Tugboats, Port Richmond, photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

It’s well known that the California East Bay city of Richmond has serious crime problems. Less well known is the fact that it is home to a massive working port and a new national historic park that celebrates naval manufacturing during World War II.

Near the waterfront sit acres of unsold cars imported from the orient. In today’s prosaic world the fabled “riches of the orient” have been replaced with fungible vehicles that may be unsalable. At night, the vast parking lots look bizarre under mercury vapor lighting, with paper covering car hoods.

A narrow road follows the coast with the parked, imported cars behind a chain-link fence on one side and the working harbor on the other. Exploring this route the other night I came upon these tugboats and their reflections.

I made exposures at a wide range of times, but I like this relatively short four minute exposure best because it leaves the water dark and allows the colors of the reflections to stand out.