The take aways:

A Coast Guard official said Monday that a leak in a fuel oil return line caused the engine-room fire that disabled the Carnival Triumph in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving 4,200 people without power or working toilets for five days.

Cmdr. Teresa Hatfield addressed the finding in a conference call with reporters. She estimated that the investigation of the disabled ship would take six months.

and:

She said the crew responded appropriately to the fire. “They did a very good job,” she said.

In an email after Monday’s conference call, Coast Guard spokesman Carlos Diaz described the oil return line that leaked as stretching from the ship’s No. 6 engine to the fuel tank.

…

Cruise industry expert Andrew Coggins, a former Navy commander who was a chief engineer and is now a professor at Pace University in New York, said the fire could potentially have been serious.

“The problem is the oil’s under pressure,” he said. “What happens in the case of a fuel oil leak where you have a fire like that is it leaks in such a way that it sprays out in a mist. In the engine room you have many hot surfaces, so once the mist hits a hot surface it will flash into flame.”

If the crew hadn’t reacted quickly and the fire suppression system hadn’t worked properly, he said, “the fire from the engine room would have eventually burned through to other parts of the ship.” Engine room fires that can’t be suppressed generally result in the loss of the entire ship, he said.

 Do they want us?

Some folks really like cruising. Some communities love them. Some folks hate them in regard to whether they should open their communities ports to them.

This story in the the NYTimes discusses the debate going on in SC and other coastal towns around the US. Several communities/states are debating issues right now about Cruising:

In Key West, Fla., voters will decide this fall whether to spend $3 million toward widening a channel that leads to the city’s ports, where 350 cruise ships arrive each year. A deeper channel would allow a new, larger class of cruise ships to dock. Business owners and residents worry that the dredging would hurt fragile coral reefs and overwhelm the town.

In Alaska on Tuesday, state lawmakers rolled back tough wastewater standards mandated by voters in 2006. The bill, backed by Gov. Sean Parnell, will allow the 36 cruise ships that travel Alaska’s waters each year to discharge wastewater with less treatment than it currently receives.

I’m a fan of cruising, but want the communities we visit to welcome us – not despise us. Aside from maintaining good environmental protocols (let’s be good stewards of our oceans and minimize our impact on them), I’m all for communities debating whether they want cruisers like my wife and I coming to their communities to spend our vacation dollars. I’d love to visit Alaska, New Orleans, Mobile, and Charleston… but, if those communities decide they don’t want us, we can spend our vacation dollars in ports that do: Jamaica, Mexico, Haiti, etc.

From my time in the small town newspaper business, there are always those who naysay anything that will change a status quo, or look at altering one brick, one board, or even change out a rusted street sign that adds character. Those folks deserve to have their say. But, the community at large needs to decide if they want the dollars that cruisers like my wife and I bring.

]]> http://www.troyphoto.com/2013/02/20/cruise-ships-yay-or-nay/feed/ 0 http://www.troyphoto.com/2013/01/02/denis-reggie-nails-it/ http://www.troyphoto.com/2013/01/02/denis-reggie-nails-it/#comments Wed, 02 Jan 2013 15:37:34 +0000 Troy http://www.troyphoto.com/?p=965

The “father” of photojournalistic wedding photography, Denis Reggie, nailed the silly history of trends in wedding photography in a recent FB post.

Denis has always been an inspiration for me, and was one of the photographers who showed me that wedding photography was more than just:

“Entire wedding apparently occurs in front of a painted blue canvas backdrop as seen through a softening filter”

or, the outdated double exposures of the Bride and Groom super-imposed in the brandy snifter, or

“father-daughter dance presented with subjects actually superimposed atop the sheet of music from that very tune.”

Somehow Mr Reggie nails the ongoing trends exactly that have occurred throughout the decades.

I’m guilty myself of falling into some of the traps:

“…head to the streets to stage wedding parties walking in line then jumping simultaneously… some wearing comedic glasses and noses”

(although I haven’t had any with the comedic glasses and noses…)

and the now dated:

“Under the guise of creating art, countless wedding scenes somehow return mostly to black-and-white… except for that colorful bouquet or maybe the bride’s vivid red lips…”

All kidding aside, one of the points Denis makes is uncannily accurate:

“2005: Use of phrase and promise of “wedding photojournalism” on photographers’ websites reaches all-time high. Actual practice of true documentary wedding photography of authentic moments reaches all-time low…“

and

“2006: Death of “capturing the moment” with birth of the digital illusion. Need to become a real photographer seemingly ends with continued explosion of Photoshop® disguising techniques: merged images/moments, Liquify tool body changes, grass turning electric green, skies profoundly blue… and, of course, with each corner and edge of images growing very, dark. With special thanks to widespread excess use of Photoshop®, wedding photography industry transformed from PHOTOgraphic to photoGRAPHIC art. “

I’m committing myself to the following pledge: No matter what the current trend, I will always be true to the documentary style that I know and love. I will always photograph the wedding or commitment day for every one of my clients – as I have been trained to do through my career as a news photographer. I will always provide emotion filled, story telling, accurate documentary images of the day for the happy couples.

Maybe I’ll start a trend?

Nawwww! There’s more silliness in the wedding photography industry to ensue, I’m sure.

 ”2012: Wedding photography replaced by fashion photography of the couple in places – and in poses – that have absolutely nothing to do with their real personalities or their wedding.”

Ping and Brian were married at White River Gardens, with their reception at the River House. Entertainment was by DJ Brian Whitis. Dale Brewer created the ambiance and decor for the wedding and reception.

Jess and Charley met at University of Indianapolis, and chose to get married on campus, with their reception in the Student Center.
more photos after the jump – and you can see the “greatest hits” on the TroyPhoto facebook page.

Jess and Charley were married in the McCleary Chapel on campus.

The reception was in the Schwitzer Student Center. Uplighting was provided by Brian Whitis, DJ and Decor Lighting. 

The Clikz Photo Booth provided FUN! off the Dance Floor!

Charley and Jess selected TJ and Hooch DJs (Note: their site has auto-load music playing… controls to turn off are at the bottom – make sure your speakers are at a comfortable volume) to provide their party entertainment. Below, Jess and Charley played the “Newly-Wed Game” under TJs direction.

TJ lead the Conga Line…

..and they bring their own attire to help with the Chicken Dance…

… and they get the gents to help Charley serenade his bride with some Righteous Brothers …

Brittany and Jason were married in Muncie at the First Presbyterian church right off Ball State University campus, with their reception at the Horizon Event Center.Wedding Coordinator April Foster did an excellent job arranging the event, and keeping everyone on track throughout the day.

Amanda and Greg were married at Carmel United Methodist church, and had their reception a The Montage. The Kahns Fine Cateringstaff were excellent as always.

Emcee and entertainment for the event was none other than Jesse Carothers, JC Disk Jockey Service.

One of the best attributes of B&W photos is they isolate emotion. Since I cut my teeth on B&W film photography, and two of the three newspapers I shot for, only used B&W images for local news – I LOVE B&W emotional images. An expressive group, like Amand and Greg and their friends make for great B&W photos!

Darcie and Clint were married in the Grand Hall of the Crowne Plaza Union Station in downtown Indy.

I love designing storybooks out for our brides and grooms. This is one of my favorites.

DJ Brian Whitis emcee’d the event and provided the decor lighting.

Anna and David were married at the small Catholic Church in French Lick IN, just down the road from their reception site, the French Lick Resort. Special thanks to Rich Walton for helping photograph this wedding.