Thursday, June 26, 2008

Walking The Manitowoc Pier
With A Camera 'Round My Neck



"If a man knows not what harbor he seeks,
any wind is the right wind."
—Seneca

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful! I particularly love the ones of the birds.

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  2. oh, oh, oh, I can't decide which one I like best. I think it's the one of the black birds on the blue railing.

    Great shots.

    I might get to the local harbor here and jam with you. Photographers can jam right? Sure! But not today because it looks like rain.

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  3. Not only is he a writer, that kid can take a good picture. NICE!!!

    I’d vote for the one where you caught what appears to be a red winged black bird of sorts, balancing on a reed or otherwise long brownish piece of foliage.

    I haven’t been back to that part of Manitowroc in years and haven’t been down to the harbor or the walk way in much longer. I remember when we were kids and they talked about filling up the inside of the ring of breakwater boulders and making a city park of it. What ever happened to that? C’mon Crawford!!! At least from your pictures it looks as though they just put a fresh coat of blue pain on the railings!!!

    Of course I have story about that area. I’d like it to be the one time (what time?) in college I was dating a girl and brought her down there (where?) and we walked around and out to the light house….but nothing good happened.

    But back in high school one summer we got done with the 5:oo to 11:oo pm unload the truck/stocking detail at Coops Food Center. One guy was of age so he got some beer for us and we headed down to the marina. By moonlight (and one flash light) we walked out off the trail onto the breakwater boulders a good distance and sat down to enjoy our bounty free of the pesky Manitowoc PD.

    So we’re doing just that and somehow the guy who drove keys fell out of his pocket and down into the boulders. It was a nerve racking fifteen minutes or so until we located them and someone with a long and skinny enough arm was able to reach them. That would’ve been an interesting explanation and a long walk to South 14th street (… although I have walked home from Chewy’s on more than one occasion AND IT IS longer than you’d think).

    OK, of course the first song that comes to mind when looking at these pictures is Buffet…

    I know I don’t get there often enough
    But God knows I sure do try
    It’s a magic kind of medicine
    That no doctor could prescribe

    I used to rule my world from a pay phone
    And ships out on the sea
    But now times are rough
    And I got too much stuff
    Can’t explain the likes of me

    But there’s this one particular harbour
    So far yet so near
    Where I see the days as they fade away
    And finally disappear ….

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  4. Mrs. White...The bird in the fifth pic is a pelican. It's hard to tell because I only have a 200mm zoom lens, and not a 1,000,000mm zoom lens, and I didn't really want to go chest wading in the water to get closer...but I had to include the pic anyway, because...well, because it's a freakin' pelican, yo!

    But yeah, I'm happy with the bird photos, because many of them displayed at least some depth of field.

    I think I'm most partial to the silhouetted sailboat, however. The soft sun and its reflection really do something for me.

    SBW...Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't think I get my photographer's card until I have a little better understanding of what all these strange f-numbers and fractions of seconds mean. For now, I'm just Guy With Camera Bag.

    But thanks. And hell yeah, we can jam! Be sure to share 'em when you shoot 'em.

    TheKid...Yes, I'm multi-talented. It's true. I can also finish a 999 (once), pick astonishingly horrible football teams to cheer for, and reach things on high shelves.

    That'd be a sweet place for a park. And congrats on making it out on those boulders with only a flashlight and the moon to light your way. If I go out there, it's going to be by daylight. I bet there are plenty of things lost and abandoned down among those boulders, though.

    Confession: That was my first time out there. Ever. (and I've lived within a half hour of it for how many years of my life?

    — • — • —

    "Listen to the drummers
    and the night sounds.
    Listen to the singers
    make the world go 'round."

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  5. Great pics. Seriously. I'm impressed. I've spent so many hours on this pier with my dad, fishing for that elusive "trophy" that to see it captured here brought back some incredible, nostalgic, wonderful memories.

    You are absolutely accurate in your description of the "bird" in the fifth picture. We have huge flocks of White Pelicans in the Bay up here. I'm told that Green Bay is the only area of the U.S. outside of Florida that supports a pelican population.

    Our trips to Florida are always met with some degree of suspicion when we talk about the pelicans that we consistently see up here.

    Anyway, great photos. Keep snapping away!

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  6. Next time you go south, Brad...you can take this photo with you and tell the Floridians, "See that white blob in the pic there? With the long bill that's almost visible? That's a pelican, and it's in Manitowoc. I promise."

    They'll have to believe you with convincing evidence like that, right?

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  7. Either that or I'll tell them it's the abominable snowman...

    Did I spell that right???

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  8. stupid question, but what sort of camera is it?

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  9. Nope, not a stupid question at all. I asked the same thing recently of a blogger I read.

    It's a Nikon D60.
    My first dSLR, and I've got
    a lot to learn.

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  10. About a dozen years ago, in the dead of winer, my friend and I walked to that lighthouse in some sort of storm. It was very slippery. What fools we were. At one point, perhaps 20 yards from the lighthouse, water crashed up and over the side, drenching our feet in about six inches of water. How we didn't get swept into the lake I'll never know. What a cold, miserable walk back.

    But a fun memory nonetheless!

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