Recommendations Please!

[thetimetraveler]

Hello Everyone! this is my first post here, Although I am a professional Photographer I never been at a cruise, this March will be my first time at Oasis of the Seas*eastern and I would like to get some great shots of the ship, locations or people, so what recommendations you guys can give me regarding the "must have pictures" and location along the way and on board. thank you very much!

[masspector]

I am a serious amatuer. Best advice I can give is enjoy your vacation first. I have been on several vacations where I obsessed about getting the shot and did not relax and enjoy. If you are a pro, just apply all the rules you already know and look for the unusual aspects of a cruise.

[4x4bob]

Enjoy your cruise and have fun, but never leave your cabin without your camera. Don't spend your time looking for the perfect photo op, but if mother nature places it front of you, you will have a camera at hand.

 

Example: Was just standing at the rail on the top deck watching the chunks of ice flow past on an Alaska Cruise. I then noticed a Sea Otter swimming around the chunks. Would not have thought to look for one in the ice.

 

Bob

Edited February 2, 2014 by 4x4bob

[thetimetraveler]

Thank you for the advise! I greatly appreciate it, I was concerned of how much flexible the cruise staff was regarding you taken pictures *long exposures etc on board

[peety3]

Thank you for the advise! I greatly appreciate it, I was concerned of how much flexible the cruise staff was regarding you taken pictures *long exposures etc on board

I've camped out at the promenade railing with a tripod/gimbal head and a 500/4, with a 70-200 on my shoulder and a 24-70 around my neck. No concerns whatsoever. You'll have plenty of opportunities for ship pictures on port days. Plenty of opportunities for people pictures wherever and whenever, though you'll likely have "extras" walking through your shots endlessly.

 

There's always a photographer on darn near every excursion. Accept that you'll bring up the rear, but be kind to others and don't drag them down. Be realistic with how much gear you take any given time - there are times to go loaded for bear, times to consider one superzoom, and times for a P&S; just be reasonable.

 

I'm "almost pro", and contemplating the 600/4, 200-400/4&1.4x, 24-70, and a Zeiss 15 for our next Alaska cruise. Go with whatever works for you! :)

[kristinp36]

On my cruises I have the routine. Boarding day I relax and have a few drinks. Then the first morning I get up to take photos of the ship around 6 am. Very little people are out that early.

[snowbird1]

Thank you for the advise! I greatly appreciate it, I was concerned of how much flexible the cruise staff was regarding you taken pictures *long exposures etc on board

 

You can do it but don't expect people to wait on you, best to do that very early in the morning or very late. The one thing that does get the upset is when people try to use their props.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[thetimetraveler]

great advice!, Im thinking to bring just the basics 50mm 1.2, 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 tripod and 3 flashes a PS underwater just in case!

[thetimetraveler]

I understand I have plan to shoot while the ship is a port, in the late nights or sunrise, when I said people was referring to capture the action from a storyteller point "live in movement" thank you for your input!

[snowbird1]

great advice!, Im thinking to bring just the basics 50mm 1.2, 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 tripod and 3 flashes a PS underwater just in case!

 

Just bought the 24-70 2.8 and can't wait to give it a good workout on my next trip. You have a 50 1.2, bet that is nice in the low light.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[peety3]

great advice!, Im thinking to bring just the basics 50mm 1.2, 24-70mm 2.8 and 70-200mm 2.8 tripod and 3 flashes a PS underwater just in case!

Good luck trying to use your three flashes. You'd probably need to bring three "voice-activated lightstands" (i.e. helpers), and you'd better be a whiz at TTL flash. You're not going to be able to "stop traffic" for a lit portrait shoot the same way that the ship photographers do.

 

I've never tried to use PocketWizards aboard ship, but the ship photographers do. Hopefully you have some of the fancier units that can use unique channels; you may find that you're colliding with the ship photographers and I suspect they'll try real hard to get you to stop using your PWs or change channels.

 

In ~15,000 photos aboard two cruises, I think only four were done with flash: and

[pierces]

After lugging a bazillion pounds of gear around for years, I recently started carrying a NEX-7 and a small assortment of lenses (16-50 kit, 55-210 zoom, fisheye and Lensbaby) that takes up about as much room and weighs the same as my A77 with the battery grip and 16-50 f/2.8. I have found little in the way of compromise for scenery and interior shots. After carrying both a tripod and a flash on dozens of cruises without using either, I just gave up and now carry a tiny pocket tripod and a good clamp. I still take the flash "just in case" but since my personal preference is existing light, I would trade it for a couple of lenses if space were an issue.

 

The other advice about relaxing and having fun is great. I shoot the ship in the early morning before the hoards of people are out and about. And plan my excursions to see what I want to see in the ports. Don't sweat about getting every shot. I wished I had taken some shots of the planes at Maho beach a little differently and maybe a few more of the beautiful water but it all turned out for the best...we went there again!

 

Link to NEX-only cruise gallery: http://galleries.pptphoto.com/reflection2013

 

Enjoy the trip!

 

Dave

[thetimetraveler]

the flashes are wireless plus its not my intention to stop the traffic, when I said "long exposures", long exposure photography is about capturing stationary scenes with elements of movement being blurred. I dont need people stop for me taking pictures people can even be walking by because by taking a 10second picture only the still objects will be visible o the picture not people walking by.

[thetimetraveler]

I wont be using flashes all the time maybe one night to create an specific shot, however Im bringing 1.2 lenses which allow me to get great shots in low light conditions without flashes assistance.

[thetimetraveler]

Awesome pictures! great shots at St thomas, and really creative shots with the fisheye.

[awboater]

I would highly recommend taking a 14~24mm (assuming you have a full frame camera) and leaving two of the flash units home. You are likely to find there are a lot of interesting areas on board ship that requires such a lens.

 

I was on the Oasis last Oct, and I used a Sigma 8-16mm (non-fisheye) exclusively on my D7100 (APS DSLR) for shipboard photos - and used a P330 P&S for everything else.

Edited February 3, 2014 by awboater

[zackiedawg]

I suspect as others have mentioned that you'll have no problems doing just about any type of photography you want - save for possible issues if you were to set up multiple flashes or tripods during any normal hours in such a way that might restrict passenger flow - even if not 'blocking' the path, all the gear might intimidate some people and make them think you're part of the ship crew setting up for a shoot - so be careful with more than your onboard flash.

 

Otherwise, nothing should be a problem. I've shot all around the ships, long-exposures on tripod, multiple exposures for stacking and HDR, ultrawide angle, 300mm to 500mm primes and zooms...you name it. I've never been troubled by ship staff, and sometimes they even get curious enough to want to see what I'm shooting and how they come out.

 

The general advice to do most of your ship interior and deck shots in the very early morning, very late at night, or during port days where everyone is on shore, would be the key advice I'd give you. I always pick an evening to go out with my tripod and take long exposures all around the ship late at night when noone else is around. I get most of my initial shots of the various ship rooms and lounges when I first board the ship, when everyone else has rushed to Lido for the food - the rest of the ship is nearly empty. And I get pickup shots of some of the various lounges or rooms during the day on a port day, by staying aboard, coming back early, or leaving late, so the ship has mostly emptied.

[z80yyz]

i use an Sigma 18-250 for all my shots. Shoot in raw and crop what you can't frame by moving around. I learned the hard way in Alaska once that lens changes in the wild are a bad plan. LR does lens corrections automatically.

I have a Pentax K5 so low light is not a problem regardless of lens speed, I just crank the ISO level to where I get enough light.

In general if you are part of a group you are taking good quality snapshots, moving around to get the best angle of view is just not possible in most case due to time. Even worse when your only photo ops are from a moving bus with dirty windows.

 

I only bring the one lens, 1 spare and cleaning tools. Anything else is too much to carry.

 

Gerrit

 

http://travels.psgv.ca

[Turtles06]

I have found that the very best time to take photos of your cabin is on the day you board, when you are first allowed to go to your cabin. This will be the moment when the cabin is completely made up AND you haven't messed it up yet and put your stuff everywhere. :) In other words, the moment when it looks its best.

 

With the excitement of boarding day and opening the cabin door for the first time, it's really easy to forget to do this, even when you've been on many cruises. I literally put a note in my calendar for that day to remind myself.

 

Also, in case you ever intend to post or publish the photos anywhere, make sure your luggage tags and other identifying info are not in the pictures. And have fun getting shots of the (small) bathroom in which you aren't reflected in the mirror. :)

 

Enjoy your first cruise!

[Out of plumb]

I agree with Turtle, Take your cabin shots on the first day. Also its fun to take the pictures of the towels that they fold. For me one of the biggest problems was condensation getting into the camera and lens'. If you kept the cabin cool and then went out into the warm humid are condensation would form. We took a folding insulated beverage bag and put all of equipment in and left it on the balcony. Once the room guy took from outside and put it back in the room. I left him a note asking to leave it outside.

 

For night shots I used a tripod, with low ISO and slow shutter speeds. I was worried about the possibility of camera shake from the engines, but I did not see any.

 

Flashes, I took one and used it just a few times. But I'm more of a natural light kindof guy.

[Out of plumb]

And a few pictures.