Evening star., 1951-09-02
Camera Angles
Shooting Boot Regottos and Races
By Alexander J. Wedderburr
Curator Of Photography
The Smithsonian institution

or. if you prefer, a quiet camera
pilgrimage along some sleepy wa
ter front. One way or the other
you can be sure of bringing home
a set of pictures suggestive of ad-
venture and far away places. Boats
seem to affect most people that
way and are trim and graceful
subjects for any ones camera.
This is the best season of the
year for getting those shots. Re-
gattaS and boat races are on tap
at almost any place with enough
water to float a canoe. And most
of us have ready access to points
where they take place. You won't
have to go far from home, for
whether you live near gulf. ocean,
lake or river it won't take you
long to spot the filling sails or
the roar of racing motors.
If you prefer the thrills and
action at the regattas and races,
our first suggestion is that you
learn as much about boats as
you can. BY all means become ac-
quainted with nautical terms as
they will apply to the kind of
boats you will photograph. 1t will
also pay to learn something about
the behavior of boats, particularly
those under sail, under various
weather conditions, so that you
will know what to expect and be
ready to take a picture at a crit
ical moment.
Learn the Fundamentals.
A sail boat tacking into the wind
will act differently from one being
driven along by a spanking breeze
or one caught by sudden gust
or squall. No matter what you are
attempting to photograph, it pays
to know your subject well before
shooting film. If you don't know
the stem from the stern or port
from starboard. we suggest you go
to your library and get good book
on boats and learn the funda-
mentals of sailing terms and pro-
cedureS. More fortunate individu-
ais may have friends who own
boats who will not only hand out
all this necessary information but
will also take the cameraman
along for some closeup action
shots.
This, believe me, is a lot more
fun than sitting on the shore and
swapping pictures at long range.
There is a real challenge to the
photographer who makes his shots
from a faSt-moving boat. 1t isn't
exactly easy, for you have to keep
a weather eye on the boom, keep
your balance under sometimes try
ing conditions, and at the same
time keep an eye glued to the
camera. You will soon learn to ac-
custom yourself to the motion of
your boat and from there on you
should have very little trouble.
I have seen good pictures made
on the water with anything from
box camera up, so no matter
what kind of camera you own you
can give it a try. If yours is
slow camera there will be shots
that will have to be passed by.
Boats making a fast turn must
be taken with a fairly fast shut
ter speed. If conditions permit,
keep your shutter set at 1f100th
of a second and shoot at this
speed. Then there will be little
chance of you missing a shot.
Pan the Camera With Motion.
With box camera or its equiv
alent the problem is somewhat
different. Something will have to
be sacrificed-either speed or pic
ture quality. You can either wait
for favorable moment when the
boats are idling about and have
your water, sky and sails, or you
can make your try for an action
shot which, while stopping the
boats motion. will be pretty much
blurred otherwise. To accomplish
the latter you simply pan your
camera along in the same direc-
ton the subject is moving and
fire away at a propitious time.
This will give you your action
shot but the background will be
blurred. Some photographers do
this deliberately on the theory
that the blurring of the back
ground will heighten the effect of
speed and motion.
We personally prefer the twin
lens reflex camera for this sort
of assignment since the field of
view through the very small
finders of other cameras is too
restricted to observe the COM
position too well without an ef-
fort. However, if you are well
supplied with long-focus lenses
you may find the 35-mm. a.
handler camera for making a.
fast lens switch.
1t is literally impossible to shoot
from a tripod on a boat so leave
it in your car. Remember that
the boat will be rising and falling
and that tripod would. too, and
therefore is so much excess bag
gage. After short while you will
be able to adjust yourself to the
pitch and roll and keep your
camera trained on the subject.
Pockets for Extra GadgetS.
Never let go of your camera for
a second while your boat is in
motion. Anything not tied down
will be overheard in twinkling of
an eye. The safest rule is to keep
the camera fastened around your
neck at all times with the carry
ing strap. Then if you have to let
go to mold on at an unexpected
turn it won't be lost. A light
jacket with wide, roomy pockets
will also come in handy for carry
ing small gadgets such as filters
an extra lens or so and extra rolls
of film.
A light yellow filter such as the
K-2 is ideal for your purposes.
And pola screen over the lens
will help cut down on surface
water glare The pola screen will
have the added effect of darken-
ing the sky and effectively outlin-