Slow Shutter on Moving Ship

Lyncca · Mar 2, 2009

Is it possible? I will be going on a cruise this coming weekend and will be taking my tripod. Will I be able to do low-light landscapes if the ship is moving?

Any tips are appreciated, I haven't run into this scenario before!

Big Mike · Mar 2, 2009

If you are on the ship and shooting landscapes...then I would be worried about the shutter speed causing blur. You might not need the same speeds that you would need while shooting hand held...but you certainly won't get results like you would with a perfectly steady camera.

manaheim · Mar 2, 2009

My experience with this was that I absolutely HAD to turn up the ISO to compensate, and I had to be taking all of my pictures of things on-ship as if I were shooting a slow-moving object, and off-ship a fast-moving object.

The motion of the boat will tend to affect everything, including how steady your hand is and its position relative to the boat. I suppose a tripod would help that a lot as long as the pictures are of things on-ship, but even then in the wrong conditions (choppy water) you're going to be in trouble.

I fortunately realized this very early and cranked the ISO up enough to allow me to take 4 or so of my very favorite shots. (all handheld exposures, often with one hand on the rail :lol:

)

If you don't mind my posting a few... (if you do, I'll whack 'em)

These were all taken from a ship that was moving and it was a rough day at sea, though granted in the harbor it wasn't NEARLY as bad as it was out on the open water.

Deep%20Sea%20Fishing%20Trip%20-%20Heading%20Out%20-%20003.jpg

Deep%20Sea%20Fishing%20Trip%20-%20Heading%20Out%20-%20010.jpg

Deep%20Sea%20Fishing%20Trip%20-%20Heading%20Out%20-%20021.jpg

I'll stop there. Turns out I have about 8 that I got from that trip that I really like.

Lyncca · Mar 2, 2009

Wow, those pictures are gorgeous! I love the first one.

Ok, so I won't worry so much about the tripod, and will just make sure my ISO compensates for the motion.

Go ahead and post your pictures, I like looking at them

And, I plan to flood the boards with my own when I get back!

hankejp · Mar 2, 2009

I've never been on a cruise ship. Does the ship sway back and forth at all? If so, I would think a tripod wouldn't be that great as using hand-held. You can sort of compensate shooting hand held where as with a tripod you maybe fumbling with it more trying to compensate for sway.

Enough Already · Mar 2, 2009

Are we talking about a Harbor Cruise, River Cruise, in the open ocean?? Its all going to be relative. The size of the boat and the size of the waves or swell, how far away the the subject is and how fast you are moving. What kind of exposure time are your thinking you will need, 1 sec, 5 secs? For example, if you are shooting the coast from the boat a mile out and the sea is flat with very little movement, you might get away with a 2 sec exposure because the land is not really moving and the boat is stable. If its on a river or harbor and your skyline or what ever it is is much closer and its much darker, ISO and and large aperture is your only option I would think. Even boats, large boats, tied to a dock move with currents.

tirediron · Mar 2, 2009

You can pretty much bin the tripod while you're on a ship. IF you're on one of the big Carnival cruise-liners and things are flat-calm, it might work, but it won't be worth the hassle. If you've got a little spare cash, one of these might help...

Ejazzle · Mar 2, 2009

you could do the craziest star trail exposures EVER!

Garbz · Mar 3, 2009

The ship would come out tac sharp and the landscape / water a blured mess. Reminds me of a time life long exposure of an oil tanker during a storm. A fantastic picture, and one that proves you should go against common sense like binning the tripod when you get on a ship.

Cool G5 · Mar 3, 2009

Awesome pics manaheim especially the first one

Yes and bumping up the ISO should do.

Kcc · Mar 3, 2009

I think it might help alitte if you landscape'n in the front or end of the ship with a tripod. 5tons+ ship doesn't shake alot, object moving away while releasing the shutter is what to be worried.

Kcc

Lyncca · Mar 3, 2009

Thanks for all the help. It sounds like I will be hand-holding it. We will be on the Carnival Conquest, so although big boat, they DO move. This will be my 4th cruise, but first since taking up photography. I remember going to Alaska and we were at dinner watching the horizon through the windows completely move left to right, it was enough to make most sick while eating. :lol:

And the question of how long of a shutter speed is simple -- the one that gives the correct exposure

It's hard to know beforehand exact times, but I figure the shortest possible without destroying it in noise :sexywink:

It will help too to have the rail to steady me.

That is one good thing about digital, I can review my pics and adjust if necessary to get it as sharp as possible.

manaheim · Mar 3, 2009

Good point on the ship size... my pics were taken on a 30'(ish) fishing boat. Obviously a bigger boat would be less prone to tossing about, but even a really huge ship moves. I was on the Queen Elizabeth II once and was amazed at how much motion was evident even on that thing.

Thanks on the pic compliments, everyone. Here are a couple more. (I really need to re-do these small versions since I've re-corrected them since and I like the new results a bit better, but I still think these are cool)

Deep%20Sea%20Fishing%20Trip%20-%20Heading%20Out%20-%20016.jpg

Deep%20Sea%20Fishing%20Trip%20-%20Heading%20Out%20-%20024.jpg

This last one would have been a REAL mess with a slower exposure because the boat was tossing me around like crazy. ROUGH seas.

Deep%20Sea%20Fishing%20Trip%20-%20Reeling%20'em%20In%20-%20022.jpg

tirediron · Mar 3, 2009

Lyncca said:
...And the question of how long of a shutter speed is simple -- the one that gives the correct exposure It's hard to know beforehand exact times, but I figure the shortest possible without destroying it in noise It will help too to have the rail to steady me.

That is one good thing about digital, I can review my pics and adjust if necessary to get it as sharp as possible.

Be careful of this; even though the ship itself may be fairly steady, there are often subtle vibrations from the machinery which will radiate through the guardrails (and other rigid elements) and have a less than desirable effect on your pictures.

LarryD · Mar 3, 2009

tirediron said:
Be careful of this; even though the ship itself may be fairly steady, there are often subtle vibrations from the machinery which will radiate through the guardrails (and other rigid elements) and have a less than desirable effect on your pictures.

Agree.........You should be better off using a VR lens than you would be by resting on a guardrail.

Sacrifice some DOF in favor of higher shutter speeds and you should be fine......:thumbup: