subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 15 June 2019 43
a crew of over 500, from over 25 countries,
working round the clock. Some are visible –
the deck officers; the waiters; bartenders and
room stewards; the entertainment, casino and
shop staff; the guest relations and excursions
staff; the security staff; and, of course, the
ship’s photographers. There are many more
who live and work below the waterline – in the
engine room, the laundry, the galley. Plumbers,
electricians, engineers, carpenters, cooks,
tailors, upholsterers, florists and many more
whose names and faces remain unknown but
without whom the guests’ enjoyment would
be diminished and, in some cases, their
safety compromised.Unique documentary subject
I decided that the crew would make a great
documentary project, and I don’t recall ever
seeing it done before. I chose to shoot in black
& white, which I felt would help focus attention
on the story, and solve the potential issue with
ugly fluorescent lighting that I would be sure to
encounter below decks.
The X-T3’s Film Simulation modes include
the highly regarded Acros mode, which
produces a much nicer tonality than the
straight monochrome setting. One of the
advantages of mirrorless when shooting mono
is that you don’t have to just imagine what your
scene will look like in black & white, as you do
with a DSLR – you see a b&w image in the
EVF. Of course I was shooting in raw too, so I
could just use the Acros mode as a shooting
aid and reprocess my raw files later, using my
own profile. But in reality the Acros mode is
so good I didn’t think I could better it myself.
I started out photographing the service staff
in the public rooms and then, with the help of
the ships’ photographers, I was able to gain
access to those areas the guests don’t get to
see, such as the bridge, galley, and laundry.
Because this wasn’t an officially sanctioned
project my number one rule was not to get
in the way, or inconvenience anyone. I lost
some great photo opportunities by adhering to
it, but rather that than draw negative attention
and find my access suddenly curtailed.
Being a discreet fly on the wall also meant
that the crew soon forgot I was there, if indeed
they even saw me, and I managed to get more
natural pictures. In some cases I was shooting
from less than a metre away with the 16mm
lens without subjects even being aware they
had been photographed. The X-T3 made this
easier by the inclusion of a tilting touchscreen
so I could shoot from waist level and select the
focus point by tapping on it. On a few occasions
I was able to make sense of a busy scene by
holding the camera above my head with the
screen tilted down. Generally the ambient
noise ensured that the quiet shutter on the
X-T3 could not be heard, but on a couple of
occasions I found the ability to switch to a
completely silent electronic shutter very useful.
Of the inventions of recent years one of my
favourites is auto ISO, especially with mirrorless
cameras. It means you can shoot in full
manual exposure mode, setting thecascading waterfalls and pools snaking up
through the tropical rainforest, with a
spectacular 30-metre waterfall at the summit.
Clambering up the slippery rocks and pathways
is precarious, even with the aid of a rope
handrail, especially when you’ve got an X-T3
over your shoulder, but it was worth the effort.
Our third stop in the Fiji Islands, Dravuni,
must surely be one of the smallest inhabited
islands in the world. Occupying an area of less
than a square kilometre, it’s nevertheless home
to 125 people and has its own school and tiny
church. (When the missionaries arrived here
the Fijians practised cannibalism and some will
have ended up as dinner – a fact that their
super-friendly descendants now exploit for the
amusement of the tourists.) After taking a few
pictures I went snorkelling, and spent the rest
of the day wishing I had thought to bring an
underwater housing.
Beautiful as they are, the islands were never
going to offer me the breadth of subject matter
that would give the X-T3 the kind of workout it
deserved. Fortunately I knew a place where I
was sure to find more challenging conditions- the place I’d be spending more time than
anywhere else. Cruise ships are like swans:
beautiful and serene above the surface, but
lots of activity down below. The Maasdam has
Above: The ship anchored off Maré, New Caledonia.
The zooms were handy for shots like this
Fujinon XF 18-55mm F2.8-4 R LM OIS, 1/400sec at f/10, ISO 160
Fujinon XF56mm F1.2 R, 1/420sec at f/2, ISO 160, Acros film mode