Barnacle Bill Holcomb's Sailing: Photographs Of Your Boat

Barnacle Bill Holcomb's Sailing: Photographs Of Your Boat: "Some ideas about taking “boat” pictures: One of the really neat things that I’ve done ever since Kathy and I bought Snickerdoodle is to take..."

Photographs Of Your Boat

Some ideas about taking “boat” pictures:

One of the really neat things that I’ve done ever since Kathy and I bought Snickerdoodle is to take lots of photos of our sailing days.  This includes a lot of “snap shots” and a few other images that I’ve tried to think about what the photo would look like before I actually took the image.  Here are a couple ideas:

Shots of your boat and others while you are under weigh…  First of all, many of the best photos are taken at an angle to the bow or stern of the subject boat.  The typical side shot generally is okay – but not terrific.  That is – probably not an image that you’ll enlarge and frame for the living room, den or hallway.  Photos that show the bow or stern though are often pretty neat.  So, if you are photographing another boat, position your boat to take advantage of those angles.  Breezier days often show more “action” but you’ll want to opt for faster shutter speeds.  If you have a manual setting for shutter speed, go to 1/500 or even 1/1000 second shutter speed.  If your camera doesn’t have “shutter speed” adjustments, opt for “action” or “sports” settings to increase the shutter speed.

To get good shots of your own boat, maybe trade cameras with your friends on the other boat.  Have one boat “heave to” and then the other boat can sail in circles around the first boat.  Then trade off “jobs” so both boats will have some great shots.  Try to fill the frame with the boat you are “shooting” by zooming in to a more telephoto setting.

Another way to get good shots of your own boat is to launch your dinghy and have someone sit in the dinghy with the camera while you sail the “big” boat around in circles.  Be sure to tell the other camera person about photos that show angles to the bow and the stern.

Another neat photo that you can take of your own boat is after you arrive at your destination.  Maybe row your dinghy around your boat while taking photos of your anchorage with the boat featured in the image.  I like to think about splitting these photos into thirds and place the boat on a 1/3 line (either horizontal or vertical).  I also like the mirror effect of a calm anchorage.

Don’t forget to take photos of the people along with you on the sail.  A little bit of duct tape, a mini-tripod and a delayed timer for the shutter will allow you to get into the photo too.  And remember, if you are using a digital camera, there’s no film and no expense for developing the images.  So, take lots of photos.

Judging Distance

Here's a photo of ChrisHana (a Hunter 29.5) motoring toward an anchorage in Ellisport Bay on Lake Pend Oreille.  Can you tell how far away she is?  Or how far away the shore in the background is?  Here are some tips if you have average eyesight:
50 yards away - Faces appear blurred but plainly recognizable.
100 yards away - Faces reduced to dots for eyes and mouth.  Primary boat details identifiable, store names may be legible.
200 yards away - Faces seen as pale blurs, roof shingles distinguishable, lap-strake boat planking visible in good light.
400 yards away - Movement of figures detectable, oars on row-boats visible, faces invisible, main rigging just visible in good light.
500 yards away - Human figure seen as a small dash.  Crossbars on windows and window shape just visible.
1 mile away - Large bouy shapes identifiable; big ship's portholes and house windows still have shape.  Human figures if seen at all become dots.
2 miles away - Windows become dots, small buoys not seen and large ones lose their shape.  Human figures not seen.
3 miles away - Big ship bow wave visible from average cockpit height, also waves breaking on a beach are visible.
4 miles away - Trees, hedges, etc. are blurred shapes and all colors become greyish.  Bow waves and shore waves not seen from the average cockpit.

Random Thoughts Regarding "Drifter" Jibs

Here's a photo of Snickerdoodle sailing along with her "drifter" jib.  The drifter is a jib sail that was designed with our very light summer breezes in mind...... ie. breezes less than six or so knots.  Snickerdoodle's drifter is a 155% genoa jib but made from 1.5 oz spinnaker cloth (ripstop nylon) instead of made out of dacron.  {Compare this to our 150% dacron genoa that is made from 3.5 oz dacron}  The drifter is less than half the weight of the 150% genny.  It fills in breezes evan as low as 1 knot and will drive the boat.  The hanks are nylon web straps that incorporate the use of snaps to hook the sail's luff to the forestay.  And, to keep the weight at a minimum, I use 4mm lightweight sheets instead of "normal" 3/8" dacron sheets.  The drifter jib has been my favorite summer time sail.  And, I'd sure recommend one of these sails to you if you are thinking about ways to increase your summertime fun.

An added benefit - because the sail is made from spinnaker cloth, you can have whatever colors you want.  You can even have your sailmaker cut in figures like our stars to really customize your sail.

One disadvantage of the 155% size though is tacking in light breezes.  There often is not enough wind to push the sail from one side of the boat to the other side.  So, someone has to go forward to "walk" the jib to the new side.  A couple of sailmaker friends suggest that instead of using a 155% size, that a 95% "blade" made of spinnaker cloth might be a better option.  The luff side of the blade is as long as on the 155%; but with the short foot (shorter than the distance from stem fitting back to the mast), tacking is no problem at all.  So the blade size will have a big advantage for upwind sailing.  Of course, the disadvantage of the 95% size is that it will become less and less effective the farther downwind you sail...... Hmmmmm - how come nothing is ever easy?????

For those sailors with a roller furling jib, you could easily have a drifter made (whichever size you like best) and hoist it "flying" (not hanked on to the forestay at all).  Use a deck padeye slightly aft of the roller furler or on a bridle that puts the drifter tack slightly above the furler drum.  Keep the roller furled jib furled and use a jib halyard or spinnaker halyard to hoist the drifter.  I think you'll be amazed at how much fun you'll have sailing on those light wind summer days instead of motoring about.

Say???????  This might be a perfect item for the Christmas list.........