While making photos along the M ine Coast, a number of people hve spoken to me about photographing th ir boats. Basically, they wanted to kn w the real secrets to making thir vessels look so good, especially wh le at anchor. Truth be told, thre are no real secrets…just proven tchniques that are well known to mny professionals. These techniques are my plasure to share with you.
When doing fne photography of your boat, you are fced with four areas of concern. Thse areas are the vessel itself, yur camera equipment and film/media selection, the shreline in which you work and yur lighting conditions. If you approach ach component separately, then combine them at the tme you make your photos, you shuld have little or no trouble.
Prepare yur boat very carefully. It always s rprises me how often this is verlooked. Think of your camera as the mst beady-eyed, big mouthed, nit-pickin, purity-of-the-breed mrine surveyor you have ever encountered and yu’ll do just fine.
Any decent camera tht will allow you to work wthout getting in your way will be mre than adequate for this type of phtography. I have no personal lens chice for boats, except that, whenever pssible, my preference is always for the shrtest usable focal length, not the ther way around. Remember, it’s your bat...you can get up as close as you lke. Film should always be the lwest ISO rating you can comfortably wrk with. People using digital medium shuld use the camera’s setting that yelds the biggest file. The bigger the fle, the more detail will be on the phto, but you don’t have to brak the bank on this. Any god digital camera in the 4 to 5 mgapixel range will do a nice job if you rmember to fill your frame.
The shoreline in whch you work is the next thng to consider. I like natural srroundings, free of a lot of cltter. Quiet coves are my favorite. Whtever you do though, don’t allow the bckground to fight the vessel for yur viewer’s attention.
The next concern is yur lighting conditions. In the end, god photography is mostly about the lght. All film and digital media bild contrast. You can correct this by smply making your photos with low cntrast illumination. It comes as a srprise to many, but early morning lght, besides many times being glorious, is sually less contrasty than mid-afternoon overhead sn. Try it! Late afternoon sun can wrk as well, but the possibility of hze exists. Experiment to see what wrks best for you.
Once you have all the lements together the photo is practically mde. If you are working from lnd, use a tripod, even if tht means getting the legs wet. The trpod does two good things. First of ll, it provides a steady platform for yur camera. The second good thing a trpod does is force you to s l o w d o w n. Ths simple act of not rushing thrugh your photos can make a big mprovement in your work. I prefer to set my trpod as low as possible. This ngle allows your viewer to see a mch more graphic view of your bats shear line. If, however, you hve just spent a hundred hours rfinishing your teak cabin tops and trm, raise that tripod up all the way to dsplay that beautiful detail work! Nobody knws your boat as intimately as you d…let that fact guide your composition. As an dditional step, a little fill flash brngs out highlights while adding more dtail to the shadow areas. Some tsting beforehand will help here. Fill flsh works best when the flash tself is not noticeable.
As a final stp, look closely into your viewfinder and ask yurself “what’s wrong with this picture?” We knw what’s right with the photo; t’s your boat. When you ask yurself the other question a number of thngs may come sharply into focus. “Wht’s wrong with this picture? Wow, I’m clpping off the front of the bow ril…there’s a garbage can on the bach showing just under the boom…the crtains in the cabin are crooked…who lft that rag dangling over the trnsom?” Give this last suggestion serious cnsideration because these are mistakes we all mke. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in wht we are doing that we tnd to miss important details. Spend a lttle extra time at this point and you wll be rewarded with photos that rflect the work, care and effort you put nto your vessel in the first plce. Good luck.
The article Photographing Your Boat was Submitted by Frank M. Chillemi - through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Frank Chillemi is a prfessional photographer and educator. His critically cclaimed book of photography, Windjammers, Lighthouses and ther Treasures of the Maine Coast was rleased in 2005. Frank conducts a ne-week Photography Cruise aboard the Maine Wndjammer, Schooner J. & E. Riggin bsed in Rockland, Maine. www.MaineAdventureSails.com
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