Critique Welcomed USS Yorktown (CV-10) in Charleston Harbor

[Keith Hollister]

Haven't been posting here for a while but thought I would get started again with some shots from the USS Yorktown at the Patriot's Point maritime museum in Mt. Pleasant, SC across the harbor from Charleston. All handheld, EXIF is intact @ Flickr for the curious.

CV-10 was the 2nd USS Yorktown in WW II, commissioned in 1943 to replace the the first one (CV-5) that was sunk at the Battle of Midway. CV-10 was decommissioned after the war but re-activated in the 1950's and served as an attack and ASW carrier until 1970. She was brought to Mt. Pleasant in 1975.

Some of the spaces have been restored to their WW II appearance and others reflect the more recent period of her service.

There are some Olympus shots with the 7-14 lens in the album on Flickr, as I was shooting with both the E-M5.2 and the Fuji to decide on whether to run 1 or 2 systems (and which one). The Fuji's won out and I am using the Olympus bodies for dedicated IR and macro with the Olympus 60mm (120mm FOV) macro lens. Enjoy.

Charleston Harbor from the USS Yorktown Bridge by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Pilot Ready Room by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

USS Yorktown Flight Deck by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Torpedo Workshop - USS Yorktown by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Berthing Compartment - USS Yorktown by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Bridge - USS Yorktown by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

Hellcat by Keith Hollister, on Flickr

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Nice shots again, Keith. I think the b&w work particularly well.

 

[John Holland]

Very nice series, Keith

 

[John Allen]

A lot of really good photos. I'm impressed with the output of the XT1

 

[Keith Hollister]

A lot of really good photos. I'm impressed with the output of the XT1

Thanks, John. but bear in mind these were all rather heavily processed raw files. For instance, the B&W images had a lot of local tonal adjustments via radial gradients in LR and masking in PS to get the tones where I wanted them. While I love the Fuji files (the XTRANS sensor seems to be a love it or hate it thing with folks), SOOC doesn't exactly look like that

What is classic Fuji, at least to my eye, is the color resolution and tonal smoothness. I also think there is excellent detail without the somewhat "digital" appearance of some other systems. I purposely shot some stuff lately with both the Fuji and Olympus gear and while a good photographic friend of mine thought both sets of images were largely indistinguishable, others identified a consistent look to the Fuji images even after all the post work.

I decided I liked the Fuji files (even if the differences are imagined) so I'm using what I like to use.

 

[John Allen]

... I decided I liked the Fuji files (even if the differences are imagined) so I'm using what I like to use.

I've been an Olympus fan since the early 70's. I am hugely disappointed that they have limited themselves to the m4/3 half-frame sensor size. They've done wonders with it. Just think what they might do with an APS-C or full frame sensor. I think they will make that leap one of these days, while not abandoning the m4/3 line of cameras and lenses. The only worry I have is that they will leave it too late.

 

[Keith Hollister]

I really wanted to like the Olympus system - great f2.8 zooms, nice bodies, a working flash system - but the files just didn't do it for me.

 

[Ivar Dahl-Larsen]

I like the series but unlike Rob and to no one's surprise, I prefer firstly the colour ones and it's nice to see another one happy with the Fujis. I mostly make my shots in jpegs now actually and rarely raw anymore. Fuji has been the only one where I actually can do that with. The first image and the last one in colour are what I focus on firstly. Good documentation.

 

[Pete Askew]

What a fantastic set, Keith and I love the PP you have used too. Very appropriate I think.

 

[Keith Hollister]

Thanks. I'm heading up to NE Ohio in a couple weeks to visit the Airstream factory and get some warranty issues taken care of on our new trailer (caravan in UK-speak). While I'm there, I'm planning on going down to Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton to visit the USAF Museum there for some aircraft photography. So, more vintage aircraft photos coming soon.