You Know Your A Shipspotter If...

[Steven Collingwood]

 

Admins, I little fun.  Delete if needed...

You Know Your A Shipspotter (and maybe a Geek) if...  (BTW, I am)
- You Have traveled over an hour to see a ship...
- You think a GOOD day is spent watching the water and ships go by...
- You keep a camera on you anytime you are on or near the water....  just in case.
- A stranger asks you the name of the ship and you end up giving them a 30 minute dissertation on the values of a container ship over a general cargo ship...
- You have had serious conversations with others about which ship is "prettier" or "cooler"...

Feel free to add your own!!!

[pieter melissen]

A: I never have to travel for more than an hour to see a ship.. (20 minutes is the max, and exercising on the bike gives me ample opportunity to see more than one ship)
B: When I sit at the water the main purpose is to read a good book, interupted by occasional maritime passings)
C: I won't be carrying four kilo's of camera any time.
D: My mother always warned me not to talk to strangers.
E: Not that I remember.
F: I do like photography.

[Paul Finnigan]

A: I never have to travel for more than an hour to see a ship.. (20 minutes is the max, and exercising on the bike gives me ample opportunity to see more than one ship)
B: When I sit at the water the main purpose is to read a good book, interupted by occasional maritime passings)
C: I won't be carrying four kilo's of camera any time.
D: My mother always warned me not to talk to strangers.
E: Not that I remember.
F: I do like photography.

I see I'm not the only one that rides a bicycle to photograph ships.      

[lappino]

(Ominous music)
They move unseen and unnoticed in the shadows...
They look just like ordinary people...
(Ominous music intensifies)
But when the time is right (when the AIS tells them)...
They show their true nature...
...THE SHIPSPOTTERS...
(Fade to black)

A: I will travel by car for more than an hour to see a ship, after I took an intercontinental flight for the same reason.
B: There's barely time to read a good book, as the places where I sit with a book are too busy with shipping.
C: Camera gear is usually in the car.
D: Sometimes strangers will come to me and ask me "Are you that guy that takes photos of ships?" (Or something like it, after all, I don't speak Japanese).
E: I will comment on ships' appearance, but will keep an open mind and accept any other opinion.
F: I also like photography, but don't really know how to use it.

There are also more worrying signs, and here's a legal disclaimer: nothing to be used as the proof of any wrongdoing.

When you trespass to take a good photo; when you enter a restricted area by screaming at the guard at the gate to let you through; when you photoshop a port entry permit to see a specific ship.

Also, when you tell the significant other that she's more important than the ships, but she has trouble believing you.

[Bob Scott]

I’d rather be known as a ship ENTHUSIAST than ship SPOTTER but my wife insists in calling me the latter (among other things)
Anyway:
A: I don’t have to leave home to see ships. The Thames runs past the bottom of my back garden (1.2 km
   away).
B. I don’t get too much time to read a book. I’m too busy doing household chores (under orders from
   she who must be obeyed).
C. My camera is usually at the ready so that I can jump in the car for a 7-minute drive (if I stick to
   legal speeds) to a photo vantage point
D. If a stranger asks me about a ship, they'll regret it because I am such a know-all that I will bore 
   backside off with detail. (They did ask for it!)
E. Although I take lots of ship photos, I am not very interested in photography and when looking at
   other people’s photos (as on this site), it’s ship details I’m interested in, not the light or the
   composition (or seeing four shots in a row of the same ship). I also hate drone photos. That’s
   probably because I haven’t got one but also because they are illegal over the Thames shipping
   channels. (Take note if you intend coming here with one. Perhaps the RAF will be scrambled to shoot
   it down. I’d like to see that!)
F. On a cruise, I take as many photos of ships as I do of the places we visit. My wife moans about
   that.
G: “Prettier” and “cooler” are not words I’d associate with ships. I’m interested in them all and I
   always have it in mind that they are just machines. So I don't get all soppy and sentimental when
   one goes to the scrapyard.

[Clive Harvey]

My word, someone who has dared to say that they hate drone photos.
I know that we don't often agree but in this instance, yes me too.
Apart from that yes, I've spent ages travelling to see a ship and spent hours in the cold and the rain.
Spent hours waiting for a ship to sail because for some reason it's depature has been delayed.
I would never spend any time trying to convince anyone of the virtures of a container ship over a general cargo ship. Yes, like cars, they are machines yes yes there are pretty ones and handsome one and some down-right ugly ones. And yes I can feel very sorry whe some of them are sold off for scrap. I'm no longer a shipspotter as I do not travel to take photographs of ships any more - largely because the 'pretty ones' are all gone, however, I am a ship enthusiast.

[shipspottergirl]

I am definitely all of the above. 

[Juan Carlos C.]

I consider myself a fan of photography, only of boats, another photograph that is not of boats is not of my interest, haha ​​only those of my children.
Many times I go to my job earlier so I can photograph very early in the morning to have the best light of the sunrise.
always with my camera in my bag, ready for any shot at any time.
I do not always talk to strangers with my headphones with some good metallica songs, always looking for the right moment.
The only little people that ask me why I photograph the boats are my children that I'm half crazy, but that's what I like to do ..

[Steven Collingwood]

If you are crazy, then we all are a little.  And Metallica is a GREAT music choice!!!  (It's on right now as a matter of fact)

[rbelesky]

Admins, I little fun.  Delete if needed...

You Know Your A Shipspotter (and maybe a Geek) if...  (BTW, I am)
- You Have traveled over an hour to see a ship...
- You think a GOOD day is spent watching the water and ships go by...
- You keep a camera on you anytime you are on or near the water....  just in case.
- A stranger asks you the name of the ship and you end up giving them a 30 minute dissertation on the values of a container ship over a general cargo ship...
- You have had serious conversations with others about which ship is "prettier" or "cooler"...

Feel free to add your own!!!

A few more signs...

- You have the MarineTraffic and VesselFinder apps on your phone, or tablet. Twice as likely is you have the paid versions.
- You have ShipSpotting web site front and center on your browser favorites bar.
- Your Port's vessel schedule is also bookmarked and checked daily for any changes.
- You join your spouse on his/her business trips when he/she goes to a port town but not an inland town.
- You have a camera monopod that extends to 7 feet so you can get a clear shot above a 10 foot brick wall or chain link fence.

[John Jedrlinic]

Ship spotters thank you for a good laugh and the reflection of myself in the mirrow.

add the following

You think nothing of staying out from dawn til dusk waiting for 'just one more!'

You sit and read a book about ships while waiting for the next ship

You bring food and drink so you don't have to miss a ship

Sincerely
Jed

[lappino]

Well said, Jed.

Reminded me of one more thing, a variation on this "food and drink" stuff: actually, random people give you food and drink, because you are too busy trying not to miss that one special ship...

Cheers

Vlad

[pieter melissen]

"You sit and read a book about ships while waiting for the next ship"

That is what I do, but not a book about ships, I collect a number of books during the winter, to read "on duty" during the summer when you can sit outside, or in the car without getting too cold.

[Steven Collingwood]

True Story Vlad-

When in New Orleans a couple years back, I spent so much time in the park along the river watching ships, I was mistaken for part of the local homeless population and offered free water and sandwiches.  I declined, but thought it was funny.  Especially the comments "You don't look homeless, and never saw a homeless guy with a camera like that, but you here so much!!!".

[tevillo27]

Great discussion. I guess I qualified as a shipspotter when during my first trip to Rotterdam, I took the train out to the Hook and boarded the fast ferry that does the route to Maasvlatke and back. After we had returned I told the crew I wanted to stay on board and go one more time. Never having seen container shipping on that scale (my previous shipspotting had been limited to places like Miami and Tacoma), I had to see more. They were fine with that - didn't charge me for the second trip, and they let me go up to the bridge.