First time shooting speed sailing from a chase boat.

[Pat Yuen]

I had the opportunity to shoot a speed sailing event last weekend from a chase boat going at 30 knots. It was very challenging try to keep the shots in frame. Most of the work in post processing was cropping and straightening of the horizon. Too bad Capture One does not have a feature to straighten the horizon. I see it's a feature in PSCS Raw conversion but never did figure out how it worked so I ended up fixing it with the free transform tool. Most of the shots were at ISO800 in full sunlight to get a high shutter speed. I did manage to get a few panning shots but it was a hit or miss with the boat pitching in every direction.

Full gallery here: http://www.patyuen.com/event/2006/speedsailing/index.htm

 

[Don Lashier]

Hi Pat,

> Too bad Capture One does not have a feature to straighten the horizon.

Sure it does. What version do you have?

> so I ended up fixing it with the free transform tool

The way I do it in ps is with the measure tool following by image/rotate.

- DL

 

[nicolas claris]

Hi Patrick
Sportive shooting isn't it ;-) !
I don't know your experience in fast boat shooting, neither what camera and lense you did use, here are some tricks, just in case (or for others), to avoid 800 ISO (I always shoot 100 or max at 200 ISO) when the big light is there:
Your chase boat must be very fast and stable, the best I've found are power cats as the Lagoon Power cat 43 (now 44) or the Fountaine Pajot one.
Otherwise the best is to fly a shopper (with a pro pilot, never with an amateur even if he's your best friend!)
if long lense: IS or IS or VR
Another trick if boats are racing is to post you in advance were the boats will pass.
And try also wide lense from very close, amazing! (and you need less shutter speed)

In regards to straighten the horizon in C1. Mac pro version has it, not the windows version...

Best

 

[Don Lashier]

> in regards to straighten the horizon in C1. Mac pro version has it, not the windows version...

I guess my PC has an identity crisis then because I rotate all the time in C1. It arrived one version later than on the mac but it's been there for several years.

I prefer rotating in C1 because it's a lot smarter than PS about maintaining crop. C1 does it for you automatically while PS is a pain no matter which order you do it in.

- DL

 

[nicolas claris]

>
I guess my PC has an identity crisis then because I rotate all the time in C1. It arrived one version later than on the mac but it's been there for several years.
- DL

Well these are 2 good news, one for your PC and one for all Windows users!
Sorry to be unaccurate! one cannot be always perfect ;o)

 

[Pat Yuen]

I was shooting with a 20D and 70-200 with a 1.4x converter. I'm not afraid to use ISO800 with the 20D as the noise is very usable. I was using a polarizer so I lost 1.5 stop right off the top. Some of the shots metered at 1/1600 at ISO 800 so shooting at ISO 100 would not work. I was shooting from a large power catamaran leading the racers from mid course but shooting close up is not an option as these were wind driven vessels and they have less control. They also get very upset if you interfere with their wind.

Hi Patrick
Sportive shooting isn't it ;-) !
I don't know your experience in fast boat shooting, neither what camera and lense you did use, here are some tricks, just in case (or for others), to avoid 800 ISO (I always shoot 100 or max at 200 ISO) when the big light is there:
Your chase boat must be very fast and stable, the best I've found are power cats as the Lagoon Power cat 43 (now 44) or the Fountaine Pajot one.
Otherwise the best is to fly a shopper (with a pro pilot, never with an amateur even if he's your best friend!)
if long lense: IS or IS or VR
Another trick if boats are racing is to post you in advance were the boats will pass.
And try also wide lense from very close, amazing! (and you need less shutter speed)

In regards to straighten the horizon in C1. Mac pro version has it, not the windows version...

Best

 

[Pat Yuen]

Found the rotate tool.

OK. I found the arbitrary rotate tool in Capture One. I thought that icon was for rotating in 90 degree increments only. I like it as it automatically re selects the crop area to create a whole photo. I was doing it in PS with the free transform tool and that was a multi step process. Another time saving tool in Capture One! This is the first time I shot sailing so it's the first time I've had to rotate on a large scale. Now if they can only create an algorithm to detect the horizon and automatically suggest a rotation, that would be gravy. I run dual monitor and notice that the rotate tool forces the image to the center placing it between both monitors. So if I use the tool, I have to limit the app to one screen.

 

[nicolas claris]

I was shooting with a 20D and 70-200 with a 1.4x converter. I'm not afraid to use ISO800 with the 20D as the noise is very usable. I was using a polarizer so I lost 1.5 stop right off the top. Some of the shots metered at 1/1600 at ISO 800 so shooting at ISO 100 would not work. I was shooting from a large power catamaran leading the racers from mid course but shooting close up is not an option as these were wind driven vessels and they have less control. They also get very upset if you interfere with their wind.

Hi Pat
happy that you found the arbitrary rotating tool!

If you want to enlarge to big size, 800 ISO will be a problem!
If you have a good skipper and stay leeward, you will not bother crews...
Of course I understand that a large cat passenger vessel may not be the right tool for that kind of photography, mainly because this kind of boat is not very easy to place in the right position (the one you would like!). There are some good shots anyway.
Congrats!

 

[anthros]

<snip>I was shooting from a large power catamaran leading the racers from mid course but shooting close up is not an option as these were wind driven vessels and they have less control. They also get very upset if you interfere with their wind.

Twin-hulled boats (catamarans) are generally more stable in rough seas than monohull boats, so they make relatively good shooting platforms, especially in limited-light conditions. I don't know whether that was fortuitous or intentional, but it worked out well.

Also, I've done a very small amount of competitive sailing, but it's enough to know that sailors aren't just being persnickety when they "get very upset if you interfere with their wind." Affecting the wind of sailors isn't just irritating; it would be roughly eqivalent to shooting from the middle of the track at the 75-meter mark of the 100-meter dash; you're directly in the way. Perhaps a better analogy would be shooting a pit stop at a formula car race while standing on the refueling line.

At any rate, your shots look great.


Cheers,

Jason

 

[Pat Yuen]

I shot from the Water Wizards, a professional film boat. Our captain did an excellent job of staying out of the way. His vessel's primary business is to provide media coverage for sailing events so he was very familiar with how everything worked. This was not just some personal craft they hired for the event.
http://www.oceanfilmboat.com/index.html

When shooting a sailing event like this it's not just a matter of interference but also of safety as some of the vessels can easily overtake us even at out top speed of 32 knots. I'm pretty happy with the result of this shoot. I've already received image inquiries from several of the manufacturers including Dan Ketterman of Hobiecats.

Twin-hulled boats (catamarans) are generally more stable in rough seas than monohull boats, so they make relatively good shooting platforms, especially in limited-light conditions. I don't know whether that was fortuitous or intentional, but it worked out well.

Also, I've done a very small amount of competitive sailing, but it's enough to know that sailors aren't just being persnickety when they "get very upset if you interfere with their wind." Affecting the wind of sailors isn't just irritating; it would be roughly eqivalent to shooting from the middle of the track at the 75-meter mark of the 100-meter dash; you're directly in the way. Perhaps a better analogy would be shooting a pit stop at a formula car race while standing on the refueling line.

At any rate, your shots look great.


Cheers,

Jason