146
W
hen renowned marine
photographer Onne van der
Wal popped the question
“Does everyone know what a histogram
is?” and my hand was the only one raised
to admit I didn’t, I knew I was in trouble.
Van der Wal, one of about 45 top-end
shooters in the “Explorers of Light”
posse of professionals, sponsored by
Canon cameras, was addressing a couple
of dozen attendees at one of his regular
photography workshops at his gallery in
Newport, Rhode Island, last summer.
The occasion was the introduction of
Canon’s new 1D X MKII camera — at
about $6,000, it’s worth more than my
ancient Silverado pickup truck — and the
group consisted mostly of ringers: photo-
graphy writers dispatched to review the
gear for their respective websites and
publications. A fi nal spot had opened up
that Canon graciously of ered to me, but I
realized from the outset that, talentwise,
I was way out of my league. Then again,
I’ve had oodles of photos published over
the years to accompany my magazine
stories, and reckoned a little pro instruc-
tion wouldn’t hurt anything. Heck, I
might even learn a trick or two.
Like a lot of sailors, even when I’m
not working, I enjoy taking photos out
on the water. With an ongoing panoply
of incredibly cool boats from every era
going to and fro in the city’s busy harbor,
Newport is an especially good place to do
so. But great marine photography is both
an art and a science, and not an easy one
at that. Oftentimes you’re shooting one
pitching, moving object from the deck
of yet another one. A good dollop of sea
spray can gum up the works of an expen-
sive camera body easily, and the light
changes often and quickly. I’ve always
admired the best nautical shooters, like
van der Wal, who have their own distinctstyle. I consider them nothing less than
artists, with technical skills to match.
Van der Wal readily admits that much
of the magic and artistry in his work
comes from the many hours he spends
massaging raw fi les on his Mac.
Me? Not so much. And I fi gure if I
take 300 images and get fi ve or six worth
publishing, I’m doing just fi ne.
But we can all get better, right? Like
any sport or activity, it’s all about repe-
tition: The more you do something, the
more adept you become at it. And van
der Wal had laid out an itinerary that
would maximize our opportunities to get
great shots. First we’d board a photo boat
to shoot the Tuesday night yacht races
on Narragansett Bay. The next morning,
we’d set forth into Newport to capture
street and city scenes. Finally, by car, we’d
head out to Castle Hill, at the mouth
of the bay, to catch the famous light-
house at sunset. It was a nice mixture ofactivity on land and at sea.
As it turned out, the racing was my
favorite part, and not a little because I
was able to swap my knowledge of what
was happening on the course with some
tips from the camera pros, many of whom
had no clue about the dif erence between
windward and leeward. For a while there,
I actually didn’t feel like an idiot.
And van der Wal couldn’t have been
more helpful. At one point I asked him
how cruising sailors could shoot better
images. “Well,” he said, “iPhones are
great, but you have to go to the next level
and get a proper camera. You don’t have
to break the bank. There are $600 cam-
eras that are very good.
“If you’re shooting on board, get a
wide-angle lens fi rst,” he continued.
“They’re much easier to work with — no
shake — and you can really compose your
shots. On a boat, 90 percent of my stuf is
shot with a wide-angle lens.
“And it’s so worth the money you spend
on lenses,” he added. “If you’re on a bud-
get and can bring just two lenses with
you, I’d suggest a 24-105mm and a 100-
400mm. That’s an amazing setup. Camera
bodies aren’t as important. Some are
better in low light, some have bells and
whistles, but they’ll all shoot beautifully.
You could send me of on an assignment
with a $600 camera, and if I can put a
good lens on it, you’d never know.”
Oh, and about that histogram. “It’s the
little graph on the back of the camera that
tells you what’s going on with the light
hitting the meter,” he said. “It will tell you
if you’re underexposing or overexposing
and the quantity of brightness or dark-
ness. Essentially, it’s a light meter.”
That seemed appropriate. After a cou-
ple of days hanging with the pros, even I
was starting to see the light.Herb McCormick is CW’s executive editor.
To learn more about Onne van der Wal’s
photography workshops, visit his website
(vanderwal.com).One of the many images I took was
of friend Jef Roy’s 30-foot sloop,
Epiphany, closehauled of Newport.november/december 2016cruisingworld.comStraight Shooter
As it turned out, the racing was my favorite part, and not a little because I was able to swap
my knowledge of what was happening on the course with some tips from the pros.BY HERB McCORMICKOff Watch
HERB MCCORMICK