How to take better boating and fishing photos

Mike Jones is a professional UK 'shooter' whose services are in great demand by some of the biggest names in the powerboat and yachting world, including Sea Ray and Boston Whaler in the USA, and Yamaha in Europe.

After years of hanging out of helicopters, doning wetsuits and diving in to capture the perfect light and composition, Mike knows how to shoot boats, superyachts and the cache of cool gear that goes with them.

With the holiday and boating season in full swing Down Under, we figure this is an opportune time to sharpen up our photographic skills, too.

We caught up with Mike at a recent Sea Ray and Boston Whaler event, the annual Yachting Festival in Florida, where he was on the job with his Nikon photographic kit.

Thankfully, the pro photographer isn't averse to helping out us happy snappers, too. So here is some pro advice to help sharpen up your on-water shots.

As Mike says: "You need to remember that the most important piece of equipment you have is you!"

These tips also apply to shooting with your Smartphone and device as well as the SLR.

Tip 1. Be Ready!
It might sound extremely basic, but being ready is the first step to capturing that great shot. In general, I make sure I have taken the lens cap off and the camera is on with plenty of space on the memory card. Most cameras have a sleep or standby mode when left on, so you won’t run the battery down, but you will be one step closer to getting the shot. I’ve seen plenty of people miss the shot when they are fumbling for the lens cap and waiting for the camera to boot up!

Tip 2. Look at the world differently
Everyone sees the world from head height, so to make your pictures standout, think about moving your perspective, get down low, or get up high, but try and look at things from a different angle to everyone else.

Tip 3. Don’t be afraid of the sun
Everyone always says that my pictures will be dark when I point my camera towards the sun, and this is what happens a lot of the time when you don’t play with a few basic settings on the camera. More often than not the metering system on your camera is fooled by the extra bright light of the sun, when shooting towards it, but you can override it and dial in positive (+) exposure compensation to brighten the shot up. Have a play around using this feature, adjusting your exposure compensation up and down as you shoot at different angles to the sun. On the other side, don’t underestimate the power of a silhouette, you can enhance this by using the minus (-) exposure compensation.

Tip 4. Keep it simple
Most of my favourite images that I have shot, and those of fellow photographers, are simple compositions. Pulling out a detail, a curve, a reflection can be an easy way to create striking photos. Also looking around to find an uncluttered background really helps, as this will draw you in to your subject, rather than distracting and lessening the impact of your shot.

Tip 6. Set your alarm
Probably the best time of day to shoot a boat is at dawn. It’s not just the gorgeous low and colourful light that is great to shoot with, but also you’ll often find the water the calmest, as the wind that picks up later in the day won’t have chopped up the sea yet.

Happy shooting!
Mike Jones
photographermikejones.com