Night Photography of boats / yachts on the water

Yachts at Night .

There is just something extremely satisfying when you manage to Capture a scene that even experts have problems with. Night Photography and Yachts or boats on the water are two things that are almost always working against the Photographer when He takes a photo.

There is no “one way” or “proper” way to take the photos , Its what works for you , I will try my best to give you some great hints so if you do try this type of theme , you know what to expect.

Hints and Tips - The Best time to get photos of yachts on the water is on windless full mooned partly cloudy nights. Problem is , those nights hardly ever happen.

If there is any wind , it causes small waves and the boats move . It is possible to grab a photo of the yachts without to much movement.

If you look at the top of the yachts mast , you can see how much movement there was when the photo was taken.

See if you can scout out the spot during the day and then plan your photo. Try and compose the photo in your mind , and then see if you can find your spot on the shoreline that is not in a dangerous place

If you are in someones property , ASK before you start shooting. Respect their decision .

Just be aware many Harbours around the word it is illegal to take photos , so one has to be content to shoot from the shoreline outside the Harbour perimeter

A Light Tripod is a must , and I urge you to practice your settings in total darkness at home.

See if you can find the flash button , and the Aperture wheel … Yes , Do take a work torch , but if you know your camera , and have practiced it over and over , you cannot go wrong.

I have had times when I was Taking photos of Lightning and I had about 3 secs to adjust my settings before the next strike …

  • Take photos LATER or In the Very Early Hours of the morning - There is less Boat Traffic on the water .
    In Many Places , Just as the sun is about to com up , there is a few minutes without wind. Its like the area is taking a breath before the new day .

If there is Fog , AWESOME . go and shoot… Just make sure you take a cloth to drape over your camera , as water droplets will quickly form all over your Camera

All the photos taken here above were in the same Location , - Saldanha Bay Yacht Club , On the West Coast Of South Africa . I had access and permission as i was running the yacht club.
Because i was there for about 6 years , I knew what weather would produce the best photos , I also had loads of time to experiment.
On Cold Winters nights , I would put my Heavy Weather Sailing Jacket on , By woolen hat , and take my Rusty old Aluminium Tripod and walk along the yacht clubs shoreline taking photos. My Stray Cat would always accompany me. I would take a Torch , and a pen and paper .
I would start on on side , set up the Tripod , and Take Tester shots. I would quickly see what the best settings were.

I will Do a Part Two Tomorrow , Explaining what Settings I used and Why

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https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/Living-on-a-boat-in-Kraal-Bay-West-Coast-of-South-AFrica/td-p/1508145

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Part 2 …

There are no hard and fast rules when applying your settings. I have a Canon 650 , I do apologize for not been able to supply settings for all the big brands of cameras. I will make it as simple as possible.

I Use TV Setting ( Shutter Priority ) - If I am planning to venture out m I do a quick check.,
Battery - Is it Charged ?
Lens - is this the one i want to use , Lens cap. ( Try not to change the lens to often especially outside , dust and hairs get into the mirror very quickly .
Torch - Is it working .
Tripod

Got everything ? Great ,

TV Setting - Shutter Priority , To change the opening or speed of the shutter , Use the Scroll Bar , you will see a " and a number , Scroll to the left and you will get 30 ’ , this means that the shutter will be open for 30 seconds. - Scroll the other direction , the number decreases , goes to ZERO and then looks something like this 1 /500 , this is i 500th of a second , so its a fast

ISO is the next thing to fiddle with , try and keep it as low as possible ( 100 ) , but this is not always possible , she higher the ISO the more sensitive the Camera becomes to light , so it can see in the dark , but the
-payoff is that the picture picks up grain the higher the ISO

Aperture - The Aperture is like the eyelid of your camera , , The aperture can close , and depending on your lens capability , there will be a F- Higher number , And if you open the Aperture , you will get a a F- with a low number - We will be using the aperture as another way to control the amount of light , it also allows for on certain parts at a distance been in focus . But do not stress about this

Now , you should be hoping for a Calm cold ( The colder the air the clearer it is ) night , No wind . If you have picked your spot , what I used to do is during the day I would scout out locations for a night shoot , then I would make arrangements to use those locations if i was able.

I would fasten my Camera to the Tripod ( Some Cameras have a special Shoe , other you have a screw. Make sure , Doubly sure that the Camera is secure …I always have the Camera Strap wrapped around my hand when setting up , ad for a little while afterwards, ,

Now Compose your Shot ,

Things to watch Out for - Skew Horizons - The Human eye is amazing , Mr Joe soap can quickly pick up that your horizon is skew , so make sure you get it right. Some cameras come with a little spirit level , others are on the Tripod . And a last resort is your Editing Program.
Horizons in the middle of your photo - It just doesn’t look right , You can use this but then your whole photo needs to be symmetrical.
Lens Cap off ( Yep ) , If you have it attached to a piece of string that is attached to the camera when there is a slight wind blowing , you will see how it moves and you can mess up some of your photos.
Look on the side of your lens - You will see AF - Auto Focus , and Stabilizer - make sure that both of these are OFF … YES you read correctly
If you try to use the Auto Focus at night , the lens will what I call " Hunt" , It will not be able to pick up a focal point , so will focus , unfocus . It will be up to you to manually focus the camera.
Stabilizer off. The Stabilizer is used when Hand Held , and when your camera is on a Tripod , it can make the camera move a slight bit and mess up your photo… So make sure its off…

Start off slow … Take one photo , Then have a look at it on the view finder . Does the composition look right ? If the boats are moving to much , then shorten the shutters time it is open .
Is the photo over exposed ( The Lights have taken over and there is no detaIL ) , then start by lowering your ISO , then maybe close your aperture ( So Increase the F - stop ) , and shorten the Shutters open time.
The trick is to Balance everything out , ISO , Aperture and Shutter , If you change one , then make some adjustments to the others

Try not to make your Night Shots look like it was Daylight , Keep your colors Deep and Rich , and try not to use High Key.

And as always USE a Editing program. There is no excuse , Googles Picasa is brilliant , and then there is Faststone Image Viewer . Its also Free and easy to figure out and very powerful.
Every single shot needs to go into the editor , a touch up here , a Dodge and Burn there. Use the Editing programs Magnifying glass to look for problems. , Blurred edges , dust spots , Light Flares …

Many thanks , I do hope you enjoyed that and have learnt a bit as well/
If you see any mistakes , please let me know , I am human , and sometimes more human than most .

And please , If you have any questions , or even better want to add a technique or your view … Please do

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