A Surprise Figurehead

Located along the waterfront in San Diego, we have the Maritime Museum, which has a good variety of ships that you can board and check out. The most famous one that San Diegans are familiar with is the Star of India. But next to her, moored perpendicular to her is the HMS Surprise (the ship that the museum purchased after it was used in the Hollywood film, "Master and Commander," starring Russell Crowe).

One of the more popular features of these old ships are the artistic figureheads at the bow of the ships. The most common way to photograph these are usually head on or at a slight angle. Well, one obstacle you run into is a lot of clutter, due to the lines that tie the ship up. This is very true of the Surprise.

As I was walking off the the floating dock that takes you to the HMS Surprise, I thought of a good way to finally compose this shot. I decided to use the Star of India to fill in the background and to make it appear that the female figurehead of the HMS Surprise was watching over and guarding the Star of India. I composed the shot, as to ensure that the frame was filled with just these 2 shots.

If I composed this with the camera leveled, then the figurehead and the Star of India have some separation and more distractions enter the frame. If you look between the figurehead and the Star of India, you will see a structure, which is a restaurant in the distant background. Of course, I wanted to squeeze this out as much as possible. Then, by tilting the camera, I brought in some good features of the Star of India, such as the sails, which I definitely wanted to get as much into the shot as possible. I also paid close attention to the "Star of India San Diego" and wanted to ensure you could read this. The last thing I wanted to ensure is the lines would be the least intrusive.

I was fortunate, as it seems they did some maintenance on the figurehead, as she did not have the usual green discoloration and instead was bright and shiny.

Anyways, this was a surprise find, as I am usually looking at this figurehead,...well...head on, of course.