Photo Essay: Across the Sound (large post)

seastack

Across the Sound

Puget Sound in Washington State is a sprawling inland body of water carved by glaciers millenia ago. Greater Puget Sound, including Seattle, is famous for its salmon, orca whales and the San Juan Islands. Separated by the many inlets and and twisting waterways of the sound are communities large and small, including Seattle, Puget Sound is home to more than 4 million people. The state operates the largest passenger auto ferry system in the U.S. and the third largest in the world with 26 ferries. There are also several other publicly and privately operated ferries that cross these waters.

For many people, these ferries are a large part of daily life serving as their form of the daily commute , the only means of transportation on and off islands, a welcome departure to enjoy the Sound itself, or a way into Canada.

The ferries themselves have become iconic to Washington State, nearly as identifiable as orcas and salmon.

Below are a few photos from just a few days on two ferry runs - the state's Seattle to Bremerton ferry, a popular one-hour commuter ferry, and the smaller Bremerton to Port Orchard passenger ferry operated by Kitsap Transit, the last remnant of the "Mosquito Fleet," a collection of small steamer lines serving the Puget Sound area during the later part of the nineteenth century and early part of the 20th Century that was the origin of the modern ferry fleet.

By combining a photojournalism, documentary and street styles of photography with a fine art motif, I hope I am going beyond postcard images to provide a bit of the texture and feel of Puget Sound ferries and ferry life. I've just begun on what I anticipate to be a long term project.

Feedback would be most appreciated ... i feel a book in the making )

tom hyde

(p.s. i generally do not like to mix black and white with color in the same essay, and i already have a good film noir style happening in black and white, but some of these shots were just too good in color ... a dilemma, a good one)

Cuong

Tom, these are fantastic images. They're very dynamic and captivating.

Cuong

xris

Beautiful!
Nice work. The 'Boy and Bird' shot is a poster-in-waiting. I really like your sense of tone.

schmoo

Tom,

I'm starting to run out of things to say. But your work isn't something I can ignore!

I think you did an excellent job utilizing color or monochrome of the shot, depending on the subject and your message.

I'm curious to see where this project goes for you

Arvan

hey..you did a very very very good job with these photos. I lift my hat and bow.

Elaine

I'm a huge fan and these just add to my awe. Someday, I hope I can attain just a bit of your ability to see an image, acquire it and process it beautifully.

seastack

Cool! Thanks for all the encouragement ... as i sit here in a cafe (free wi-fi) in Bremerton waiting for the 3 p.m. ferry ... i know i am on the right track ))

We'll see where this goes but i really want a book out of this, and i'd like to combine it with recorded sounds and interviews with commuters, workers etc for a multimedia production ... but i know nothing of sound recording and don't have the equipment ... yet ... i figure if i really commit to this and put in the time and the work, something good will come of this. I'm giving myself a minimum assignment of 6 months with at least 2 days shooting a week. )

I should mention the above photos go with two previously posted here.

I rode the ferry to Seattle and back this morning, an unusually clear and bitter cold morning ... as the sun rose over Puget Sound, the full moon set over the snow covered, sunrise lit, Olympic Mountains ... one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen ... and the longest lens i had with me was 105 ... well, i do like to travel lite, we'll see what comes out, still, it would only be a postcard image ;-)

cheers,
tom

And here's one from the "other side" of Puget Sound, the streets of Seattle ...

xris

Wow! That's gorgeous! Is that down by the Market, looking East?

Recording deal sounds cool. I did quite a lot of that way-back-when. Just pick-up a good digital recorder (DAT is still cool, and can be had for cheap) and see if you can find what's called a "binaural head." It's s styromfoam head with two mic's on what looks like a headset get-up. The mics fit in the styrofoma 'ears.' These things look weird, but they are second-to-none for recording ambient location sounds in stereo. Then, especially if you have a four strack recorder, you can use a separate, hand-held, stereo mic for interviews/commentary. And because the tracks are separate, sound levels can be balanced in editing.

The producers will love ya!

Sam

Excelent work!

Sam

ian408

I miss the ferry on Puget Sound. It's a great way to get around and it's a
great way to see the city too.

I don't usually want to comment on the photos (in Journeys) but that third
one of the CII foredeck is a classic shot.

Ann McRae

Wow! and YES!YES!YES!

These are gorgeous and I see a book.

Thanks for sharing these here,

ann

quark

I was never brave enough to put the french fry in my mouth, but I do have wonderful memories of feeding the sea gulls from the ferries as a kid. That photo captures the moment so well with a great angle. congrats.

Skippy

seastack wrote:

Across the Sound

(p.s. i generally do not like to mix black and white with color in the same essay, and i already have a good film noir style happening in black and white, but some of these shots were just too good in color ... a dilemma, a good one)

Awesome Photo Essay Seastack
Love and B&W's .... must be a universal thing to feed Seagulls chips (fries)
we used to do that too when we were kids.

What a great post, the photos are excellent ... Skippy
.