Tall Ship Race Parade

On Saturday July 20th the Tall Ship Race of 2013 was heading out of Helsinki in a parade. My plan A was to go to the fortress island Suomenlinna as the best view of the ships would have been from Western cliffs of the island. Then the news said they feared too many people would rush to the island to get a view and that the delicate sand barriers above the cliffs are already suffering from the increased tourism this year. Thus I decided on plan B, Pihlajasaari, two islands right outside the opening to the harbor.

Many others had the same plan but we got out in time before the rush. There was plenty of space on the ferry and we had the time to walk bare foot across the island to get a cup of coffee at the restaurant. With the cups to go we headed to the Eastern cliffs for a view over the waterway. Slowly the shore was getting more and more crowded. People with and without various camera gear all over the place. The water was getting crowded by small boats.

Then finally the first ship came out. It was hard to get a clean shot of the boats for all the small boats following the parade close to the waterway. A good place to practice the golden quality of patience...wait...wait...wait...NOW! So I got one! Well a couple of others too but this is the best.

   And when it is impossible to leave out disturbing objects, the other option is to include them and make them a part of the picture as in the picture below. The small boats are giving a sense of proportion to the handsome Tall Ship Göteborg.

But the the best shot of the day came in a surprising way. We headed of the island before the parade was over to avoid getting stuck in the rush. Not always the best way of doing things, but my ability to be patient is good when waiting for a good shot but not when waiting an hour to get on a ferry when the event is over. This time I go lucky though. The ferry crossed the waterway very close to one tall ship, too close for the 70-200mm lens. So I pulled out my cell phone to see what it could do:  

 

Later I noticed it could have been worth it to stay longer on the island as the biggest Mexican tall ship left later on.