elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

I have shot exactly what you are going to see, and exactly at the same time with total darkness. I went totally manual, lens wide open, and shutter speed of 1/60 of a second, and hand held. I shot both sides of the bridge (approaching, under, and moving away). I also shot the Statue of Liberty, or should I say I shot 'at' the statue, for I could not really see it. It was too dark out. At home, I was pleased that I captured it all. In fact, with Photoshop, I was able to recover the reflection of the bridge on the water. Queen Mary II?

edwdickinson Loc: Ardmore PA

Did this on a trip out of the port of NY at the end of Sept.Not an easy job. Most if not all ships have glass surrounding areas you can shoot from facing forward. You end up standing on a chair to get over the glass. Hand holding is easiest, but not optimal. Bump up ISO, open up the lens to get a shutter speed at something faster than 30th of a second and correct in post. Remember the ship is moving at around 12 to 15 knots "14-17 mph".

GregWCIL Loc: Illinois

Of course tripod would do you no good and likely trying to steady on a moving ship won't help much. You will need very high ISOs like 6400. You didn't say how wide the aperture goes on your zoom. We went through the Panamal Canal at night on a small ship and I had surprisingly good luck shooting some bridges, the locks and even a dredge working in the night. Image stabilization is likely more important that a faster aperture but you can try both. These were taken with my 16-35 f4, ISO 6400.

1/10th second, 19mm

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1/45th second

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jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You will insulate the camera from the ship's vibrations, while the tripod would transmit them. Don't be afraid of high ISO. You can deal with noise later.

https://digital-photography-school.com/night-photography/
https://digital-photography-school.com/tips-for-getting-proper-exposure-for-night-photography/
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/10-essential-tips-night-photography
https://www.lifewire.com/tips-for-nighttime-photography-492831

Wanda Krack Loc: Tennessee, USA

The boat's forward motion could be your biggest challenge. Increasing the camera speed is the only solution unless the boat is moving fast enough to pan, or unless the boat is moving directly toward the skyline you want to shoot. The possibility of obtaining a good shot would be improved with the use of the low amp. 50mm lens. Luck to you.

ssohl Loc: NJ

Thanks! No not the Queen MARY but that sure would be nice. We’re going on the Royal Caribbean Anthem. Appreciate the hints from one who’s been there.

Marilia Loc: Dallas, TX

😂😂😂

ssohl Loc: NJ

Nice! My zoom is 3.5 to 5.6. My 50 mm prime is 1.4.

ssohl Loc: NJ

Thank you! I will check out those sites.

ssohl Loc: NJ

Thank you.

Tom M Loc: 77429

The dark sky and surrounding will probably fool your meter into exposing too long, so I would try underexposing it a couple stops, either by using manual mode or using (-) compensation in aperture priority. This will increase your shutter speed and should give you a sharper shot. As suggested, keep a wide aperture and fairly high ISO. Otherwise, you could try setting to spot metering and target a brighter spot on the bridge, just remember to set it back to normal when you're finished so you don't forget the next day.

JRD3 Loc: Richmond, VA

The idea of aperture priority, high ISO, etc. makes sense to me. But the fact you will be on water for a few days before returning to NYC suggests you have plenty of time to find out what works best for you. Good luck.

JRD3 Loc: Richmond, VA

The idea of aperture priority, high ISO, etc. makes sense to me. But the fact you will be on water for a few days before returning to NYC suggests you have plenty of time to find out what works best for you. Good luck.

Papa j Loc: Cary NC

Also keep in mind the ship itself will be in motion

J

dave.m

From my experience, on a ship for low light or night photography off ship, the camera has to be hand held. As has been mentioned before, the ship is in motion, often forwards and rocking even in good weather or on a slow approach to docking. A tripod or any form of 'fixing' to a ship in motion (using towels on handrails etc) will not work well with any form of long exposure. Long lenses only make any motion effects worse.

I would suggest practicing a good hand-held technique: feet slightly apart in a forward 'stepping' stance, use the viewfinder so the camera can be held firmly against the face with the elbows below the camera braced against the body, take a good breath, breath out slightly and hold, then take your shot. Don't use the rear screen - holding the camera almost at arms length magnifies even the slightest movement.

Excellent advice above on exposure etc. If your not comfortable with Manual, then I would suggest aperture Priority, set aperture at about f/4 to start with to get some depth of field. (1.4 has virtually no DoF so if at a good angle on approach, most of the bridge will not be in focus even if you were on shore with a tripod!) Leave ISO on auto and check it should give you a reasonable shutter speed. Then either a) use your exposure compensation dial to increase or decrease exposure to get a result you like or b) autobracket exposures by +/- 2 stops to see whats happening.

In my modest experience even though the ship is often travelling slowly to on approach to docking it all happens very fast for us amateurs. If at all possible find something local to you that you think will have similar lighting yo what you expect, and experiment before you go. Then set up your camera with what you found worked then before you step out on the deck :)

Couple of examples from a trip from Miami both with hand held Canon 6D - the first 60mm, f/4, 1/25s, ISO 25,600 the second 200mm, f2.8, 1/25, ISO 25,600. Both would be okish at Letter/ A4 size but are noisy (hardly surprising at ISO 25k) and also are not exactly pin sharp, but are better than no photo at all. The noise could be reduced of course with post processing but at the possible expense of what sharpness there is


Good luck