The phone goes ‘ping’ and a message arrives asking if you would like to photograph the first race of the ‘Championnat du Petit Lac’ from a boat?
I hadn’t expected the message, but was free so why not! This thought was closely followed by what a great opportunity and how waterproof is my camera?
I have photographed yachts from the harbour on Lac Leman before in Founex. Its a challenge to do so as your location is very much fixed and you have no control of where the boats will go next though you know the direction of the race. Sometimes they are far out on the lake other times closer to the harbour so a range of focal length is required, the start will be close but the rest of the race could be much further so anything from 24-500mm maybe necessary.
On the water in a boat this is a different situation. I still wanted range but we could move but I went for a similar focal length. 24-400 this time.
One thing to remember with these races is that whilst the race time might only last 1-2 hours you are actually on the water much longer so don’t forget anything you might need, including lunch, which was kindly provided by my hosts.
I was on board one of the small boats responsible for setting the course, we spent the first 30 mins checking the wind direction and strength, before stetting the course and heading back to the start.
This gave me a chance to find my sea legs and get used to taking images on a boat. It sounds easy till you realise, you move with the water and hence the horizon appears to as well.
Shoot wider than you need too tight and you risk cutting someones head off in post!
Gear
Shimoda Expolre V2 35 with mirrorless medium core unit, with waterproof cover
Nikon Z9 with 70-200mm f2.8
Nikon Z9 with 100-400mm f2.8
24-70mm f2.8 in the bag
BlackRapid Double Breathe Camera Harness.
Cloth to dry camera/lens.
Sun cream
Sun glasses
Lunch & water
Photographing the action.
With the roll of the water constantly changing the horizon in mind and with the flexibility of the boat, most images were taken using the 70-200mm, by moving to different vantage points whilst keeping out of the paths of the yachts which was luckily not my responsibility.
Just as a note, even though it was a dry and a mostly sunny day, you are on the water and it is inevitable at some point your gear will get splashed so have a dry cloth or two to hand.
When photographing boats you are always tempted to make sure you have the whole boat in the frame but this is not necessary, especially as you want to capture the crew at work or just acting as balance against the sail. An image of the whole boat with a colourful spinnaker reflecting in the water can make for a great image, a group of boats chasing down for the lead or capturing the action at a turn on the course and then the subsequent race to the next as spinnakers rise.
Camera settings
Normally the light isn’t an issue here, so opt for a fast shutter speed 1000th second or more to capture the water spray and an aperture of anything from f2.8 to isolate a crew member or boat from the background up to f8 if trying to capture the whole regatta. Most of these images were shot with 2000-3000th second and a wide aperture shooting in manual with auto iso which works well generally but its necessary to keep an eye on then ISO to avoid over exposure of the image which can depend on the direction of the light. Also glare from the water can cause over exposure depending on your exposure meter setting. So look to use centre weighted exposure to avoid glares from the water and under exposing the subject.
