by - 0 comments

Christmas in March: Passing ship “lit up like a Christmas tree”

Photo and explainer from J. Smersh: “I was walking back from the southern most tip of Damon Point/Protection Island tonight after sunset and was watching this large ship between Westport and Ocean Shores, when all of a sudden it turned on all of its lights. It was like magic, one minute it was mostly dark with only a few lights on port and bow for safe navigation and the next, it was lit up like a Christmas tree with all of her decks, quarters, and crane piers beautifully illuminated. I have never seen anything like it before and was really blown away by how beautiful it was. I tried shooting lots of different exposures and settings to make up for the lack of light and trying to balance that with the motion/blurring induced by the longer exposures and this was the best of the bunch. Still didn’t catch the majesty and colors of the moment, but I gave it my best try. :-)”

Click on the photo below to see a larger version:

Image

by - 5 Comments

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY: Ocean Shores green

Local taxes have jumped some 40 percent in the last five years, councils have passed Street LID and ambulance utility add-ons, employee salaries are shooting up like shuttle launches, the Convention Center can’t seem to get any new business and has accelerating bond payments looming, citizens feel City Hall won’t listen to them, minutes and other record keeping by some boards and commissions are a sad joke . . . Yes, the man-made government of Ocean Shores is  slow-motion train wreck the keeps happening again and gain. And yet . . . Ocean Shores remains Nature at its finest. Its hard to match the beauty of the deer, the snowy owls, the eagles, the awesome ocean and, as these J. Smersh photos show, the awe-inspiring Weatherwax:

ImageImageImage