Being Seasick - It's True What They Say

It has been said there are two kinds of seasickness; one where you are so sick you are afraid you are going to die, and one where you are so sick, you are afraid you won't die. I've had both kinds and can attest to the validity and veracity of those statements.

I will never forget the first time I ever got seasick. It was one of the worst experiences of my life and was so bad, my fears about the meaning of the second statement rapidly threatened to end what few remaining minutes I was sure I had to live. It was November, 1973. Straight out of the Coast Guard boot camp I was assigned to one of the best duty stations then available in the Old Guard, The Umpqua River Lifeboat Station at Winchester Bay, Oregon. I was pretty green and inexperienced but filled with enthusiasm about the prospects of being a member of one of the elite units in the U.S. Coast Guard. So, when the opportunity came for me to make my first ride on one of the fabulous 44 foot motor lifeboats, the legendary CG44303, I jumped at the opportunity.

The Umpqua River Bar is considered one of the most treacherous crossings on the west coast. At it's worse, there could be multiple layers of 25 to 30 foot breakers booming across that narrow stretch of opening between the south and north jetties. When it was like that, nothing came in or went out. Our 44's were the only vessel capable of navigating through surf conditions like that, and we would only do so in an emergency. Luckily, for us on that day, the conditions were not so dramatic, but they were developing into a potential nasty situation with 10 to 12 foot breakers randomly breaking across the bar like rows of soldiers marching in rhythm to a musical beat. Several trawlers were wanting to come across before the bar closed up and were jumpy about coming across without a 44 on station.

Myron Dale our first class bos'nmate waved at me to come over.

"You ready for your first bar patrol?"

"You bet I am...let's do it", I said rather naively.

"Okay, then it could get nasty out there", he said warning me about what we might run into, " We could be out there for a while."

"I'm ready."

On our way out to ready the CG44303, because we would be on station through lunch, our cook made us some baloney sandwiches and handed us a thermos of coffee. Within a few minutes we had the 303 fired up and idled out of the boathouse.

Myron lifted the radio microphone and contacted the station, "Station Umpqua River...CG44303 underway." Red Oneil was our engineer on this run and his fire engine red hair poofed out from under his hat in a rather non-regulation manner. "Hey Sport...first time out huh." He said with his characteristic sandy-faced grin

"Yeah I guess so."

"Should be a piece of cake...we do this all the time. If anything happens, I'll tell you what to do...don't worry about anything."

I nodded again with my naive confidence.

The powerful twin Cummins diesels vibrated below deck and filled the air with their deep report even at idle speed. As we turned into the main channel, Myron shoved the throttles full forward and those engines roared like two lions after a kill. You could feel the power they possessed as they shoved the hull through the water. It was thrilling to say the least. I am finally here, I thought, actually getting involved in the action.

It took a few minutes to reach the bar area where we stopped just inside where the main channel crossed through. About five trawlers were lined up outside the bar waiting for it to lay down enough for them to come across. Breakers on the bar always occur in a series which varies somewhat, four or five, maybe as many as six or seven breakers before it will lay down just long enough to allow a boat to come through, then it starts all over again.

One by one they started coming across, The Midnight Sun, The Harmony....It took several minutes between each pass and slowly they crossed over without incident. Where we were sitting was pretty rough as we caught all the residual swells and chop coming off the bar and as well designed as those 44's were, they rode like an old bathtub rolling and rocking and kicking up and down, back and forth. Before long I began to feel the effects of all that random movement. My head started spinning, I burped several times and passed a few other assorted gasses, downwind. My insides started to feel woozy in ways I have never felt before. I moved around hoping by standing in another spot might alleviate the symptoms. It didn't work. The fumes from the diesel engines wafted like toxic, poisonous gases all around us exacerbating my situation. Red took notice of my situation.

"You're look'n a might peeked there Sport, a bit green around the gills. You gonna make it?"

"I ain't feeling so well..." I replied in a rather weak and pathetic voice.

"Well, Sport, what you need is to eat something...here, try one of these baloney and mayonnaise sandwiches. That'l fix ya right up."

Of course I naively took his advise and I never got past the first chew of the first bite. Over the side I leaned and the entire contents of my insides spilled like some vile poison onto the surface of the foam covered waters. Within seconds the seagulls swarmed all over that mess and fought over the larger chunks and my insides continued to empty themselves. Over and over, the retching continued unabated for several minutes to the point the only thing coming out was a thin line of yellow slime. My gut ached like nothing I have ever experienced. I literally thought I was dying.

All the while this was happening Red and Myron were laughing out loud at my plight. Not sure which made me madder, the seagulls or them laughing...I think it was the seagulls. After a few minutes I finally settled down and started to feel better. Red stopped his laughing long enough to comment on my situation. "See, told ya that would fix you up...got all that stuff out of ya and you feel better now don't ya."

I had to admit he was right, but good gosh all mighty that was the worst sick I've ever endured and I continued to retch a few more times until we headed in. Red gave me some advise afterwards. "Next time have ole cooky give you a bag of plain peanuts still in the hull and eat them while you are out there. Gives you something to do and keeps your mind off what's going on."

You know he was right and even though I still suffered from time to time with being seasick, I never again suffered quite as bad as that first time. By the time I finished my tour at the Umpqua River Station a few years later, I was a full fledged salty dog able to withstand even the nastiest of conditions...well...most of the time that is, as long as I had my bag of peanuts...:)

Add a Spark to Your Lighting With Gels

Natural and or existing light can be and is often very dramatic. However, the problem with natural light is you can't control it very well. Using shade, or a reflector, or some kind of diffuser gives you some limited ability to alter the light, but over all you are pretty well stuck with what nature gives you. Speedlites provide an alternative and versatile source of light, but even those have limitations. I do enjoy using speedlites and in recent years have turned to them more and more as a way to shape the light around my subject. What is exciting about speedlites is their ability to add color to your images thru the use of Gels.

Gels are simply thin transparent plastic sheets that fit over the head of the speedlight. They come in all colors but generally they are used to add warm or cool light to your image. Although they are relatively inexpensive to purchase, you can make your own quite easily. I have used colored, clear plastic document protectors cut to fit my lights. They work great, however the ones you purchase probably do have a more precise color cast to them.

One drawback to using gels is they will often reduce the power output of your lights. Depending on which ones you use and how many are stacked together, you can lose as much as a full stop of light output. This is easily overcome with some simple exposure compensation.

The best use of gels is to use them in such a way you do not realize they are there. A subtle cast of warm light or a gentle cooling effect is often all you need. Most of the time it is best to use them to enhance colors that already exist. The image above is a good example of this. Taken at the Corvette Cafe, we discovered lots of natural occurring bright colors as part of the 1950's diner experience. To create the image I used four speedlights and one 20x30 softbox. One of the lights was placed in the right hand corner of the cafe and used a pale blue gel which helped to enhance the chrome along the diner counter and provided a gentle rim light around our model. It also matched her dress. A pale blue light like this can often liven up dark corners and add a sense of cheeriness to the atmosphere. In the corner directly behind our model a light with red gel was used to fill in another dark space and to provide a matching contrast to the various red splashes found in the cafe. The gelled lights were set to a low power output to prevent overwhelming the image yet they added to the flavor of the scene. They looked like they belonged there and offered a subtle, pleasing effect.

There are times you might want to go for broke and use a strong color to add drama to your image. Bold colored gels can often transform an ordinary look into an image with a great deal of drama. The image below of the classic T-33 / F-80 Shooting Star is a good example. Taken just after dusk, I basically killed all the ambient light with the exposure settings and then built a bubble of light around the aircraft bouncing it off the tarmac so the airplane would define itself within that bubble. The bold nature of the light created a powerful look and transformed this wonderful static display into an image that jumps off the page.

Using Gels can be an exciting way to spice up your images. Used creatively you can turn what might be an ordinary picture into an image with a spark of excitement, one that generates an emotional response. The trick is to make it look like it belongs there.

Why Combining Two Images to Make One is Sometimes Better Than Simply Shooting One Image

Sometimes I over-think things. I tend to get caught up in details of how and why something is the way it is. I've even been told, subtly mind you, that I over-complicate things and sometimes create a cluttered view of what I am talking about as a result. I know this to be true and do take it to heart, no really I do, but I just can't help myself when it comes to something where there is a revelation of sorts that seems to jump out at me. Take for instance the subject of this article. Based on the title you might be thinking, well, there he goes again. You'd probably be right, but hear me out, because I do believe this actually makes sense.

So, why is combining two images to make one, sometimes better than simply shooting one image to start with? Well, let me explain. First of all, this idea does not always apply to every situation.  In most cases a single, well-lit photo of a subject is more than adequate to create an appealing image. However there are circumstances where capturing two or more images, then combining them into one will create a more powerful looking image.

Let's take the picture above of an F-4 Phantom aircraft as an example. In recent weeks I have been concentrating on this particular shoot for several reasons and have included commentary in several blog posts about it. The more I began to study the outcome of this image, the more I began to realize  the final result could not have been made without the combining of two separate images. Had I used lets say six or seven flash units all at once, I potentially could have captured this image in a single shot. However, it would never have looked the same and might have even been inferior to the final image created using four speedlights and two combined images.

The reason is this. Had I used six or seven flash units at the same time, they would have been working against each other. Part of the appeal of this image is the dramatic use of light (red light in this case) bounced off the tarmac and then reflected back into the underside of the aircraft. Two other lights were used to illuminate the outside edges. This combination created the first image. Take notice how the light and shadows along with the reflections created a strong dramatic appearance.

After re-positioning the lights, a second image was created by pointing two lights toward the canopy and filling the front, top, and underside of the aircraft with ordinary white light. This flood of white light bouncing off the tarmac is what would create the problem if they were used at the same time as the wing positioned red lights.

In the final results, the second image was layered on top of the first image. The dramatic red light was then revealed by erasing portions of the top layer and leaving the  top half of the layer alone. Had I used six flash units at the same time, the additional two units pointing toward the canopy would have diluted and washed out the red light and shadows coming from behind the wings. The dramatic red light would no longer have been there, at least not at the same intensity levels. Also, most if not all of the Vanishing Point depth and dimension created by the shadows would have been lost.

By combining two separate exposures, the lighting effects of each individual exposure were fully realized without interfering with each other.

The image above is a sample of a similar aircraft that was captured in a single shot using seven flash units at the same time. Notice how the white lights seem to have washed out the power and strength of the red gelled lights. It's a nice photo, but without the drama that could have been, had we used two separate shots. Not every situation lends itself well to this technique, but, sometimes thinking through a problem and observing the results, however unexpected, can often reveal an exciting outcome.

So...maybe I do over-think problems a bit too much. I suppose it is a bi-product of 30 years of mainframe computer programming where that is what you do...everyday. Building a final image from multiple shots is not a new idea, but combining multiple images with creative lighting just might offer a way to experience the power and versatility of speedlights in a unique way. It sort of occurred to me just how much merit this concept really does warrant.