BABY PHOTO CONTEST IN INDIA

This is a continuation of last night's series of dedications to flickr friends who I thought of while shooting photos last week en route to and at Cape Lookout & Harkers Island.

Doc contacted me shortly after I joined flickr to say that he enjoyed my coastal Carolina and historical photos. He noted that we had a lot of the same interests. We have met twice during my visits to the Wilmington area.

Doc researches his photo subjects and provides interesting captions. He also is a gifted photo editor, and does amazing work with textures and processing.

The CSS Neuse in Kinston NC reminded me of the type of site that Doc likes to photograph.

This Civil War ironclad was built for the purpose of retaking New Bern NC. The wooden construction began in the fall of 1862 at White Hall, which is now Seven Springs, NC.

A flat bottom boat that resembled a barge, it was one of 22 ironclad ships commissioned by the Confederacy.

The still incomplete ship was launched and floated to Kinston in 1863 to be outfitted with its guns and armor.

The ship had a crew of 80 men. The crew camped on the river bank while the officers stayed at homes in Kinston. It was a citizens venture - built and manned by local residents.

The ship started downstream towards New Bern in 1864 in a failed battle to retake the city, but was stranded on a sand bar for a month due to the low river. Once the river rose it returned to Kinston.

With the Confederacy nearing its end in the spring of 1865, its captain ordered it sunk to prevent it from falling into Union hands.

The boat remained on the river bottom for almost a century. An effort to raise it was initiated by local citizens in 1961, but it was not successfully raised till 1963.

Unfortunately the ship's current storage in an open air enclosure is leading to rapid deterioration of this piece of history.

Funding problems have prevented construction of an enclosed, environmentally controlled building for its long term preservation.

This piece of history is at significant risk of loss. It has survived over 140 years, but it may not be around much longer.

I think Doc could work wonders with this photo. It he would like to download and play around with textures and edits, I would like to see the end results.

This was taken with my new HTC Hero. It's one from Sprint and an Android phone. It has a 5mp camera. The very watered down version of PS (mobile) I downloaded is nothing compared to the iphone's version (it's so bad, I really don't know why I'm mentioning it). I had to process on my laptop in PS. Also, it does not handle bright lights (highlights) well. I haven't found a way to correct this...yet. But, I'll see what can be done over time.

If anyone has a 'droid phone that has a good photo editor, please, please, let me know about it!!!!