Patti and I have two different agendas when we go on a cruise.  She loves to chill, dress up on Formal Night, try new culinary dishes, go to the shows and nap, nap, nap.  I like to read books, go diving if we’re in the Caribbean and just spend time alone with Patti.  But, and here come the photog in me, I like to take long walks around the ship while she’s napping and work on my vision.

We’ve been on a lot of cruises and I never get tired.  I love the colors, design and the people.  Each ship is it’s own unique subject and has a story to tell.  It’s just my chance to share it.  When I’m traveling I go for the boldness of the color and the shadows displays at different times of the day.  It’s a time to play with new techniques or rarely used ones that are almost forgotten, that somehow are pretty interesting.

One key approach I’d suggest to someone that wants to make good images on a cruise ship is to slow down and look first.  Don’t get overwhelmed by all the color and people engaged in all the shipboard activities.  Stop, watch and see what really grabs your attention.  Then start shooting.  Be selective, you don’t need twenty shots of a the same subject.

And the most important thing…….. don’t neglect the person you came with.

The Techy Stuff:  I only take one camera with me on cruises lately.  This was a D7000 and the primary lenses I used were a 12-24 mm nikkor and a 80-200 2.8 nikkor lens.  All images processed initially in Adobe Lightroom 3.  This was our 10th trip on the Carnival Cruise Lines.  The cruise was from Long Beach to Catalina to Ensenada, Mexico.

More of my work can be viewed at:  www.zwink.com