2015 Naval Photography

I seem to have taken enough photos over the last year of the Royal Canadian Navy and visiting ships of foreign navies that I can dedicate an entire post to review them. I will also include photos of the RCAF's Sea King and Cyclone helicopters.

Starting with this Sea King photo taken in late December 2014, I managed to pan with the helicopter using a slow shutter speed to achieve motion blur of both the rotors plus the background. I frequently manage to blur the helicopter as well, so it is a technique I have yet to perfect. 

CH-124 Sea King

The Sea King pilot was evidently jealous of the attention I was trying to pay to HMCS FREDERICTON, and did their best to obscur the ship from my view.

Rotor wash from a Sea King kicking up spray in front of HMCS FREDERICTON.

On January 18, HMCS TORONTO returned from an extended deployment overseas. It was an overcast day, but a ray of sunshine did break through the clouds to briefly illuminate her.

TORONTO illuminated.

It was a cold day that she made her ice-caked appearance.

An ice-caked TORONTO upon her return to Halifax.

Early in 2015, the much-delayed Sea King replacement program, with the CH-148 Cyclone, started to see some visible progress with renewed flight testing from HMCS HALIFAX. There was a fair bit of this activity within the main harbour, so it was within reach of my camera.

Cyclone taking off from HALIFAX.

Cyclone against a sunrise.

Cyclone close-up.

Some of the flight testing occurred on very cold days, with plently of sea smoke to make the images more dramatic.

Sea smoke obscures HMCS HALIFAX during engine startup, with a Cyclone on the stern.

Cyclone lift-off.

That said, Cyclone appearances over the harbour have been rare since then (at least during my morning and afternoon commutes to and from work).

The cold weather continued to make for images of ice-encrusted ships entering the harbour.

CHARLOTTETOWN.

It is rare to catch two frigates at anchor in the harbour at the same time, and this shot has a nice orange sky as a backdrop.

CHARLOTTETOWN, HALIFAX, and a Cyclone.

In February, I had the opportunity to tour PRESERVER, IROQUOIS, and TORONTO. I wanted to tour the two former before they were paid off and stripped of equipment, and the latter before she was stripped of equipment prior to her FELEX refit. In a handy combination of my engineering, naval history, and photography interests, I focused mainly on the engineering plants of all three ships, but tried to capture other areas as well. I have, and continue to, make numerous posts on this blog from those tours. From a photographic point of view, I can't think of any that are particularly outstanding, so I will only display one here for record purposes, although you can find the first of my posts on these tours here.

PRESERVER's steam engine.

During my tour of IROQUOIS, I came across several pieces of equipment that had been cannibalized for spare parts to keep sistership ATHABASKAN running. "Old smokey" is now the last of the IROQUOIS class destroyers remaining in commission. The exhaust smoke seems to appear mainly when her engines are running at lower power settings.

ATHABASKAN.

Despite her age and a few mechanical issues this year, ATHABASKAN still managed an extended NATO deployment in the fall.

In March, the winter-from-hell took its toll on the former HMCS CORMORANT, causing her to list, take on water, and sink at the wharf in Bridgewater where she has been laid up for more than a decade. She was eventually refloated.

Ex-HMCS CORMORANT.

HALIFAX.

Early in May, I tagged along with HMCS HALIFAX for the Battle of the Atlantic service and committal ceremony.

HALIFAX at the jetty.

Battle of the Atlantic veteran Philip Clappison is handed a wreath by HMCS HALIFAX's commanding officer, Graham Roberts, while Commodore (Ret'd) Tino Cotaras looks on.

Committal of ashes.

A salute as a veteran is committed to the deep.

Also in May, IROQUOIS paid off from service in a ceremony at HMC Dockyard. She had been sidelined for over a year due to hull cracking that was not deemed to be economically repairable. This is not entirely unexpected for a 40+ year old warship, especially one that called the North Atlantic her home.

Paying off ceremonies in the RCN have traditionally involved a final sailpast during which the ship flies her paying off pennant from the mast head. It has been many years since this has happened in Halifax (the last one, I believe, being one of the OBERON class submarines), and I have never photographed one. Possibly due to IROQUOIS' material condition, the RCN decided to hold the paying off ceremony alongside and forego the sailpast. The paying off pennant was instead unfurled on the foc'st'le and passed hand to hand down the starboard side and onto the jetty by her crew. If this is the start of a new tradition, I may never get to photograph a proper sailpast.

The paying off pennant is unfurled and passed aft.

IROQUOIS' naval jack (aka the Maple Leaf) is lowered for the final time during her paying off ceremony.

In May, RMS Queen Mary II paid a visit to Halifax to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the first voyage of Cunard's first ship Britannia. MONTREAL escorted her out after she did a loop through the lower harbour.

MONTREAL trailing Queen Mary II.

The MCDV fleet was also busy this year.

GOOSE BAY.

In July, GOOSE BAY also escorted the replica French frigate L'Hermione into Lunenburg.

GOOSE  BAY in the approaches to Lunenburg Harbour.

I also got a rare (for me) somewhat aerial shot of SUMMERSIDE on her way through the harbour narrows.

SUMMERSIDE.

One of my big beefs with naval movements in Halifax Harbour is that the Navy frequently fails to take into account my needs as a photographer. Because, as with most photographers, I feel the world should revolve around my needs. For instance, images of the ships are usually better if they steer west of George's Island on either the inbound or outbound trips. Just say'in. Case in point this image of MONTREAL:

MONTREAL with the George's Island light in the background.

Aside from the Cyclone flight testing program last winter, it is rare to see helicopter operations in the harbour, but occasionally I get lucky. If I get extremely lucky, I also get rotor tip trails and spray kicked up by the rotor wash. I managed to get extremely lucky here:

Sea King taking off from ATHABASKAN.

The 50th anniversary liveried Sea King was still doing the rounds this year.

One Sea King was painted in the 50th anniversary livery a few years ago.

ST. JOHN'S.

There weren't a large number of foreign warships in port this year, or at least I didn't manage to capture them when they did happen. The first of note that I recall was what I believe the first visit of one of the new US Coast Guard National Security Cutters, USCGC JAMES.

USCGC JAMES.

In October, I accompanied HMCS SACKVILLE from her summer berth on the waterfront back to HMC Dockyard.

SACKVILLE headed back up the harbour.

Raising a flag hoist on SACKVILLE.

Fog in the harbour, when it isn't too thick, can make you understand why the RCN chose their paint colour.

CHARLOTTETOWN.

In September, a number of ships deployed to Europe for a series of NATO exercises. In November, HALIFAX and ATHABASKAN returned.

HALIFAX with one of ATHABASKAN's Sea Kings in the background.

Sea King flying past HALIFAX.

ATHABASKAN passing the light on McNab's Island.

ATHABASKAN passing the light on George's Island.

Both of ATHABASKAN's Sea Kings did flypasts of the waterfront upon their return.

In October, we did have a unique visitor, the French Navy satellite and rocket tracking ship FS MONGE. 

FS MONGE.

In December, the third FREEDOM class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS MILWAUKEE, made her first (and possibly only) appearance in Halifax. 

USS MILWAUKEE.

She stayed for the weekend, and left early the following week.

USS MILWAUKEE.

I will finish up with this image of CHARLOTTETOWN as she followed USS MILWAUKEE out. 

CHARLOTTETOWN.

In case you were wondering, she took the passage west of George's Island. Just say'in.

My favourite photos of 2015

It is once again that time of year when it seems appropriate (and I have some free time) to review the photos that I took this year, and show off some of my favourites. 

Starting about a year ago in late December, I took the following image on the Shubie Canal. I subsequently entered it into a photo contest with Outdoor Photography Canada (the subject was "water") and won third prize. Yay, me. 

Water pouring over a lock weir on the Shubie Canal.

Over the Christmas holidays of 2014, a group of us also treated ourselves to an abandoned mill.

Abandoned mill.

Starting in January, we then began to experience the winter from hell. Snow storms seemingly every Wednesday kept the snow banks piling up, and each one seemed to be followed by freezing rain and a flash freeze just to make things extra interesting. We still had snow on the ground in early May. Blech.

Probably not the only unclaimed bike in downtown Halifax last winter.

Sometimes, the snow could be quite picturesque.

Architecture photography of the architecture building at TUNS. Yes, I still call it that.

Speaking of architecture, the winter was a good time to be introduced to both the exterior....

Halifax Central Library

...and the interior of the new Halifax Central Library.

Halifax Central Library.

In April, a trip to Lawrencetown produced some photos of foamy surf. The weather was as cold as it looks in the photos.

Surf at Lawrencetown.

Waterfront Development was replacing portions of the boardwalk this spring, and the snow didn't let up for the work.

Boardwalk replacement work went slowly.

By the time May came, everyone was going a bit stir crazy. Apart from the snowly....err, slowly... appearing green, another sure sign of spring is the arrival of the herring fleet. For more photos, I wrote a whole blog post on my herring fleet photography earlier in the year. In the image below, I use a style of photography that a bunch of us named after one of our little photography group, namely the "Steve Angle", or "Stangle" for short. If you are ever taking a photography class, use the term "Stangle" and see if you can confuse the instructor.

The herring fleet brings some opportunities for abstract photography.

The vegetation eventually made a return as well.

Apple trees near the Dartmouth Common.

The first Sunday in May is Battle of the Atlantic Sunday, the day when we remember those who fought and lost their lives in that battle. This year, I rode along with HMCS HALIFAX for the committal ceremony off Point Pleasant Park, and I was able to take this image of the cadets of RCSCC Swiftsure lined up on the jetty with the ashes of the veterans to be committed. My lens was too long, but I managed to stitch two images together on the computer to make it work.

Cadets of RCSCC Swiftsure.

 The first days of summer brought some interesting fog with them.

George's Island with a fog bank immediately behind obscuring McNab's Island.

The Halifax-Dartmouth ferry frequently has to deal with fog as well.

Woodside I in the fog.

The launching of the small fleet at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is also a welcome sign that more appealing weather is approaching.

Whim is a restored Chester C at the NSMMA. I love the colour, which is reminiscent of the paint on the floorboards in my own boat.

The summer brings fireworks, which I often miss. I sometimes try to photograph the Canada Day fireworks in Bridgewater from the cottage, but this year they were a complete dud - they were all below the tree line. The smoke afterwards, though, made up for it slightly.

Remnants of Bridgewater's Canada Day fireworks.

Summertime brought the arrival of family from out west, and with them came a trip to Grand Pre, which I hadn't made in many years. 

Building at Grand Pre.

We also headed out to Peggy's Cove, where I took the opportunity to fire off a few shots on my grandfather's old film camera and some black & white film. I was particularly happy with how this image turned out.

I get bored taking the same old shots of the Peggy's Cove lighthouse.

I also had a chance this past summer to dabble in some astrophotography, in this case combining some lighting painting of my sailboat in front of the Milky Way.

This shot is the result of a 20 second exposure at ISO 8000 with a 32mm lens (on APS-C) at f/1.8.

All too soon, summer was over once again, and it was time to haul the boat. I dread this time of year, as much for the end of summer as for the amount of work required to put the boat away.

Hauled and covered.

Fall in Halifax brings Nocturne, the Art at Night festival. This year they had a ferris wheel on Citadel Hill, which was a big hit. This was my first year to attend, but I will definitely have to go back next year.

Nocturne's ferris wheel. I like the way the crosswalk in the foreground leads into the image, though I suspect most eyes will alight on the ferris wheel first.

An early morning walk to work and some lucky timing brought me to the NSMMA's CSS Acadia just as the flag was being hoisted over the stern.

CSS Acadia's flag flapping against the early morning sun.

It may be late fall, but you can still go to the beach. These sand ripples on Summerville Beach near Liverpool were partly filled with water from which the sun could reflect. Once upon a time I avoided shooting into the sun whenever possible, but now I seem to do it all the time. 

Sand ripples on Summerville Beach.

Not all of the province's beaches are sandy, and the rocky ones can be just as interesting, especially when you add some impressive clouds and orange kelp.

Beach at Western Head.

Finally, a shot taken just earlier this week, while riding the ferry on my way to work. A bank of cloud lined up perfectly, putting the Halifax Waterfront in partial shadow, while still allowing the light from the rising sun to illuminate the buildings. This is as good an example as any of why I always try to have a camera, even if only the one in my phone, with me at all times. I would have been rather upset to have missed this image.

Dawn versus Dusk.

Well, that is it for 2015. Between now and the new year, I will probably add one or two more posts to showcase my maritime and/or naval photography for 2015.