I made this image a few minutes after shooting the previously displayed photograph of the “American Glory” flag. The flat light and the leaden skies encouraged me to step back, point my camera upwards, and photograph the very top of our ship’s red, white, and blue smokestack, featuring six black exhaust pipes and a small post. A string of decorative lights is attached to that post. The opposite end of that string of lights is attached to an overhead canvas canopy that offers shelter from a heavy rain. The lights literally link the smoke stack with the canopy and tie the image’s main elements together. The resulting photograph is an abstracted interpretation of maritime mechanics, as well a display of powerful primary color. The red band around the top of the smokestack dominates the scene, and brings energy to an otherwise austere composition.