Sputnik on a tripod - Provia 100F

The Steamship Wharf in downtown Juneau has sufficient capacity to moor three cruise ships.  When the dock is full, others must anchor in the channel and lighter their passengers in. When the ships are able to tie up, they tower over the library (which is immediately adjacent to the wharf); these are big.  Depending on the ship, they may use six, seven or eight hawsers to secure themselves to the dock.  Each of these lines is continually monitored by the ship-board watch and let out or tightened to accommodate the motion of the boat and the tide.

I really like the way the lines radiate out to the ship and disappear into the hull openings.  For a couple of years I was able to make these images and I was starting to figure out what it would take to get everything in focus and have a good composition.  Then “they” rammed a couple of planes into a pair of skyscrapers on the other side of the globe and the Department of Homeland Hysterics took over our docks.  The consequence is that I can no longer get close enough to the lines to again attempt this image.  Yes, the foreground is soft, but that’s the way it’s gonna be 🙁

Tripod mounted Sputnik, Provia 100F