Peter Iredale Shipwreck

Author's Comments

There is something about a ship that has been losing to the ocean for over a century. The Peter Iredale has been here since 1906, and what remains is mostly suggestion now, an iron ribcage rising out of the sand at angles the sea has decided. I came first on a January afternoon and stayed until well past dark, which is when this place wants to be photographed. Blue hour is the answer. The wreck reads as silhouette against a sky that has gone that particular cobalt the Oregon coast does in winter, and a long exposure smooths the surf into something closer to fog. The iron goes almost black. The sand goes silver. What you lose in detail you gain in mood, and mood is what this wreck is for. Time it with low tide if you can. The water pulls back far enough to let you walk fully around the bow section, and the wet sand becomes a mirror in the right light. I have made the photograph from low and close, with the ribs arching overhead, and I have made it from far back where the wreck becomes a small dark shape against an enormous sky. Both are honest. The far version is the one I keep. Bring a tripod. Bring something to wipe salt spray off the front element, because you will need it. And give yourself longer than you think. The light changes slowly out here, and the wreck looks different in every minute of it.

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