Abandoned Ship in Carribean
Jan, 2020Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
In 2019, my family and I wanted to do something different for Christmas so, instead of exchanging presents, we took a 10-day cruise to the Caribbean. This photo was taken on the island of Dominica. It is a photo of a ship that got stranded after a major hurricane went through and devastated the island.Time
Our cruise ship docked at around 9:00 am and we were able to get a private tour bus to take us around the island. While driving by the coast I saw the ship and asked the driver if he minds pulling over so I can take a proper photo instead of doing a drive-by shooting. The driver was so nice as he pulled over what seemed to be a shoulder lane with barely room to park.Lighting
Because I was kinda crunched for time I decided to take a bracketed exposure of three shots at one-stop increment. The light was not too harsh that morning because the sun was still rising and in addition, there were some scattered clouds that helped soften up the light.Equipment
For this photo, I used a Canon EOS M5 camera and a Sigma 10-20mm. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera mounting plate. So, the tripod that I brought on this trip rendered rather useless. Thankfully, there was plenty of light so I was able to capture the photo handheld.Inspiration
I've been seeing great photos of abandoned ships and stranded boats before in magazines and sites, such as Viewbug, 500PX, and others. So, the inspiration behind this photo comes from other great photographers that were gracious enough to share their captured photos with the rest of us and inspire us to try and do the same.Editing
Because I used a bracketed exposure, I used Lightroom to stitch the three RAW files together and then just do minor adjustments. Mainly, I lowered the highlights for the clouds and increased the shadows to bring out the darker areas. I then went ahead and increased the clarity and dehaze, just to bring out a bit of the detail in the photo, and then just cropped the photo to a 1:1 aspect ratio.In my camera bag
In the past, I used to bring two camera bodies with me, such as Canon 50D and Canon 5Dll. For the lenses, I would usually bring a wide-angle such as Sigma 10-20mm a mid-range lense such as Canon 50mm, and a telephoto lense such as 70-200mm. For this trip, I wanted to try and travel as light as possible. So, I went ahead and purchased a Canon EOS M5 camera, respectively due to its size and price. To help with the weight I only brought two lenses with me which were the Sigma 10-20mm and the Canon 50mm. I did bring a tripod with me but unfortunately, I was not able to get any use out of it since I didn't bring the tripod mount and I could not find any place that had it for sale on either the cruise ship or any of the islands.Feedback
The main advice that I would give to others as well as to myself is, conduct thorough research before you take any kind of a trip. Especially, if you won't get a chance to visit that place again. The lesson that I have learned from this trip is to check what gear you want to bring with you and then double-check you have packed everything you will need and nothing more (or less). When visiting the Islands, know that this place is surrounded by water and is encompassed with some amazing clouds. Looking back, I wish I had been better prepared. The two things I wish I had brought with me would have been a tripod and an ND filter for some long exposure shots. All that being said, even if I had brought only the camera that is on my phone I still would have come out with some great shots. The trip to the Caribbean alone is worth it. But don't forget, the amazing people of the islands, the delicious food, and the welcoming atmosphere cannot be simply captured by the camera only. It has to be enjoyed the old fashioned way!
