David's Images of the Day Photoblog
A bit of a heat wave after the cold temperatures last week. Colorful morning clouds at dawn. It was warm enough during the afternoon to completely melt the ice in the bird bath, allowing the solar-powered fountain to start working. After it got dark I made a time-lapse video of the fountain.
After a long 10 days crossing the Pacific Ocean, the MV World Odyssey arrived in Yokohama, Japan. It was a cold morning, but many students were up on deck to watch the arrival. Dawn and sunrise images were taken from the deck of the ship. After breakfast, we disembarked and proceeded through customs & immigration. Everyone had to go through the process before we could return to the ship. I took a camera, travel tripod, warm jacket and gloves. It was cold, and there were some snow flurries. I felt safe walking around the Osanbashi Pier (and in Japan in general) with a camera since there were so many locals with cameras out taking pictures. I did several 360° degree image sequences using a Mindarin Astro rotating tripod head. These were then used to create Little Planet and Mirror Ball views of Yokohama and the ship from the Osanbashi Pier.
Later in the afternoon I made two 360° time-lapse videos. The first of people enjoying the day at the Yamashita Park along the Yokohama harbor, and the second from a park with a view of view of the Osanbashi Pier and the MV World Odyssey. The images were taken with a Fuji X-T1 camera that was controlled by a Mindarin Astro 360° rotating head on a tripod. The time-lapse videos were then created using Photoshop CC and Premiere Pro CC.
In addition to transporting passengers, the Hurtigruten ships are working ships that carry freight, mail, automobiles, and fresh food between several ports along the Norwegian coast. Many of these stops occur during the night, and only last for short (15 minutes to 1 hour) periods of time. The schedule for the first full day of the northbound voyage stops at the following ports: Florø (04:30-04:45); Maløy (06:45-07:30); Torvik (10:20-10:45); Ålesund (12:00-15:00); Molde (17:30-18:30); Kristandsund (22:00-23:00). There are many lighthouses and automated navigation lights along the Norwegian coast. We spent the early afternoon walking around Ålesund. It was a bright clear day so several of us climbed the 418 steps to get to the top of the town mountain Aksla, including going to the restaurant Fjellstua. Although the restaurant was closed, it has the best view in Ålesund. I was able to take several images which were then combined into a wide panoramas of the town including the MS Kong Harald. We got a bit confused as to where the ship was docked, but did ultimately get back before the ship departed.
Some kind of wonderful!!! You had to be there to take in the dawn view of the sky over the Pacific Ocean. Someday I’ll be able to make a large format print of the full panorama. The day before had been windy and some wave action. Unlike many others, I didn’t get seasick, and didn’t need to take any of the anti-nausea medications. The aft decks 6 and 7 provide some wind protection that allowed me to get out and take images of the dawn sky and the and sunrise. It was still a couple of days before we would arrive in Yokohama.
Images from sunrise and sunset from the deck of the MV World Odyssey. One thing that I noted on this voyage was the very red color of the sun at sunrise and sunset as we crossed the Pacific ocean. I wasn’t expecting smog in the middle of the ocean. The closer we got to Asia, it became even more pronounced. I normally do not try to take pictures of the sun without a very dark filter, especially through a telephoto lens. However, on this voyage the atmosphere near the horizon became that filter.
Individual images in the slide shows can be viewed here.