SS Keewatin Port McNicol Ontario Part 1

I recently had the unique experience of touring the SS Keewatin a veritable floating museum currently docked in the small town of Port McNicol Ontario. The town was once home to a major Canadian Pacific Railway Great Lakes Port and many ships including the Keewatin sailed to and from here. The journey of the Keewatin and its history is fascinating and is best experienced and absorbed in person. To read more about the Keewatin please visit SSKeewatin.com (after looking at my photos of course).

I was greeted on the day by the man instrumental in returning this marvellous vessel to its former home, Eric Conroy. His knowledge of the ship is extensive to say the least , having served as a waiter on the ship as a young man. So here in photos is what I will call Part 1 of my visit to the SS Keewatin as I will be returning again this year to continue my photography of this amazing piece of Canada's sailing history.

Barber Shop

One of my favourite rooms was the retired barbershop. here it is a journey back in history as you can almost experience a shave and haircut in the onboard shop.

Many of the staterooms are decorated with period costumes and items. The photographers suite obviously caught my eye. The Keewatin is a museum in more ways than one as all the items are authentic and are donated by the community and others.

Kitchen
                                                         

       

The galley is as interesting as any place on the ship. The walk back in time is completed with utensils cookware and appliances from the time period the ship was in service.

The grand appearance of the dining room is stunning as one can imagine what it would be like to dine here. My host having worked as a waiter here had some very interesting insights to his experiences and has book based on them, titled "Steak in a Drawer". 

Chopping Block

A well used chopping block resides in the walk-in freezer located just off the Kitchen. One can imagine the activity that used to happen here.

Elegenace

I guess one would call this the main deck. I will try to clarify. One can see the room on the sides of this elegant hall and the beautiful open ceiling letting in light from the upper level. 

An incredible number of the staterooms are decorated in various themes and time periods. This room was occupied by the RCMP when on board and the authentic uniform was donated by them. I was astonished at the level of detail and the staging in each of them

This sign on the door reminds us that the classes were very much segregated in the times of these sailing ships and the paying customers would have little or no contact with those who toiled on the ship. 

As I said in the beginning I plan to return to the Keewatin in the near future and get much more information on this giant of a vessel. It is much larger than I ever imagined so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw her. My next visit I plan to visit more areas of the ship including the engine and mechanical rooms. In the meantime you can also visit my website www.robertgreatrixphotogrpahy.ca and browse under travel where you will find a few more photos of the Keewatin and be sure to visit and check out SSKeewatin.com as well. 

If you are interested in purchasing prints of my images from this blog or would like to license them for commercial purposes please contact me at robertgreatrixphotography@bell.net. 

Night Shots

Part of my portfolio and one of my favourite projects is Urban Night Photography. I find creating long exposure images is creatively rewarding in a unique way. As I look for images I find myself envisioning a scene that will feature rich colors and many times a sense of drama. With the long exposures at one's fingertips at night moving lights can become lasers or streams of color. If you can add in some unusual weather all the better. Rain and wet surfaces reflect colors brilliantly allowing the creation of images that remind me of early painters.

Equipment-wise shooting at night is similar to landscape photography. A tripod becomes a necessity if you want to shoot long shutter speeds and lower ISO's. I use a mid range Manfrottto tripod and ballhead. For triggering the shutter a remote release makes life easier although the same function can be achieved by using the self timer function found on most cameras. I prefer a remote shutter release to both time light trails and in some cases shoot between gaps in traffic to avoid them. Lens choice varies, for me it may be a 12-24mm ultra wide angle, a 20mm prime, a 50mm prime or my 70-200mm. Sometimes I may go out with just one lens, the camera and the tripod.

Nailing the exposure at night can be difficult and requires some practice and learning your camera. I don't get perfect exposures every shutter click but I read my histogram and take my observations from previous shots to judge what compensation is necessary. It never hurts to take several different exposures or bracket shots. I also do this quite frequently.

So when the sun goes down, grab your gear and fire up your creativity the results will surprise you.

Waiting for Your Call

I walked by this phone booth almost daily and it always seemed to grab my attention. Photographed at night/early morning it came alive and you can read a story into it. For me it brings a sense of loneliness and impending danger.

After the Rain Came


                                                       

This shot came about as the tail end of Hurricane Sandy dumped rain on the city. The low angle and the wet surfaces give a lot of depth, color and drama to this image. The lines with the wide angle lens also gives an impression of movement and dynamics.

Rain and Street Meat

Another of my more popular images this was also shot during the same rainy night as above.  This time I used a 700-200 to crop in tighter on this guy waiting at a hot dog stand. I couldn't figure out why he was out on this night getting food but I am sure he might have wondered the same about me out with my camera. The wet pavement reflected the red lights providing brilliant colors and the light from the stand lit the subject perfectly.

No-Karts

Another wide angle shot this long exposure brought out the colors of the different lights in this scene creating a totally different scene than what would be available in daylight hours.

If you enjoy this blog please share and give some feedback. Much more of my Urban Landscape, Street and Night Photography can be seen at www.torontophotographs.com or www.robertgreatrixphotography.ca.