The Straits III: Mail on the Lakes, a photo from Michigan, Midwest

Photographer's Note

Turning back around toward the Ambassador Bridge and downtown Detroit to the east...

Beneath the Ambassador Bridge is a small building with a big job. This is postal code 48222 encompassing nearly 100,000 square miles (250,000 km2) that are the Great Lakes. At the heart of it is the J.W. Westcott company. Founded in 1874 as a message relaying station servicing passing ships, the company has expanded to much more. In 1895 they first started delivering mail to the ships on the lakes as they passed Detroit by hoisting a pail of mail to the larger ship. And today they continue that legacy of mail in a pail as well as ferrying passengers and freight to and from ships and offering pilot boat services and more.

The second boat in this shot is the 45 foot long J.W. Westcott II. In the early morning of October, 23, 2001 this little boat was pulling up to the Sidsel Knutsen, a 533 foot long Norwegian tanker, to transfer a pilot aboard. As it approached ahead of schedule the Knutsen crew was taken by surprise. They did not even have a pilot on duty. The Westcott struggled to keep up with the fast moving freighter whose suction eventually pulled it beneath the surface. The two pilots that were to be transferred to the Knutsen and another ship survived, but the pilot and deck hand sadly slipped beneath the waves with the boat. Later the boat was recovered and resurrected and now, once again, services the ships of the Great Lakes. And today I am certain the two victims are among the 30,000 victims of the lakes who are remembered in an annual memorial service at the Mariners Church, located in downtown Detroit, on the horizon here.

So if you want to deliver mail to a freighter on the Great Lakes you can address it to

(Vessel Name)
Marine Post Office
Detroit, MI 48222

And when the freighter passes Detroit you can be sure the J.W. Westcott II or its backup boat, the Joseph J. Hogan, will be delivering your mail.

For more about this area I can refer you to an excellent feature National Geographic does entitled ZipUSA, which highlights different postal codes across the United States every month. Unfortunately you can't get the whole article but you can see some great photos and see how they deliver the mail by a pail. ZipUSA 48222

CycleEyes, Zanni, orme, kinginexile, carper, jhm, wilkinsonsg, robiuk, ChristianS, bertolucci, kajenn, papagolf21, elihesamian, nwoehnl, zeca has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Zanni (6108) 2004-12-16 1:04

Good composition and above all perfect lightining. The slight diagonal formed by boats and "little road" (in this moment I don't find the right English word for it) on the left leads the eye till the bridge and from here starts another line from left to right: at the extreme point of the bridge on the right the mind takes the place of the eye imagining the different worlds where the bridge could lead. So the sensation is that you are in front of a choice: to stay close the boats in a quiet place or go away to start a new adventure.

orme (7205) 2004-12-16 1:41

Great composition, Paul. The sunlight glimmering on the building in the distance is truely beautiful. I like how the line of the quayside leads us to the bridge. The red colours on the boats and the flag work well with the beautiful blue water. Well seen and framed.

kinginexile (2598) 2004-12-16 3:28

You had a great light, especially in the far away downtown, and brought it out nicely to us. Great definition as well. Thanks for the exhaustive note.

Spoony (3539) 2004-12-16 3:33

I like the global color here! Very well captured.
Your choice about perspective show us a beautiful image. Thanks for that Paul.

carper (96) 2004-12-16 6:40

Very nice photo Paul,
I like the angle you took this good photo, the lines are nice the mad a lot of depth, the colours and the details are nice, very good job

jhm (122458) 2004-12-16 6:50

The bridge with her vertical and horizontal lines, the red colours of the buildings on the background, the boats on the forground makes together a great image Paul, everything sharp and clear.
Thankd for sharing.

wilkinsonsg (8662) 2004-12-16 11:41

I think I prefer this image to your previous posting of this scene, the portrait view gives more details of the bridge and the boats seem to stand out more :)

robiuk (10805) 2004-12-16 12:34

I like your POV here, Paul, the lines and colours (especially red!).
I can also see it as two images in one: the first one made of two boats and the keyside & the other one of the tree, bridge and distant buildings.
All that together gives a deep perspective.

ChristianS (2997) 2004-12-16 15:58

Hi Paul, like your earlier photo with almost the same subject, I like the composititon which is on different levels both horizontal and vertical and draws the eye through the whole picture. All this conveys a sense of depth, from the boat in the foreground to the bridge and deeper to the distant skyline. Well done Paul!

Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-12-17 3:54

great note and also a pic to go along with it, very good colours attained and also I think you should have cropped the right hand gate

but well done

bertolucci (13351) 2004-12-17 6:29

Very nice angle, photo and subject-wise you've chosen here, Paul. Compared to the straits I, the vastness of the lake and city plays a not so important role. It's here now to support this lovely and very well defined boat scene and its fine (zip) story. But wait....again I see a lorrie speeding away on the bridge, doing the space-expansion thang.... Very fine job!

kajenn (2406) 2004-12-17 12:33

A minor change in your position and a slightly changed POV, Paul, and you've got a completely different shot and another story. I like the portrait format in this one, including the docked boats, the entire elevation of the Ambassador Bridge pylon and the sunlit downtown Detroit. You've managed to control the light very well and the slightly diagonal position of the boat(s) and quay are fine. And your note is top informative as usual. Very well done!

maphoto (8082) 2004-12-18 16:49

Nice scene again Paul, I like the sun light on the city in the back,, great view on the bridge also with nice vertical lines, well done.

papagolf21 (76569) 2004-12-19 3:38

Cher Paul,
J'aime beaucoup cette photo qui donne l'impression d'être véritablement sur place et de regarder ce quai avec les bateaux amarrés. Je me vois très bien, les mains dans les poches, embrasser du regard ces feuilles mortes virevolter au moindre souffle de vent. Voir ces bateaux se balancer mollement au gré des vagues et rappelé à l'ordre par les amarres.
Je suis toujours admiratif, Paul, pour vos notes toujours très détaillées et instructives.
Félicitations une fois de plus pour l'ensemble du travail
Très amicalement.
Philippe

elihesamian (26127) 2004-12-19 13:23

Very intrsting note,Paul,for this beautiful shot which has a great colors,specially in depth,building in far gives a beautiful warm tone which add to warm colors of the boats beside of the niceblue of the sea and the sky.
the cross form of the bridge is very strongly composed and it's powerfully showed here,also details at all are excellent,from foreground with leaves to buildings and bridge in far.
And I like a leaves here which are a great seasonal symbol for the shot,...very well composed the all elements,and thanks a lot for sharing,Paul.

nwoehnl (122) 2004-12-19 13:42

Interesting add to your series, Paul. Carefully composed with the way in which the different elements, beginning with the Joseph J. Hogan, establish a perspective towards the back. Also nice how it was possible to use the bridge in order to frame the downtown highrises in the back, as they glitter in the sun. Very good work yet again.

vascao (192) 2004-12-19 19:26

I specially like the way the bridge makes us look above, and the perfect balance foreground/background. Great!

Tue (25798) 2005-02-24 18:31

Another very good picture of this bridge! I like the composition with the boats, the bridge and on the background the skyline! Nice light too, well done!

zeca (19762) 2005-11-24 1:45

Nice POV, colours and depth of field. Beautiful composition, very well done!
José