One hundred years ago, a certain Joshua Slocum had the strange idea of sailing around the world for no reason other than the sheer pleasure of doing it.

It was something completely new. No one has ever swum just for fun before. The sea was fearsome, treacherous and dangerous. One could resist him in the name of work, like fishermen or sailors of warships, out of necessity, when moving from one place on earth to another, or out of mistake, after a shipwreck, but not for fun.

Joshua Slocum has sailed all his life, first as a sailor, then as a captain of cargo sailboats. At fifty, he himself built a boat ten meters long and went around the world. He always walked alone, overcame dangers and difficulties, met with pirates off the coast of Africa, he was attacked by the natives of Tierra del Fuego in the Strait of Magellan, passed through the debilitating storms of Cape Horn, experienced moments of stormy delight and idyllic calm, saw distant countries, met interesting and strange people all over the world.

Slocum was an inquisitive man, a good observer and storyteller. When he stayed in some city, he made acquaintances and was invited to meetings where many people came to listen to his incredible stories. Sometimes he received material assistance, in cash or in kind. The first circumnavigator was also a good writer. He entered into an agreement with a magazine and sent notes about his journey, which were periodically published. Then all his notes were sorted and published in a book: "Alone around the world." Appeared nnew literary genre.

After him, other navigators appeared - writers: Muatissier, Dumas, Fogar, Tabarly, Chichester. Almost all are singles.

Traveling on a small sailboat is full of strong emotions. Fear when the elements are raging, fatigue when you have to stand on the steering wheel for many hours and days, joy and delight when flocks of dolphins and whales surround the boat and it seems that you are one on one with untouched nature, which no longer exists in the rest of the world, triumph when, after many weeks, a dark streak appears on the horizon, representing a world of people that seemed to no longer exist.

The sea, an inexhaustible source of emotions, and stories about them, always touch, fascinate, envy and empathize those who remain on earth and lead a normal life. One of our friends once told us:

— Thank you for the book Under the Vast Sky. I gave it to my father to read. He is sick and bedridden. With her, he forgot about his illness for several days, he traveled with you.

It was the best compliment ever heard.

In the following decades, the literature on the sea has grown exponentially. Hundreds of books have been published. Some of them are good, others are just great. Writing about the sea is not difficult. Everyone is capable of this, which is confirmed by the fact that among those who wrote about the sea and became famous in recent years, there is not a single professional writer. The content is important here, you need to have something to talk about. And up to this point, everything is simple, since the sea gives you events. You also need to have a great desire to write, try and try, write and remake, until the prose becomessmooth. In the end, you need to find a publisher, and this is perhaps the most difficult.

But, attention, dispel immediately doubts. None of the navigators who wrote, except, perhaps, Muatissier, managed to live only on the income from his own books. Exactly. I know that by saying this I'm shattering many dreams, but the real truth is that writing brings in little income, so little that it's not worth considering (however, blogging online can bring in a substantial income, in the order of $1,500-$2,000 a month , see the Sailing UMA blog - editor's note).

The author of the book is entitled to seven to ten percent of the sale price. If the book costs ten euros, the author earns less than one euro per book. Since the estimated circulation of sales of an average book of this genre is only a few thousand copies, you can calculate it yourself.

But writing about your journey is still great. Writing down your own impressions on paper as you experience them is undoubtedly worthwhile. It can turn into a book, it can only turn out to be stories or just a notebook that can be re-read years later, but still, it will be a notebook full of wonderful memories.

Most travelers keep a diary. Recordings in it can be made in the evening, in a calm atmosphere at the anchorage, or recorded in a hurry, as events unfold. And you don't have to worry about the form, everything can be put in order later. You will notice that the emotions recorded immediately are more vivid and alive, stronger than those that are recorded later, filtered through the sieve of memory. We always wrote by hand, in simple notebooks, of which a whole mountain had accumulated over the years. A ream of paper containing a piece of our life. Other prefthey write on the computer. The result is less tangible in form, but just as complete in content.

If you do this seriously, you can offer your articles to magazines. First of all, of course, sailing, but also tourist and other things. A person looking at the world from the deck of a sailing sailboat discovers many interesting things. But in the world of magazines, the beginning is always difficult. You are unknown to anyone. You need to be noticed and appreciated, try to be different in content, be accurate and reliable if you make a commitment. A good method is to analyze the articles in the journals to which you are going to submit your material.. Find articles of similar content, call the editor and explain that you can write something similar or different. If the idea is liked, an article is sent and this can be a start. We know many who started this way.

Видеосъёмки на лодке

A golden sunset, a fierce storm, a herd of sleeping whales, dances of the inhabitants of the lost islands. When traveling on a sailboat, you can see many very interesting things and with the help of a video camera, even an amateur one, you can capture vivid memories of what happened.

The process is divided into two parts. Shooting on location, which will capture the event in all its aspects with an abundance of footage from all possible angles, and subsequent processing, called editing, choosing scenes and lining them up in a chain that sets the rhythm, tone and balance of the story. The end result can be a great movie...or a very boring one.

Have you ever visited friends to watch a video filmed on vacation by those present? Or a film from the wedding, filmed by a neighbor, and edited by him? Then you understand what I'm talking about: endless hours of the most boring scenes and a shaky image.

The difference between interesting and boring films undoubtedly depends on the content, but not only. The shooting technique, the choice of scenes and the rhythm of the editing are fundamental here. Professionals shoot hours of footage, then spend days editing, and end up with less than ten percent of the footage used in the finished movie. Hobbyists who don't always have a computer at their disposal for editing should think about what the end result will be when filming. If you are going to do editing, then you can shoot very long scenes, you can use the memory without thinking.oh, lose and catch the focus again, since all unsuccessful frames can be deleted after. If it is supposed to show the film as it is, then it is necessary to direct it during the shooting, which is quite difficult, but not impossible. Here are some rules tips and tricks.

First rule: only short films.

An amateur film must be short to be interesting. This is a fundamental rule that knows no exceptions. This is a truth that is difficult to follow, especially at the beginning, but the truth is absolute. Fifteen minutes would be the ideal length, which can be increased to twenty if the topic is very interesting.

Each scene within the film should not last more than three, four, maximum five seconds. If, for example, you want to shoot Pierrot standing on the steering wheel in a thunderstorm, do not shoot him for a minute in a row. Five seconds straight shot, Pierrot at the helm, then stop the camera, move and film five seconds from the side. Stop the camera again, get closer, focus and take three seconds close-up of the hands turning the steering wheel, followed by a face looking into the distance, and shooting from far away in the same direction. These five scenes, viewed in succession,will be sufficient and interesting.

But the sea was very rough, you will say, and Piero steered the waves so skillfully, and the boat sailed magnificently against these huge waves. It is impossible to show everything in twenty seconds! Then intersperse the above scenes with five seconds of footage of the stem cutting the wave, five seconds of a view of the sails from below, a close-up of the shunts against the backdrop of rushing water, and a white trail behind the stern. Only forty seconds, which will create the image of Pierrot the Navigator. Try it, you'll see it works well.

Rule two: there must be movement in the scenes.

Movement is necessary to give rhythm to a film. If the subject is in motion, such as someone turning a winch, there is no need to add anything. It is enough to keep the camera still and film the object in action. If the object is motionless: the boat is at anchor, someone is reading while sitting in the cockpit, then you yourself must give life to the frames by moving the camera. How? For example, when shooting a panorama, starting from far away, end at the object, or starting from it, take it away. Or you can use the trick of shooting an object from different angles by doing two or moreMore short scenes, no more than two seconds each. Short passages viewed in quick succession will bring life to the scene.

Rule three: don't use the zoom and almost never use the telephoto lens.

Zoom is an option that professionals almost never use. The zoom of an amateur television camera is also difficult to control, so it is better not to use it at all. Its usefulness lies in the ability to select the best approximation, but during shooting, the zoom itself should not be used. Don't trust camera manufacturers who advertise cameras with powerful zooms. There is no benefit from them, they only give a false impression of the ability to zoom in on objects. In reality, they blur the image, make it shaky and of poor quality.

A telephoto lens should also be used with care. The shots taken by him jump and focusing is very delicate. The quality improves if you use a tripod, but on a boat, sailing, in motion, even a tripod will not stabilize the image. A telephoto lens should be used only when it cannot be dispensed with (a bird on a branch, kitvdal). In other cases, instead of using the zoom, it's better to get closer with the camera. Close-up shots are warmer, clearer and sharper.

Rule #4: Keep changing your angle

If you start shooting from a frontal view, then go to a side view, if you start from a close-up, go to a panorama, and so on. Look for original angles, shoot from above, below, from the side, from the inside. The TV camera is like your eyes. Place it in an unusual place and get an original and unpredictable angle.

Look at the tourists around you, how they use the TV camera. They always stand clinging to the eyepiece and look around. This position is the most natural, but also the most obvious, so the shooting is always equally predictable. The TV camera can give much more. It is enough to change the shooting points. Example: if you want to take a close-up shot of a person, taking a few seconds from the front, try to get closer and take shots from a low point against the sky. Such a sequence of two plans would be unexpected and origial.

Rule Five: Use a Wide Converter

Shooting on a boat has its challenges. There is little space, everything is constantly in motion, pitching worsens the situation even more. Since it is impossible to get far enough away from the subject, it is difficult to shoot wide shots, especially inside. Here you need a wide converter mounted on the lens, which expands its field of view and allows you to take more space into the frame. Eni attachments are not very expensive and allow you to take acceptable shots even in the cabin.

Rule six: do not forget to shoot the boat from the side.

A sailing sailboat is beautiful when sailing. To take it off, you obviously have to get off it. You can shoot from the pier, with a TV camera on a tripod if the situation allows, or pass the TV camera to friends on another boat that goes with you. If there are no other options, you can also withdraw from the tender, but there should not be much excitement, otherwise the image will be unstable.

Rule seven: the theme of the film.

Finally, and most importantly: history. The sequence in which the frames are mounted must tell some kind of story and have content, otherwise it will just be a set of beautiful pictures.

Pierrot goes on a cruise to the Balearic Islands. What comes to mind is to build a series of beautiful sailing shots followed by beautiful footage from Balearic. A film constructed in this way, despite the beautiful shots, will be very boring.

Let's try to link a story to it: I, Piero and Maria, are going to the Balearic Islands - shots of how we study the map, load provisions, give mooring lines. At first the weather was good: sailing, sunrises, sunsets, the stem cutting the water. Then a thunderstorm came: we show the approach of bad weather, we run, take cover in a cabin, Pierrot looks at the sky with a preoccupied look, an image of a furiously spinning anemometer, or an instrument pointer rising, we take reefs, waves, Pierrot listens to the weather forecast, Maria says:

"Maybe it's better to go back."

Then Pierrot steers, Maria closes the hatches, waves again, but already higher, a collapsing ridge, Pierrot putting on insurance and so on. Then we see the Balearic. Five seconds of the island from afar, they say, mooring lines thrown ashore. We go out to the square, buy ice cream, go to the market and so on. Putting all this into fifteen minutes, you get a nice movie and the compliments of the audience will be sincere.

So far, the film has only been about the boat, its crew, and the journey. If you choose to shoot about the places you visit and the people who live there, the potential topics are endless, but the rules are the same: short film, short scenes, no zoom, and lots of story.

Выбор телекамеры

There is a huge number of cameras, prices for which start from five hundred and reach several thousand euros. For filming on a boat, you need to focus on a small TV camera. It is easier to store, more convenient to use, easier to protect from splashes and moisture. You should not choose cameras with a powerful zoom to make the camera seem more powerful. In reality, the best thing is the classic optical 10x zoom.

The most necessary option is steady shot, optical is better than electronic. It reduces image shaking and is ideal for a boat where everything is always in motion. And finally, choose a model with the ability to manually focus, because automatic is not always reliable.

On rainy days and when sailing in bad weather, it is better to protect your camera with a waterproof case, as they are very delicate and sensitive to humidity. Real underwater boxes are very expensive and bulky, they are used for filming at depth and are only needed if you really decide to take up underwater photography, and then you will need: scuba gear, wetsuit, illuminator and much more. There are also soft boxes. They cost less and are ideal for a boat. They protect the camera from rain, splashes and allow you to take effective shots in bad weather, withdownpour and waves that sweep over the deck and break on the glass of the TV camera.

And, finally, a rigid, almost hermetically sealed container for storing the camera on the boat is required. Rigid to protect against any shocks that may occur while sailing and sealed to isolate as much as possible from the salty sea air, which aggressively affects the delicate mechanisms of the camera.

Фотографирование

Having set off for the first circumnavigation of the world, we had neither a television camera nor a camera. But this is not due to forgetfulness.

Let's look at the world through our eyes. we said to ourselves. And indeed, it is one thing to admire the sunset while sitting on the beach, immersed only in pink, and quite another to get up, take a camera, wander along the beach in search of the right angle, something to put in the foreground. In the first case, you simply experience magical moments, in the second, you voluntarily or involuntarily concentrate on the camera and its buttons.

After a year of sailing, we changed the idea. The beauty of the paintings we saw made us look for a way to somehow perpetuate them.

When choosing a camera, the same rules apply as when choosing a TV camera. A small camera is easier to store and easier to use. For filming inside a boat, a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 22 mm is required. For nature and outdoor photography, medium telephoto lenses and a tripod are required.

As for the choice between film and digital, the latter on a boat has many advantages: you don’t have to wait months until you get to a place where you can develop videos, with a digital camera, you can view photos that same evening by downloading them to your computer. A digital camera allows you to take a huge number of pictures, try, make mistakes with the angle, focus and exposure as much as you like. Bad shots are removed by pressing a button and only good ones remain. Digital photos can be stored on a hard drive or DVD,

they do not take up much space and hold thousands of frames. Of course, this requires a computer, but now many boats have one. If the choice fell on a film camera, cassettes, both captured and not, should be stored in sealed containers, for the same reasons as video cameras. Also, when sailing in hot climates, it's best to keep them refrigerated.

Well, to take beautiful photos while traveling around the world, you will have many opportunities. Of course, if we are talking about photographs for memory, there are no problems. If you intend to submit your work to newspapers and magazines, that's a different story. Photography is a very specialized job. It takes time, education, a lot of work and, of course, professional photographic equipment. To learn how to take pictures, you can attend photography courses, read books and magazines, and, most importantly, shoot a lot, make thousands of dreams.imkov and evaluate the results.