I photographed these rotting schooners in Wiscasset, Maine in the 1980's. There were brought here and abandoned in the '30s, and over the years they decayed until there was not much left. They have since been completely removed. I shot this with a Mamiya RZ 67 medium format film camera and a 50mm lens (which is like a 24mm in the digital format). The film was Fujichrome 50, and I would have used f/32 for as much depth of field as possible. When I compare shooting with film versus digital, I'm constantly amazed by the advancements we've seen in such a short time. I felt like I was dragged kicking and screaming away from film and into the digital realm in 2005, but the very first weekend I had my first digital camera I was completely hooked.
5 Comments
Apr 17, 2016, 2:30:03 PM
Jim - Hi Bob -- I'll be happy to talk to you about film. And thanks for the compliment. I've always loved this picture, and I was disappointed when I visited this area again after I'd switched to digital to discover that the ships were gone.
Apr 17, 2016, 2:22:27 PM
Bob Vestal - As others have commented, this is a stunning image. Thank you for sharing it. When I see you next, let's talk a little about film and film cameras. I hesitate to give up film entirely.
Apr 17, 2016, 10:14:11 AM
Jim - Hi Connie -- The 6x7cm slides were scanned by a high-end slide scanner capable of up to 4x5 inches. I used an Imacon Scanner
Thanks for the link, Carlton. I actually never looked up the history of these ships, but I'll read it with interest. I agree with you about abandoned man-made things. Very interesting to see, ponder, and photograph.
Apr 17, 2016, 7:16:33 AM
Connie Schulz - Beautiful shot. Love these kinds of photos. How are you digitalizing your old negatives?
Apr 17, 2016, 12:55:41 AM
Carlton McEachern - There is something about big abandoned things - ships, planes, trains or buildings that makes me wonder in amazement. What is the story behind it and how did it come to pass after all the hard work and money it took to create, that it came to this. Check out the story on these ships here: http://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/23/news/mn-48986
Even the sky in the image is foreboding of their future. They are being reclaimed by nature.