Swifty 13 - painted, photo Q.

[WindHawk]

I've gotten all of the colors on the boat, but I can't seem to get a good photo. I know that an early morning in direct sunlight is probably best, but I can't move her 'till the new wheels go on. Any suggestions from the photog's? How about the headlights from a couple of trucks? I'm using an Olympus D460, but beyond point & shoot, I know nothing of its multitude of features (a very, very thick owners manual came with it :rolleyes: ).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/WindHawk/pt2b.jpg

[Donn]

Try shooting it in low light, and using the camera's flash.

[MJC]

When's the first Lake Lansing sail? Let me know and I'll shoot some on-the-water pics for you.

[WindHawk]

Just talked with the guy building the new mast, and he's not going to be ready to ship it until August 16th; so, with luck it'll be ready by that Saturday...

[shadow99]

Windhawk, Did you order another mast from Fred Shell? You could have built your own from (4) 2x4's epoxied up, that's what Fred does. How many "clams" to make up a new mast? What was wrong with the old mast?

Rick

[WindHawk]

Yes, I ordered the mast from Fred. It was two bills. I thought long & hard about doing it myself, but that would be a first time event for me, and I'm getting the urge to go sailing. The old mast had some rot on it, but the step is still OK.

[Wild Wassa]

There are 500 angles from which a photo can be taken, take a bit of time to look for a few of them, but only one or two will be best. Fill the frame with the boat unless the ambience of the surroundings is important, like including a jetty, other boats or even the boat builder. Generally look for a higher camera angle from which to shoot the boat, or when shooting any product shots as a rule. After filling the frame with the boat, set your focus to a 1/3rd of the distance along the boat or 1/3 of the distance across the boat. This distance is called the hyperfocal distance. The image sharpness is always 1/3rd of the total depth of field (the range of acceptable focus in front of and behind the hyperfocal distance) in front of the hyperfocal distance and stretches to 2/3rds of the depth of field, behind it. Using the tripod will allow you to select an aperture and shutter speed combination that might not be suitable for handholding, but allows you select the depth of field that's needed.

A tripod will also allow you to refine the composition. Often it is only just a small change that improves the image greatly, from one shot from the next. Simplify the image as much as possible. Objects like the step ladder and tools, distract the eye from the boat, unless you want them as props.

5 minutes before sunrise or 5 minutes after sunset, is a good time to shoot the boat with flash or even a few longer exposures. Taking the photos upto 5 minutes before sunrise or after 5 minutes after sunset is what pros often do. The ambient light takes on a big soft box effect and will give you beautiful background tones and detail, with stunning fill-light, that will still be alive but uniformly suppressed. Any closer to sunrise or sunset will give you unwanted colour temperature changes.

Also if you have large sheets of card or a bit of old ply, paint them white or cover them with aluminium foil and use them to reflect light back onto the boat to help fill the shadows, especially when the shadows are black voids, or onto any areas lacking in detail or needing an extra highlight to enhance a shape.

Warren.

[ 08-15-2004, 10:36 PM: Message edited by: Wild Wassa ]

[Concordia..41]

Warren has (several) points, but if you subscribe to Photography for Idiots, somewhere in your camera software when you download images to your computer you should have some editing options. Or you may have a dedicated photo program.

Look for "Flash Fill." It isn't as good as taking it right the first time, but it will add a flash effect to an existing picture like the one above. You'll also find it helpful when you're scanning old photographs or slides. ;)

P.S. - Happy Sailing :cool:

[ 08-15-2004, 09:57 PM: Message edited by: Concordia..41 ]

[Bruce Hooke]

While Warren's system is, I think, the best way to go for a really great shot, another route that has worked well for me is to wait for a day when there is enough cloud cover to knock out most of the shadows and bright highlights but not enough to make everything gloomy. That way you don't have to try to time things as closely relative to sunrise and sunset and you don't have to worry as much about shadows that can be cast by direct sunlight. The idea is to use the clouds to difuse the light so that you do not have too much contrast. This should get you a decent picture, if not an eye-popping one...