Another shitty day at the office! :-)
As I have mentioned in my About page I am a professional skipper of charter boats, mostly based in the Whitsundays, but occasionally I get to work in some other cool places such as the Kimberley in Western Australia. In fact I will be heading over that way for a month at the end of March.
Photographically, the advantages are that I get to see some pretty cool stuff that not many people get to see apart from the passengers and crew on board with me at the time. I am often out there at dawn and dusk when you can get some of the best light which you would think would be great, right?
Frustratingly, because I am responsible for the vessel’s safety and passenger comfort, I often need to move the boat to a safer or more comfortable anchorage and therefore away from a great photo opportunity! Bugger!
There are a myriad of other things that sometime require my attention on board at times when I would much rather be ashore with the camera taking advantage of some good light. Weather and tidal conditions can also play a big part in whether you can get the opportunity to shoot.
The upside is that occasionally I do get to step foot ashore by myself (and a million sandflies!) and get a shot that doesn’t look like all the postcards and tourism brochures!
As much as I dislike shooting during the middle of the day when the light is harsh sometimes I need to just make the most of the short time I have , this is where a polariser comes into its own to enhance some of the great colour.
Ideally, it would be great to have my own boat and be free to take advantage of conditions as I have a thousand great images in my head but you need to be there at the right time. One day…….!
In the meantime , I will find as many opps. to shoot as possible and maybe come up with some great images. that should keep me occupied for a few years. I hate going to the office! (Yeah right.)
Leave a Reply