Ideas for Industrial/Ship Cleaning/Etc for fun shoot

[Pure]

So I was invited by a good family friend to go to his dry dock in NJ and take a few shots just for the hell of it. It'd be completely for fun, no purpose whatsoever, however, I'd always like to improve my skills, so help! That, and I'll be able to tour the dry dock and area as a 1200 foot long ship is being cleaned. DAMN. Seriously, that ship is almost of a 1/4 mile long....

So, In order to not waste the day taking worthless snapshots, I'd love to try and take something fun, or something that I'd be proud to print and give to him since it is his business, and not many people can do this other than the workers and the higher ups.

Any suggestions or sites with good industrial/ship/etc photos?

Note: Doubtful I'll be able to board the ship, but that'd be sweet. Maybe, I won't rule it out

 

[Pure]

Just to add,

I'll be there for atleast a few hours, and I'll be able to use a flash off camera. I'm pretty clueless on what to do.

 

[bdavis]

Waiting till a little after sunset, selecting a slow shutter and small aperture, then running down the ship intermittently popping flashes to illuminate the side of the ship would be cool...if you can shoot it at night. I think it would make for a cool photo with the dark purple/bluish sky above the ship, city lights in the background, all the ships lights on, and flashes down the side. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Flash Harry]

Dry dock on a ship this size is not a place to be "running", if the dock is empty you'll see why. Take both lens you list, the wide will give you a nice bow shot of the whole thing, fore to aft then use the tele to pick out detail. Also if its dry have a walk under it, its quite unnerving and get round the back, see if you can get someone to pose at the screws/screw, it'll be quite large on a ship this size. I was a seaman in a former life, been there got the T shirt. H

 

[baturn]

i wouold also suggest tht you protect your camera. Powerwashing, sandblasting, spraypainting,etc. all leave fine clouds of dust/mist in the air. Like them or not, this is the perfect time for a UV filter to keep crap off your lens.