Fred LeBlanc shows his nautical images

A few weeks ago my photo club asked Fred LeBlanc to come to Westford to present his "Field Guide to Maritime Photography". Fred loves the old wooden sailing vessels and has spent years documenting them under sail.  He follows the Windjammer fleet of Camden and Rockport, Maine, and gives two workshops each summer aboard the 145 foot schooner Heritage, which sails out of Rockland.

Besides showing us his wonderful images, he shared his thoughts on composition, and described some of his photoshop enhancements.  Since many of his images are taken while onboard one ship, with a second ship being his intended subject, one of his styles is to shoot while using the rigging, life boats, winches, etc. of the onboard ship to frame the subject.  Though I wondered in some cases whether this complicated the image, I nevertheless found the style very appealing.

Many of us who had seen his Web site before the night of the presentation wondered how he captured such dramatic skies.  Well, thanks to photoshop he very often adds a new sky to a schooner image for added impact.  He said he takes every opportunity he can to photograph a dramatic sky, with the thought that it might be added to a schooner image via photoshop.

Be sure to check out his galleries and Web site:  http://www.frederickleblanc.com/