Felt Like Sharing...

[subseashooter]

I was sitting on the bridge of the boat that I am currently on this morning, about 5:15am, and thought that this was a pretty cool pic. 1 klik off is the Pacific Bora drill ship, and in the background is the Agbami FPSO.



This is the same shot 75 minutes later.



This is the rig as we passed it in route to....



The FPSO.

I don't have a family, and this field is as close as I have to having kids, I've spent a lot of time out here making sure that flare stays lit and the lights stay on.

Thanks for letting me share!! :-)

 

[cbigclarke]

I'd be intrested in seeing done action shots

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[subseashooter]

Done action shots? Huh?

 

[AngeliaH]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

Sent from nunya.

 

[Glockster69]

Done action shots? Huh?

Clarke hates English.

SOME actions shots

 

[TexasRedneck]

Remember - Clarke is part white, part chinese labrador....he meant "some action shots, or at least a pass to the buffet".......

 

[subseashooter]

Oh...well, we just had lunch, sorry, too late for buffet shots......

And there isn't much action - unless you like watching remote controlled robots do in an hour what it take a human to do in 10 minutes. And that's when the GOOD taxi drivers are at the controls!!

 

[cbigclarke]

Remember - Clarke is part white, part chinese labrador....he meant "some action shots, or at least a pass to the buffet".......

You know me to well

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[deemus]

Cool pics. Thanks. I love night shots.

For years I had a couple of night exposures I took on display at a local restaurant.

 

[subseashooter]

Deemus, what do you know about night shooting? I'd love to get better shots at night of the rigs and platforms, their lights, and the reflection off the water. Obviously my iPhone can't pull it off, but I've been trying with my D40, and just can't quite make it happen and keep it crisp and clear....

 

[TexasRedneck]

Set your aperture larger, and try to lie to it about lighting - does it allow you to do a manual override of its' auto features? One of the old time tricks was to tell it you had a little faster film in it that you actually did - ASA 600 when you were running 400, etc. The new digitals....dunno that that'd work.

 

[subseashooter]

Wish I'd brought it with me this trip....

I sped up the shutter to 600-800, but it was still too slow to not be blurry, and too fast to get a good reflection off the water. Got aggravated with it last hitch and left it at the house this trip.

Being on a boat that doesn't stop moving doesn't help either, I suppose.

 

[macshooter]

Deemus, what do you know about night shooting? I'd love to get better shots at night of the rigs and platforms, their lights, and the reflection off the water. Obviously my iPhone can't pull it off, but I've been trying with my D40, and just can't quite make it happen and keep it crisp and clear....

You're problem is camera/subject movement. If there's any movement you're going to blur in low light. On dry land a tripod and would probably do the trick, but bobbing up and down in the sea, and your subject also doing the same, good luck.

That said, they have some new cameras out there with crazy high ISOs now. (cheap ones too) That means faster shutter speeds are possible in low light, which = less blur. Combine that with image stabilization that many cameras have now, and you might be able to pull it off. As a general rule, you want faster than 1/60 sec shutter speed if you or your subject is moving (hand held). 1/30 sec is doable sometimes if you hold real still and your subject is not moving. But the image will probably look a little soft when you zoom in.

The canon S100 was selling for $250 not long ago, and it'll take picture in pitch back (almost - very dim light) handheld with no blur. The little thing blows my mind. The photo quality is not anywhere near DSLR though. My nikon coolpix 5700 from 2004 still kicks it's ass on image quality, but I have to use a tripod in low light.


edit
(didn't see the last few posts)

 

[subseashooter]

I've been seeing the newer Nikon DSLR's falling in price lately - D5000s and such. If like to go that route, since I have a few lenses that will snap right on.

You recon they'd work?

 

[macshooter]

I've been seeing the newer Nikon DSLR's falling in price lately - D5000s and such. If like to go that route, since I have a few lenses that will snap right on.

You recon they'd work?

Long as they are DX format and don't require a screw drive I'd think you'd be fine. In fact a lot of old nikon 35mm lenses will also work, but you don't get auto anything with them, and have to work them manually. I don't have a DSLR, but I've been eyeing them for years. I like the D5200. The swivel screen is a really nice feature that's hard to get away from once you have it. Low angle and high angle photos are fun and more easier to do with a tilt screen. All I have is my 5700 and the S100. But both of those give you full manual control if you want it. Good enough for me, since I don't take a lot of pictures.

Cool job BTW. I always wanted to get way out on the water like that for a while.

 

[subseashooter]

The lenses that I have now are auto lenses...I have to admit that I'm pretty intimidated at the idea of setting everything up manually.

On the other hand, I work with technology that's shared with NASA, and people have been adjusting and focusing lenses for 700 years....

Maybe I just need to pull my head out of the sand. Or my posterior, whichever.

 

[macshooter]

I almost never use full manual, I'll use shutter priority if I want to shoot at night, (don't have to do that now with the S100, which seemingly is not aware of low light conditions) or aperture priority if I want to blur out the background and keep the subject in focus (wide aperture /low F stop), or put everything in focus (small aperture/ higher F stop) in daylight, and let the camera figure out the shutter speed. No need to try to remember what shutter speed matches what aperture, and guess at the light conditions, unless you like that kind of stuff and want to have those skills. Too much for me. I just know enough to get the effect I'm after and am happy to let the camera do the rest.

 

[deemus]

Deemus, what do you know about night shooting? I'd love to get better shots at night of the rigs and platforms, their lights, and the reflection off the water. Obviously my iPhone can't pull it off, but I've been trying with my D40, and just can't quite make it happen and keep it crisp and clear....

It will be next to impossible without a SLR. They generally take an open shutter for a period of time. And a tripod is required equipment. The camera has to sit still.

When I first started doing them, I just experimented: different film, different settings, different shutter speeds. I had some great shots of the moon. The freeway shots were pretty cool too. Black night with red lines from the taillights. They are fun to play with, but you have to have the right gear to do it.

I have to say I have not done them since the advent of the digital camera. I'm sure its a whole different ballgame with those. My digital camera is not a SLR.