. . . . . to capture the feel of a displacement sailboat from the deck. A couple of days ago we were on the bay with a breeze of 15-20 kts with 2-3 ft waves, and I managed to capture this shot (DA 16-45, ISO 100, f/11, 1/250).



I also straightened the shot:



Which do you prefer (or do you think I should take up knitting)?

Jer

[NaClH2O]

Jer, you are getting close! Great shot. I especially like those rod straight sheets and the angles they make going thru the blocks. It's hard to say which one I like better, the horizontal horizon is nice, but so is the top of the spray from the bow wave. If I have to make a choice I'd say the horizontal horizon, but it's close. How fast were you going?

NaCl(is just a bit jealous)H2O

[Sailor]

Jer, you are getting close! Great shot. I especially like those rod straight sheets and the angles they make going thru the blocks. It's hard to say which one I like better, the horizontal horizon is nice, but so is the top of the spray from the bow wave. If I have to make a choice I'd say the horizontal horizon, but it's close. How fast were you going?

NaCl(is just a bit jealous)H2O

Hey my friend - sorry about that brutal commute. Maybe it's time you and me retire and go on permanent island time.

Anyway, we were smokin' along (for our boat) at about 6.5 kts over ground (GPS). Cut Time sails well under these conditions if you reef the main and eliminate the vicious weather helm at flatt-bottomed, beamy boat can develop. Keep her on her feet, and she'll move with newer designs.

Jer

[NaClH2O]

Well if you can't have a neutral helm I'd much rather have a weather helm than a lee one. Would a bigger jib help? Anyway 6.5 knts is very respectable. I think Irresolute (my folkboat) might have done 6.5 knts...if someone hauled it way up high and then dropped it from the crane.

NaCl(but it did have a neutral helm...couldn't point worth poop tho)H2O

[irishinmo]

Good capture, Jer. It has been awhile since I had the opportunity to do any offshore sailing, really brought back the feeling with this one.

I don't think the tilted horizon hurts the first shot. Both are good.

Will

[borno]

I like it the first way, to me it seems to add some feeling of motion.

[khardur]

Jer,
I like the top one. Sometimes you've got to break the "rules" - and the top IMO puts me as a viewer and a non-sailor more into the scene than the bottom - gives me a better understanding of how the boat is rocking/whatever you would call it.

-Dan

[mingdie]

I normaly like the horizon straight but in this case I like the top photo best. I think you got a good feeling of speed and movement in the photo. The spray of water from the wave really makes it good.
It must have been a good day out.

Cheers

Eddie

[channeler]

Hi Jer,

Both shots are great, but I'd go with what some others have said. The top one for me adds an extra sense of the boat's roll and movement.

Paul

[ChrisA]

Definitely the second one with the horizontal horizon.

The reason?

It is authentic. I think authenticity is important. There's far too much fakery these days, and people fall for it, largely because the genuine is so hard to find. I realise this wasn't intentional fakery, but nevertheless the effect of the first version is to fool you into thinking that it's more dramatic than it is. Some people may like that, but I don't.

In this case, you look at the horizon on the straightened version, and you look at the boat, and you know how much it's heeling over.

In the first one, the immediate impact is greater, because the lean is exaggerated, but it's not real. Then you look further into the picture, see the horizon, the effect is lost, for me at least, because I realise I've been had.

So I think the straight version is far superior. Losing the top edge of the spray is a pity, but minor in comparison.

In any case, leaning over more does not necessarily mean going faster.

PS I think you were very brave taking the K10D out and using it for that shot. Thank goodness for the seals, eh?

[rhermans]

The first one works better for me.

Even the second shot with the perfect straight horizon gives me the feeling the fotographer was not a part of what was happening but a completely detached observer.

No first one is the best.

[PeterAM]

Both shots work for me. I'm not sure if they are meaningful to someone that has never sailed; think about how a first time sailor reacts when the boat heels.
Maybe you need to have the rail in the water?
All of my sailing was done in keel boats; only time I ever sailed in a flat bottomed boat was in a Flying Dutchman (I think) that planed when it got going.

[Fritz]

I like the second shot with the level horizon. With the first one I'm not sure really how much the boat is leaning. With the second one I know, which makes it feel more impressive for me.

It looks like a fun day of sailing either way!

[JLou]

I like it the first way, to me it seems to add some feeling of motion.

I agree . . . I almost feel seasick!

[Sideways]

First one... That is the perspective and view you get as trim the jib... looking up from the winch with a twist of the head...


ps.. When can I come sailing on your boat.. hehe

Mike