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Having made the statement about what a great place the dock for the fishing fleet is to watch the cruise ships leave St Johns Harbour, Antigua each evening, I thought it only right that I prove it. When the cruise ships dock in St Johns harbour they tie up with the bow of the ship pointing directly into town. This means that when they leave, they need to made a 180-degree turn before being able to head out to sea. The dock for the fishing boats, being just over a cruise ship’s length from the end of the piers where they tie up, is in line with the area of the bay used for the turn-around.
As you can see from these images of the cruise ship Ventura, they come pretty close to the dock where I was standing. The hardest part of capturing these images is having to be aware of the position of the setting sun. The warm glow from the setting sun provides a wonderful color to the white cruise ship. However, as the ship turns, the white side also acts as a giant reflector which can create problems with lens flare.
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The second issue as the ship leaves the harbour is that the sun is almost directly behind it. The trick is to find the right balance between the setting sun and the side of the ship nearest to the camera which is in the shade. Although the ship is moving very slowly as it leaves the harbour, its close proximity to the camera exaggerates every movement preventing any form of HDR capture. The best approach here is to expose for the clouds around the setting sun. Pulling out the details in the shadows is best left to the sliders in Lightroom.
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| May 21, 2015
Nice warm light in this one, nice work