David's Images of the Day Photoblog
Sunset in the Baltic Sea from the Deck of the MV Explorer. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 80-400 mm VR II lens (ISO 800, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec).
Today was a day at sea aboard the M/V Explorer as we traveled from Dublin, Ireland to Dover, United Kingdom. Most of my time was spent getting images ready for the Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV final show. Spencer compiled all of the selected images from the workshop participants for the segment 2 final show and added appropriate music. The theme for the show was Street Photography and Travel Photography. After presentation of the show to the ship’s passengers in the Union, I quickly went to deck 7 to see if the sunset was going to be interesting. The clouds were developing an intense orange color, but due to high winds, I was unable to get outside to take images. I decided to run down to my cabin to pick up the Nikon D4 camera body and the 80-400 mm VRII lens. As soon as I got up to deck 7 at the rear of the ship, I could see a cargo ship may pass directly between us and the cargo ship. One nice thing about the D4 camera body and new XQD memory card is the ability to take many more images before the buffer fills up. The following is an image taken just as the cargo ship passed between us and the setting sun
The main activity for the first full day at sea was an all-day orientation for the students in the Union. There are 477 undergraduate students attending the Fall Semester this year. In addition there are 47 Life Long Learners (30 full voyage and 17 partial voyage), 36 Faculty, 37 Staff & Family, and 181 Crew on board the MV Explorer for this voyage.
The students boarded the MV Explorer in shifts beginning at 08:00. It was an efficient process, and most everyone was onboard by 11:00. We were told that after lunch that there would be a mandatory evacuation drill. Everyone was supposed to get their life-jacket and report to their evacuation station wearing long pants, long shirt, shoes, and a hat. Once we got to our station, the ship staff did a roll call to make sure everyone was accounted for and present. The drill is required before the ship can leave port. After the drill was completed, we were ready to leave at 17:00. Most everyone lined up on the open decks to watch the departure. The parents and relatives that came were all lined up on the roof of the port terminal. Michael Mariant was set up to take a series of images from Deck 7 that will be combined into a time-lapsed video for the entire Fall 2012 Voyage.
Weather permitting I plan to take an early morning image during dawn or sunrise, and an evening image at sunset or during dusk. I did this exercise during the previous two Enrichment voyages on the MV Explorer, and got images with great colors.
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After arriving at my hotel in Cocoa Beach I drove to Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. It took about 40 minutes to get to the headquarters to buy a new America the Beautiful pass. They were going to give it to me for the senior rate of $10, but to be ethical I paid the full price. I then went for one round through the 7 mile, one-way Black Point Wildlife drive before sundown. They close the road at sunset. The following are some images I took along the road.
