The best laid plans

As Forest Gump said, life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get. The same can be said of weather forecasts.

One of the skills of a professional photographer is knowing how to work around any issues that arise, you have to take it as it comes and create results regardless of what life throws your way.


Riviera Marine, Australias largest luxury boat builder, recently commissioned us to photograph their 70-foot fly bridge cruiser.

Shot on location in New Caledonia and working around a time frame governed by delivery of the boat to its new owner in Vanuatu. We also had to work around the fickleness of the local weather- the forecast was good but its accuracy was not.

While we had a couple of good mornings predominantly the weather was overcast creating very flat light. Our only option was to shoot regardless and resolve the lighting issues later in post production.

The only way to illustrate this is by comparison hence I am showing both the before and after images, I would like to thank the marketing team at Riviera for agreeing to this reveal of their imaging, we respect our clients privacy and would normally not share circumstances without their permission.This Titanic shot required bringing 3 images together, the boat element is obvious but we needed a local background then a sky that would blend to a believable lighting mood to match the original image. There is no way you could make this realistic by dropping in a blue sky and water but the post sunset light and the careful blending which includes adding the highlight on the water on the right of frame creates a feel that most boat owners can relate to.


I think the best description for this day was dead calm there was not a breath of wind and a solid overcast killed all colour in what would have been, on a good day, a stunning location. In post production we radically reworked the contrast and colour in selective areas of the scene and dropped in a new sky to accentuate the horizon.


There is a subtle difference in these shots, working with boats on waters is always a battle of the elements in this case it was wind that was killing the relaxing mood we were trying to create. Again in post production we smoothed the water and created a serene environment that focused on the boat rather than the background.

I understand that some people think Photoshop is cheating but for me its a tool to be used as required. If a client invests in photography they are entitled to the best results craft can supply
and like any craftsman a photographer should have the confidence and trust to choose the tools that suit the conditions.

And just to prove that not every shot revolves around extensive retouching here as some other shots out of the camera.