The Shipman 80 now sailing!

[nicolas claris]

Hi folks

some months ago I shot the interiors of the Shipman 80, you may have seen some samples here:
http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5306

Last Thursday I got the assignement to shoot the boat while sailing in the Baie de Cannes.

Mistral wind were there… 25 to 35 knots of wind, means fast sailing together with shaky helicopter!

The boat went sailing between 15 to 17 knots which, beleive me is a lot! something like an Audi at full speed to give you an idea…

So still that nice littlebox Hy6, Sinarback emotion LV, Schneider 50 mm - 1/1000s - ISO 200
Brumbaer DNGed and LR2, almost standard settings, low sharpening, almost no noise reduction…
The good receipe if you ask me!

100% crop:

100% crop:

 

[nicolas claris]

100% crop:

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Nicolas,

I was looking forward to your new batch and I am not disappointed, how could I?

The pictures are all great but paradoxically, I like the 100% of the 3rd one the most.
Great details, lots of action going on, good composition!

Thanks for letting us share that fleeting moment of salty Mistral air in our lungs.

Cheers,

 

[nicolas claris]

Hi Cem

Thanks, you're right, the 3rd crop is gaphically nice… though framed only to show the details captured by the camera/lens/back combo…

I like also the full frame, showing that 80 feet/24 metres long sail yacht sliding on the sea with strong wind.

Imagine also that for such shots, the helicopter is flying at 90° of its normal course, I mean the normal chopper axis (back to front) is 90° oriented toward sailboat axis, otherwise we cannot shoot (yes Romain was also, as usual shooting video, but no making of shooting today…)

A complete different way of looking at sailing if we compare with the Alentender…:

I do like both of these worlds…

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

...Thanks, you're right, the 3rd crop is gaphically nice… though framed only to show the details captured by the camera/lens/back combo…

I like also the full frame, showing that 80 feet/24 metres long sail yacht sliding on the sea with strong wind.

Yes, the main picture is very good, no doubt about it. I was impressed by the fact that one keeps so much detail after very serious cropping. Also the resulting crop is very pleasing to look at. I also like the second 100% crop in a similar way.

I do like both of these worlds…

I would not complain at all if I could be in either of those worlds right now ;-)
As a matter of fact, do you need an assistant? I'll pay a reasonable fee for that job. LOLOLOLOL

Cheers,

 

[nicolas claris]

As a matter of fact, do you need an assistant? I'll pay a reasonable fee for that job. LOLOLOLOL

As another matter of fact I almost never work with an asistant!
Not that I wouldn't like or need, but there's just no budget to allow an assistant! but if you pay, then…;-)

Speaking of assistant, I met on Sinar's stand at Photokina a fashion photographer (Ralph Man) a very nice fellow by the way, he couldn't beleive that I was not working with an assistant, a make-up artist and a style designer! LoL I guess I have to change of photography field… ;-)

Honestly I would love to have a real team with me, but that's simply impossible…

 

[James Newman]

I think you would find it very difficult if not impossible to find a team that could match your vision and expertise. I absolutely love looking at your work. I would expect to see any of these in some advertisement soon. It is a great way for me to get a glimpse of the really good life that some get to experience. Naturally I like them all a great deal but for some reason, that second one just grabs me the most. Maybe it's the angle of attack I see in it. Whatever it is, it is very special.
I am anxiously awaiting some more.
James

 

[NC Iphone]

Hi James
thanks for the kind words...
Sometimes, an asisant would help a lot and a stylist for interiors as well.

We're working on a double spreaded page that should be out in December issue of Yachting World...
Though an English magazine, it may be found in airports and large press stores...

 

[Asher Kelman]

Here I'd prefer a square format with the right hand edge cropped. The picture then has immense power and no distraction. The composition in square format makes best use of the diagonals of the boat and forces the boat to increase speed in the narrower lane.

Whenever a water lane is narrowed, the current speeds up!


100% crop:

The 100% crop has all the fire, energy, delight and speed that one could imagine in a fast boat picture. The reflection of the rose colored sail in the water and boat unifies the elements. This picture might therefore lose its power in B&W.

I like it when color serves a function that makes the picture work. What's remarkable is that this 100% cutout is drawn so well. There is great contrast and clarity.

Nicolas, could you in fact use this crop for any of your magazines, are there enough pixels? Could it be uprezzed and printed 4x6?

Asher

 

[NC Iphone]

Here I'd prefer a square format with the right hand edge cropped. The picture then has immense power and no distraction. The composition in square format makes best use of the diagonals of the boat and forces the boat to increase speed in the narrower lane.

Whenever a water lane is narrowed, the current speeds up!


100% crop:
The 100% crop has all the fire, energy, delight and speed that one could imagine in a fast boat picture. The reflection of the rose colored sail in the water and boat unifies the elements. This picture might therefore lose its power in B&W.

I like it when color serves a function that makes the picture work. What's remarkable is that this 100% cutout is drawn so well. There is great contrast and clarity.

Nicolas, could you in fact use this crop for any of your magazines, are there enough pixels? Could it be uprezzed and printed 4x6?

Asher

Hi Asher
First of all, besides 100% crops, all pics posted here are uncropped in order to show what I could capture with the HY6 and the SinaBack. This said...
I don't agree with your first statement, this framing has been carefully achieved in order to show the speed and the power of the boat. The fact that the boat is on one side of the frame does make it's course implicit, plus the fact that one can see a long white trail in the water shows the speed of the boat.

As for the crop, and your remark about B&W, remember that I do work and use clor for my purpose, so there is just little chance they would work in B&Wµ
The crop is 1100 pixels only, so even uprezzed, I don't think one could print an A4 size page with it.
BTW the rose color works and unites as you mentionned, but only because you've seen theFF pic first! imho

Thank you so much much for your comments, always interesting even when I don't agree ;-)!

 

[Asher Kelman]

Nicolas,

The picture as you shot is wonderful. As far as speed is concerned, print two versions and simply ask people as a surprise without any introduction. Which picture seems to show the most speed?

Now your picture does not need to be changed. I only offered what I see as another enjoyable alternative presentation. However, you, the artist always must control you final presentation in spite of other opinions. You can however change your mind on a whim or fancy. It's always you at the helm.

The unifying power of the rose color from the sails works powerfully for me independently of the full picture. When you cropped, you took the kernel of the sense of the picture, so it has so much power per unit area of the image. This small portion of your picture is a treasure within a photograph that can easily stand on it's own, so print it smaller, just up res it a little and it will look great! I'd love such a small print!

This is a very good example of color being valuable. Thanks so much for enriching OPF with these pictures.

I assure you, that not many photographs are better in color, especially if they contain synthetic dyes that call attention to anything irrespective of real importance.

The clever thing is to have form, texture, lighting and color working together. If the picture fails when color is removed, then color was part of the success. More often, color masks relationships of form and lighting and presence so that it is a cheap way of getting a flashy razzmatazz impactful image, like juicy red lipstick on a blonde!


Asher

 

[NC Iphone]

Asher
Please remind that this picture has been shot with the Sinar MF camera, the IQ comes from the camera/lens/back combo and a little bit from my learning curve with a wide lens (50mm in that case) no doubt I'll have to dig more and more and especially to handle longer focal lens on the MF system shooting a fast boat from an helicopter...
I am very aware of the different way of showing my vision and intents thru different lenses.
This, I tend to pretend, I know better with a DSLR like the 1DS3, hence the trhread I did create:
Here
As stated there, I strongly believe in the "choose your lens 1st", depending of your intent...

Every good image coming with/thru a crop is an image I should have shot FF... it's a missed.

 

[edwin blenkinsopp]

Fantastic,
I loved the pictures which evoked my own happy experiances on the water.
-thats as good as it gets for me.
Edwin

 

[nicolas claris]

Thanks Edwin!

I see you're a connoisseur, both of boats and MF… any images to share? Some nice shots in Cowes area maybe?

 

[edwin blenkinsopp]

I couldn't be responsible for putting up a crude sketch alongside a Mona-Lisa!
I will find something from a digitising project which is where I have some knowledge and can discuss
Thank you for the encouragement.
Edwin