal matters rather than criminal investigations. This hands-off approach reflects Japan’s broader cultural emphasis on privacy and individual autonomy.

Kind of crazy to think that this happens every day in Japan, people just evaporating. I really don't condone it, my thought is to be stand up and face your issues whatever they may be. But then again, I've never had any reason to ever think about "evaporating".

promenade /prŏm″ə-nād′, -näd′/
noun

1. A leisurely walk, especially one taken in a public place as a social activity.
2. A public place for such walking.
3. A formal dance; a ball.

Holland America Line has a Promenade Deck on all their ships that goes completely around. A nice, quiet place to go for an evening stroll. Many people also go out during the day to read, I guess the sunlight and waves make great companions for bodice rippers!

When I first saw this shot it just spoke to me. I can't tell you why or define what it is that I like, it just spoke to me and I knew I had to post it. For me.

If you know Mott The Hoople they you'll know where I swiped the title from!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IqiRY60ZDE


There was a group of teenage boys on this cruise which I thought was unusual owing to the length of the cruise and the fact that it was during a school time. Also, Holland America isn't known as being family oriented. Maybe they were all members of the Billionaire Boys Club?

They were very respectful for being teenaged guys which was a good thing since I do remember my teenage years and all the things we got up to.

I saw them engaged in a traditional cruise ship game, ping-pong. They were across the ship from me and at an angle but i liked the way they were in the shadows and framed in nicely by the windows. I did have to do an oddball crop on this to get rid of a lot of extraneous bits and bobs.

I saw this in B/W when I looked at it so it was shot in RAW and converted over. You know how it is, you see the scene and know it won't work in color but B/W will be just right.

I hope no one gets upset when I say that the title might be a "False Narrative!

I actually don't know whether the MSC Vidisha R was dropping off or picking up, I did notice that there was nothing coming out of the stacks so I'm guessing she was planning on being there for awhile either way.

We were docked in Fort Lauderdale, waiting for our number to be called to join the cattle queue to get off the ship when I took this shot. The Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port is just like so many other ports in that it seems that EVERYONE has shot it a million and two times so I was looking for something a bit different.

BTW, the MSC Vidisha R (IMO: 9227326) is a Container Ship and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. Her length overall (LOA) is 281.03 meters and her width is 32.2 meters. As of this writing she was located off the coast of the UK, probably headed over to drop off a load of PoundLand junk for Richard Harvey UK to peruse!

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

Niccy and I were on our way to do something or other when we came across our good friends Barb and Carol trying their luck in the casino.

Looking at the screen I can see that Carol had a winner with this go but in the end we all know why they're called One Armed Bandits! BTW, this is NOT how they were paying for their trip although it did eventually lead them to a good deal!

This was a spur of the moment happened to be walking by no planning sort of shot. I went with B/W for this shot since the lighting in the casino was lousy at best. Casino ad shots are always slick and processed, I'm more of an on the fly kind of guy!

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

We got off the ship in Cadiz, a really pretty port city in Spain. We've been here before so instead of following the tourists we take off on a tangent to see what we can see that we haven't seen before. While most of the tourists were photographing the buildings and such I was busy photographing a protest!

My Spanish is poor at best so I'm not sure what they were protesting. Catalan Independence? Maybe the fact there were so many tourists invading their space? The price of paella? Don't know but they were not happy campers.

It wasn't a huge group and they seemed to be focused on the building in front of them. The Police were there and didn't seem to be too panicked so I wasn't worried about violence. Whatever it was I hope they achieved what they wanted to achieve. Definitely not what you expect to see when you're on a cruise!

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

Thanks go out to Tommy James for the title:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLfO738Ok5Y

We had just pulled into Cartegena when I got this shot. I was hanging over the railing, looking for something interesting to shoot other than the port itself which has been done a million and two times.

Saw these guys below hauling in one of the bow lines and took a chance that I could make them look good or at least Flickr Famous.

I'm guessing this was a Union job, once they had the line hauled over the dockside bollard they jumped in a truck and headed out the gate.

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

While most lines have gone full bore into the digital age Holland America is one of the last cruise lines that still puts out actual prints for you to purchase onboard.

The photography company (separate from Holland America) has several photographers on board whose job it is to find you at the most inopportune times (so it seems) and catch you in a shot.

Now some photographers might think would be a dream job, sailing the world and snapping shots of happy people but I say Nay Nay. These folks have to use company equipment to take shots proscribed by the company with no variations of any kind to the settings, basically making them button pushers.

I don't know for sure but I would imagine there's a quota you need to fill as well as sales quotas in the photography gallery shop. Were I younger I might consider it but I'm definitely not younger anymore. For anyone who might be interested:
www.theshipsphotographer.com/careers/

Niccy and I just got back from a transatlantic cruise so I've finally got some shots to post!

Being a Nurse in the last few years has been extremely stressful to say the least which is one reason why Niccy enjoys cruising so much. It's a chance to escape the "real world" for a bit and have some really relaxing me time.

One of the things that Niccy has taught herself is called English Paper Piercing which is a method of hand sewing quilts:
www.allpeoplequilt.com/how-to-quilt/piecing/how-to-englis...

Since you do the sewing by hand you're forced to slow down and take your time with the pieces, something that you don't always have the luxury of when you're dealing with sick and ill folks.

Being on a ship in the middle of the ocean gives her a chance to work on her patience instead of working on patients!

Thank you to the the Airport Cop who explained this to me.

Wandering around the airport last night, waiting to pick up Niccy when I spotted this signage.

If you're a Non US Citizen without a passport how did you get to this point? One of the airport Cops saw me pondering this and was glad to enlighten me.

It seems that very early every morning special buses pull up to the airport and discharge their passengers. These folks don't have passports and they're not US Citizens but they do have nice new Iphones, new clothes, and a debit card loaded with money. They go in the airport, through TSA, and on to the airport gates where they board planes going to all four corners of the USA.

Once they land wherever the plane is going these folks get off the plane, leave the airport and blend in to the melting pot we call America, many to never be heard from again.

If you should see these folks in your town (and you certainly will) just be aware that they're just looking for a hand up, not a handout. At least that's the story they (and the media) will tell you.

You know, that guy who thinks HIS TIME is more important than anyone else's.

On our way home from a Sunday drive on a Saturday we came across a bit of a mess.This guy decided to make the mess even worse by driving the wrong way back down the freeway.

Seems that a truck on the freeway (I-10) had decided to catch fire and block both lanes of traffic. One lane was finally opened to get the traffic flowing, however this took about 2 hours after the accident and with no exits on this section of freeway we found ourselves stuck in the middle.

What we found out later is that there was a State Policeman back down the way who ticketed every person that decided to pull this stunt!

Lucky for us we had packed a picnic lunch along with plenty of water since the heat was up to 102° F with a slight breeze from the East with a clear sky.

For reference this is Interstate 10 East of Vail Arizona, West of the Frontage Road overpass:
31.983552381672638, -110.54711529068143

Local News Article:
www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/i-10-westbound-closed-near-...

Nope, it's not a Phoenix freeway at 5 PM on a Friday afternoon!

On our way home from a Sunday drive on a Saturday we came across a bit of a mess.

Seems that a truck on the freeway (I-10) had decided to catch fire and block both lanes of traffic. One lane was finally opened to get the traffic flowing, however this took about 2 hours after the accident and with no exits on this section of freeway we found ourselves stuck in the middle.

Lucky for us we had packed a picnic lunch along with plenty of water since the heat was up to 102° F with a slight breeze from the East with a clear sky.

For reference this is Interstate 10 East of Vail Arizona, West of the Frontage Road overpass:
31.983552381672638, -110.54711529068143

Local News Article:
www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/i-10-westbound-closed-near-...

If only we could lose the rain!

Had a great storm blow through last night, lot's of lightning but the majority of it was buried in the rain. I was lucky and got this shot, please don't zoom in because it's grainy as heck! The grain is also the reason for the B/W coloring, really looked bad in color. Of course, this was shot @ 7:30 PM (1930) with my ND filter cranked all the way to 11, f/22 @ 9 seconds on the clock.

What's been a problem is that most of the lightning I can shoot has been directly to the West and during the day which means I'm shooting into the setting sun. Even with an ND Filter and a really high F stop you only get a few seconds at a time. Not the most ideal conditions to say the least. I'm thinking of taking a page from some of the other lightning folks and getting a GoPro. They take single frames from the video and post them, winning accolades far and wide. Yeah, maybe not. Kinda seems like cheating to me!