Take Great Pictures On A Cruise Some Tips

On your cruise, you’ll collect memories to last a lifetime. But if you want to share them with family and friends back home, one of the best ways to do it is by taking pictures while you sail.Digital cameras with built-in zoom lenses make it possible to photograph people and places that are almost impossible to capture with a film camera unless you carry a tripod and invest a small fortune in different lenses. The biggest advantage of digital photography is seeing almost instantly how well your photos turn out. As a result, you can make any necessary adjustments quickly, refine your technique and even experiment.

Practice Before You Sail
Cruise vacation pictures are priceless. If you buy a new camera to take on vacation, practice with it at home first. You don’t want to be fumbling with new controls when a humpback breaches in front of your whale-watching boat near Juneau. Be sure you know how to adjust the white balance to get the correct colors, whether you’re photographing inside the ship, outdoors or at night. If the white balance is wrong, you may end up with purple where the sky should be blue in bright daylight. If you rely on your camera’s automatic system, then you’re likely to produce only average pictures that don’t take advantage of a digital camera’s full capability. To check or change the white balance settings, consult your camera manual. Each model works differently. Typically, all that’s needed is a twist of a dial and the push of a button to choose between sunlight, cloudy, fluorescent, incandescent or flash settings.Even if you think you’ve learned it all, take the instruction book with you. You’ll discover new questions along the way, and the book may make good reading on the pool deck. Maybe the person lounging next to you just bought a new camera too.

Shoot Creatively

Unless you’re shooting a panoramic landscape, don’t try to fit everything into a single picture. Select the most interesting aspects of what you see and cut out everything that’s not important. In Cabo San Lucas, concentrate on the famous Arch at Land’s End before visiting the other formations around it.Avoid centering your subject in every photo. It’s the natural thing to do because the center is where the camera auto focuses. But if every picture has its subject in the middle, your photos won’t be as interesting. Remember to vary your subject placement when shooting the famed Lava Tube in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. or an Alaskan glacier, where the scenery may seem repetitive at first glance.

Capture Silhouettes in the Sunset

Sunsets over the water are always popular cruise subjects. The key is not to shoot too soon. Here’s how: Hold your fist at arm’s length with your thumb aimed straight up and the bottom of your hand even with the horizon. If the sun is above the thumb, it’s too early for good silhouettes. Once the sun drops below the level of your thumb tip, start shooting. That’s also when it’s safe to look at the sun through a telephoto lens. Put an object in the foreground that identifies the location of your picture. Nothing is more meaningless than a series of photos of an empty ocean. They could be from anywhere. If you’re on a beach in Hawaii or the Caribbean, put a palm tree in the picture. In Croatia, make it the fishing boats in the harbor of the old medieval city of Dubrovnik. In San Juan, you can even use the massive El Morro fortress, behind which the sun sets at certain times of the year. On a day at sea, use the ship’s railing or a smokestack to indicate where you are.

1. A simple background focuses attention on the subject and makes a clear, strong picture. Move your subject or camera to find an uncluttered backdrop.

2. Objects in the foreground enhance a vista’s distance, depth and dimension. Incorporate contrast in front for a more pleasing scenic view.

3. Lines—the prow of a boat, the sides of a channel—add an interesting element to pictures. A perfectly framed bridge can lead the eye into a shot.

4. When shooting a silhouette against a sunset, turn the flash off. Use a tripod or brace your camera. With a manual camera, use a longer shutter speed.