Jim Larson Photography

Some dear friends of ours took us sailing on their Catalina 22. Their boat is very well equipped, including a sail called a “spinnaker” which is a very large sail generally used for going down wind very fast. It was a perfect day for flying this sail and we did just that.

I made my way up on the bow of the boat with my camera which was equipped with a wide angle lens. I laid on the deck so I could get a good shot at the sail with the nice blue summer sky in the background.

Alle’s August 2009 calendar shot.  She loves to go sailing!

If kite sailing isn’t your thing, you can always take a causal run across the lake in your car.  Your amphibious car, that is.  This nicely restored amphibian was spotted on Lake Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho.

Heads sure turn when a car is driving down a boat ramp and doesn’t stop before splashing in the water.  It looks like fun!

The last time we were in Portland, Oregon, we went on a dinner cruise on the river.  After dinner we toured the ship and ended up at the pilot house where the captain gave us a quick tour.  Here is a shot using my iPhone camera showing the captain as he navigates the river.

What is CdA as shown in the title? Well, that is the abbreviation for Coeur d’Alene which is the name of a town and lake in northern Idaho.

While at the wooden boat show we got to see this magnificent sailboat owned by a very rich individual who lives in the area. It is 60 feet in length and the hull is all wood.

I like this shot because it is framed between the two pilings and the rope railing.  The sun reflection off of the sails gives a nice contrast between the sail and the mountain behind.

The wooden boat show in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho gave me many opportunities to photograph some wonderfully restored watercraft.  Here is a fine example showing how the owner not only shows off his nice boat, but puts in an added touch by  fitting it with equipment from that era.

The photo to the right was captured at a wooden boat show in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The photo has some great contrasts in both color and texture. Another contrast is the difference between old (boat) and new (line).  It is hard to tell that in this photo because the old boat is very well kept.

Also, notice the angles created by the dock line and the edge of the boat’s deck.  Everything brings your eyes back to the center of the photo.  Even when your eyes wander to the edge they follow one of the lines back in again.

Day 2 of our cruise was used as a travel day. It is a long way from Fort Lauderdale to Ocho Rios in Jamaica, roughly a little more than 700 miles. Since we would not be seeing land for a while, there were many ship activities that occupied our time. One that was very interesting was a demonstration of fruit carving. It was amazing to see how quickly the artists were able to complete their creation. Some of their results are shown in the first photo.

When there were no activities in the piazza, music was performed by some very talented musicians. One such musician was the lady pianist shown in the second photograph. The piazza area of the ship is very elegant with great acoustics for music.

The third photograph showed that it was not a very pleasant day as far as the weather was concerned. The day was pretty much overcast, but the unpleasantness was due to the very strong wind coming from about a 45 degree angle off the bow. How strong is strong? Well, how about gale force winds? Yes, the wind topped 50 knots many times throughout the day and was above 45 knots for the majority of the day. Wind that is 50 knots or above is considered gale force.

Winds this strong given a chance to blow across thousands of miles of the Atlantic ocean create some pretty impressive waves. My guess is that they were in the neighborhood of 8 to 10 feet in height. Kelli thought that they were more like 25 feet, but that may have been her stomach talking. With the ship traveling at 19 knots, every time it would hit one of these waves it would create some tremendous spray off the bow as it cut through the ocean. There were several times that the spray from the waves would be over our heads when we were standing on deck 6 of the ship.

The last photo is one that proves that I was on the vacation. I normally do not make it to that end of the camera very often, but my wife was kind enough to take this one. She even kept the horizon level which is very important when you are shooting the ocean.

See you all tomorrow as I share some photos from Ocho Rios as we go “jamm’n in the streets mon.”

Sometimes when we wake up after sleeping on our boat we are treated to a very still morning. This was the case earlier this summer. There were very few people around and the only traffic on this part of the lake was this kayaker.

I like this particular image as this woman cuts through the still water of the morning, leaving a v of ripples in her wake.  Her bright colors contrast nicely against the reflection of the dark cliffs.

Just a few weeks ago, my wife and I traveled to the Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands of Washington state. The only way to get to this beautiful place is by boat or small plane and the fastest and most inexpensive way is by ferry.

We were on our way back to the mainland on a somewhat cloudy and rainy day when I spotted another ferry following us back to Anacortes.  Just a few minutes later, the sun found a thin part of the sky to shine through and the sky and water became a very vivid orange color.

I took about 20 shots in about a 15 minute period, trying to capture the event the best way I could.  This photo was my favorite of the bunch.