Six Words: Cheese, Engage, Union, Particle, Leaflet, Pilot
Whether it’s The Love Boat, or the Pequod in Moby Dick, the Titanic, the African Queen or a more typical river or ocean cruise, the Captains of ships get a lot of attention. But there are unsung masters of the sea that those captains depend on – the men or women that board the big ships when the maneuvering is critical and there is little room for error. They’re called pilots and when they’re aboard ship and on the bridge, the safety of the ship – and its passengers – is in their hands.
I had the opportunity to be the photographer for the wedding of a pilot and the man she was engaged to. Before their union was official, we took some pre-ceremony photos. The backdrop for the photos was a scene painted on particle board, so in the photos there is a beautiful ocean view behind them. You know, of course, that I did ask them to say “cheese” as I took a series of photos.
When I began editing the photos, I discovered a problem that we hadn’t noticed during the photo-shoot. Small leaflets had been falling from the nearby trees and a few were visible in the photos. I thought about making up a story to say that Noah’s dove was bringing back leaves and that the leaflets were a sign from heaven. But I didn’t. Instead, it was easy to Photoshop the leaves out of the pictures. Pilots aren’t the only ones that can prevent disasters – and like pilots, photographers may also be unsung heroes.