Military
Government Issue
June 12, 2010 - 06:50
The Puget Sound was once vulnerable to invasion by sea. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the timber industry was burgeoning and the Navy had a shipyard established in the deep water seaway protected by mountains and rugged rainforest on all sides. It was a tempting prize for an ambitious conquering nation to blockade the Sound and keep the Navy bottlenecked within. The United States understood this vulnerability, so in 1896 Congress authorized the Secretary of War to fortify and build a complex of artillery emplacements to repel potential attacks of the Puget Sound from the Pacific Ocean.
Fort Flagler, Fort Casey, and Fort Worden were built in a triangle formation to protect Admiralty Inlet. Armed with 10 and 12 inch guns mounted on “disappearing” carriages, these bastions of freedom stood watch over the Straits of San Juan ready for an invasion that would never come. Made obsolete prior to World War II by improved military technologies, these bases were closed in the 1950’s and the land was returned to the State of Washington. They later became state parks that preserve an important part of our nation’s history. They are wonderful to photograph.
I recently visited Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula, located just south of Port Townsend. The concrete bunkers that protected the gun batteries and the military hardware that remain at the site have form and texture that photograph well in monochrome. Ammunition storage bunkers and munitions elevators also remain, hidden deep inside underground chambers protected by these concrete structures.
Random cracks in the thick concrete sections show the power of the Pacific Northwest climate working against man’s best engineering efforts. Monochrome images communicate the form and texture of the iron guns and concrete structures without the distraction of color. The gun mounts that remain are quiet, yet their presence is a powerful reminder of our desire to remain a free nation.
The images of Fort Flagler in the Military and Ancient Industry galleries were shot with a Nikon FM2n camera and 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lenses. I used TMax 400 film exposed at ISO 200 and developed in Microdol-X developer, stock dilution, for 10-1/2 minutes at 20 degrees C.
Fort Flagler, Fort Casey, and Fort Worden were built in a triangle formation to protect Admiralty Inlet. Armed with 10 and 12 inch guns mounted on “disappearing” carriages, these bastions of freedom stood watch over the Straits of San Juan ready for an invasion that would never come. Made obsolete prior to World War II by improved military technologies, these bases were closed in the 1950’s and the land was returned to the State of Washington. They later became state parks that preserve an important part of our nation’s history. They are wonderful to photograph.
I recently visited Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula, located just south of Port Townsend. The concrete bunkers that protected the gun batteries and the military hardware that remain at the site have form and texture that photograph well in monochrome. Ammunition storage bunkers and munitions elevators also remain, hidden deep inside underground chambers protected by these concrete structures.
Random cracks in the thick concrete sections show the power of the Pacific Northwest climate working against man’s best engineering efforts. Monochrome images communicate the form and texture of the iron guns and concrete structures without the distraction of color. The gun mounts that remain are quiet, yet their presence is a powerful reminder of our desire to remain a free nation.
The images of Fort Flagler in the Military and Ancient Industry galleries were shot with a Nikon FM2n camera and 24mm f/2.8 and 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor lenses. I used TMax 400 film exposed at ISO 200 and developed in Microdol-X developer, stock dilution, for 10-1/2 minutes at 20 degrees C.
Submarines
April 11, 2010 - 17:22
The hardest part about shooting submarines is finding them. The Navy likes it that way, but it is frustrating for a photographer with a penchant for photographing military subjects, especially those located in his own back yard.
I live just a few miles from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the submarine base at Bangor, Washington. My day job has a bit to do with supporting their mission but I still can’t get near a sub with a camera without running afoul of Navy security officers. The best I can do is use my imagination while lingering around naval museums and, of course, the mothball fleet.
When I took my Minolta SRT-200 for a walk around the Bremerton waterfront, I came across the salvage remains of the decommissioned Sturgeon-class submarine USS Parche (SSN-683) erected as a monument in front of the shipyard gate. “Secret Savior” places the leading edge of this ship’s sail against the mid day sun. I could feel the majesty of this leviathan breaching the surface of the ocean as I framed the image in the viewfinder. “Service Record” is my favorite of the two. It displays the service history of the Parche using symbology well known to submariners. I rather like the highlights of the dive planes and raised access plates against the dark structure. The grain of Plus-X film processed in Rodinal developer provides a cold and industrial nuance to the image. Also in this gallery are photographs of the World War II veteran USS Bowfin, which is permanently docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I gave these photographs the look of color prints from the 1950s. It was the only way I could salvage them from a lousy exposure.
You can see these images in my ‘Military’ gallery. Until I can get access to the submarine mothball docks or stumble onto a ‘boomer’ passing under the Hood Canal bridge, I have to rely on what I can find within public view at the shipyard, the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, or whatever else I can find locally.
I live just a few miles from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the submarine base at Bangor, Washington. My day job has a bit to do with supporting their mission but I still can’t get near a sub with a camera without running afoul of Navy security officers. The best I can do is use my imagination while lingering around naval museums and, of course, the mothball fleet.
When I took my Minolta SRT-200 for a walk around the Bremerton waterfront, I came across the salvage remains of the decommissioned Sturgeon-class submarine USS Parche (SSN-683) erected as a monument in front of the shipyard gate. “Secret Savior” places the leading edge of this ship’s sail against the mid day sun. I could feel the majesty of this leviathan breaching the surface of the ocean as I framed the image in the viewfinder. “Service Record” is my favorite of the two. It displays the service history of the Parche using symbology well known to submariners. I rather like the highlights of the dive planes and raised access plates against the dark structure. The grain of Plus-X film processed in Rodinal developer provides a cold and industrial nuance to the image. Also in this gallery are photographs of the World War II veteran USS Bowfin, which is permanently docked at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I gave these photographs the look of color prints from the 1950s. It was the only way I could salvage them from a lousy exposure.
You can see these images in my ‘Military’ gallery. Until I can get access to the submarine mothball docks or stumble onto a ‘boomer’ passing under the Hood Canal bridge, I have to rely on what I can find within public view at the shipyard, the Naval Undersea Museum at Keyport, or whatever else I can find locally.
Aircraft Carrier
February 08, 2010 - 10:37
You may notice several photographs of ships and aircraft carriers in the ‘Military’ gallery. Bremerton hosts part of the Navy’s ‘mothball fleet’, also known as the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. It is home to the aircraft carriers USS Ranger (CV 61), USS Independence (CV 62), USS Constellation (CV 64) and, most recently, USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). These ships have been decommissioned until they are needed again, dismantled for parts, or scrapped. Some ships are fortunate enough be at least aesthetically restored to become floating museums, like the USS Turner Joy in Bremerton or the USS Missouri in Pearl Harbor.
Over the years I have served on three of these majestic warships, the exception being the Hawk, which are moored only a few miles from my home. The light changes often in the Pacific Northwest. It can be raining one moment and sunny the next. The color and quality of this light striking the hulls of these magnificent vessels keeps bringing me back. Each time I visit, I imagine myself back on the 04 level as a ‘shooter watching aircraft streak away as they are catapulted into the dark night sky. I also remember a tragic early morning fire in November 1983 as one of Ranger’s main machinery rooms exploded into violent chaos. That morning was the first time that I had ever seen the interior of a ship’s main space, or what I could see of it. Filled with thick black smoke and backlit by the dull orange glow of burning fuel, the canvas jacket of a two and a half inch fire hose was my hand rail. I followed it down into the belly of a ship in agony to swing a brass fire nozzle at a raging fiery beast.
Color slides bring out the hues of grey and blue reflected on the water against the lights on the pier or the colors of the sun settling over Sinclair Inlet. In ‘Modern Maidenhead’, rain wears paint into long blue-grey streaks down the faded grey hull of Indy. ‘Connie’ contrasts a faded grey anchor with rusty highlights nestled into the contour of her bow against the equally worn hull of the Ranger. The red hues of the rusty anchor would have been lost in a monochrome image. Likewise, the red band of an oil boom stretched against Indy’s bow in ‘Tip of The Spear’ would have been nearly invisible in black and white.
Monochrome prints bring out the curvaceous lines that come together at the bow of a ship or the menacing rows of hooks in the concertina wire that deter unwelcome entry to the pier. The curve of an oil boom pushing against the bow of Indy gives angular contrast to the curve of the bow reflected against the water. Grey tones provide structure to an image that is less obvious in a color image. The radar domes, the square and angular protrusions that transition the Hawk’s wide flight deck to the slender curve of its hull at the water line, and the chains and power lines that traverse the ships and pier give ‘Islands’ an obvious industrial feel.
Over the years I have served on three of these majestic warships, the exception being the Hawk, which are moored only a few miles from my home. The light changes often in the Pacific Northwest. It can be raining one moment and sunny the next. The color and quality of this light striking the hulls of these magnificent vessels keeps bringing me back. Each time I visit, I imagine myself back on the 04 level as a ‘shooter watching aircraft streak away as they are catapulted into the dark night sky. I also remember a tragic early morning fire in November 1983 as one of Ranger’s main machinery rooms exploded into violent chaos. That morning was the first time that I had ever seen the interior of a ship’s main space, or what I could see of it. Filled with thick black smoke and backlit by the dull orange glow of burning fuel, the canvas jacket of a two and a half inch fire hose was my hand rail. I followed it down into the belly of a ship in agony to swing a brass fire nozzle at a raging fiery beast.
Color slides bring out the hues of grey and blue reflected on the water against the lights on the pier or the colors of the sun settling over Sinclair Inlet. In ‘Modern Maidenhead’, rain wears paint into long blue-grey streaks down the faded grey hull of Indy. ‘Connie’ contrasts a faded grey anchor with rusty highlights nestled into the contour of her bow against the equally worn hull of the Ranger. The red hues of the rusty anchor would have been lost in a monochrome image. Likewise, the red band of an oil boom stretched against Indy’s bow in ‘Tip of The Spear’ would have been nearly invisible in black and white.
Monochrome prints bring out the curvaceous lines that come together at the bow of a ship or the menacing rows of hooks in the concertina wire that deter unwelcome entry to the pier. The curve of an oil boom pushing against the bow of Indy gives angular contrast to the curve of the bow reflected against the water. Grey tones provide structure to an image that is less obvious in a color image. The radar domes, the square and angular protrusions that transition the Hawk’s wide flight deck to the slender curve of its hull at the water line, and the chains and power lines that traverse the ships and pier give ‘Islands’ an obvious industrial feel.
Aberdeen Proving Ground
January 10, 2010 - 15:49
I spent five months on the east coast of the United States last year, and I have finally started to process the film that I have had to keep in the freezer. I am pleased with a few frames that I took at the Army Ordnance Museum at the Aberdeen Proving Ground. You can find “Grim Messenger”,” Leopard Skin”, and ”Study In Grey” in the military gallery. More to come as time permits.
