Wreck of the Mary D. Hume

by Mike Lee

Title

Wreck of the Mary D. Hume

Artist

Mike Lee

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photography

Description

The steamer Mary D. Hume was built in 1881 in Gold Beach, Oregon (then known as Ellensburg) by R. D. Hume, an Oregon pioneer and businessman. During her long career, she hauled cargo between Oregon and San Francisco, later serving as a whaler, service vessel, and tugboat in Alaska. After her retirement in 1977, she was returned to Gold Beach, where she ultimately sank in 1985. Her haunting remains still rest in the water today.

I’ve seen her a number of times as a frequent visitor to Gold Beach, but conditions were never ideal for a photo. On this foggy October day, I decided to give it a go. With a minimalistic, atmospheric vision in mind, I captured this long-exposure shot, softening the water and enhancing the misty mood. The fog wasn’t quite dense enough to conceal the background clutter along the north jetty, so I removed it in Photoshop to isolate the striking derelict. I may create a black-and-white version of this image later, but for now, I left it in color—the faded paint and moss-covered gunnels add a beautiful, weathered character to the scene.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘋. 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺, 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦, 𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯-𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳. 𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭-𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦-𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘈 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘊𝘰𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯.

This version of the image is in the traditional 2X3/4X6 aspect as it comes out of the camera. I also have it in a 16:9 (widescreen or HDTV) crop elsewhere in my gallery.

Uploaded

October 12th, 2023

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