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Welcome Aboard

Welcome aboard this virtual cruise on the MV Marco to Canada  – The actual cruise took place in September / October 2015,  but I will be sending out an email with links to videos and photographs from each corresponding day two years ago.

The voyage so far…

Day 0, 6th September – Packed and ready to go.

Well,  the car is packed, and I am on my way. Won’t see home or Ann for the next five weeks. I am spending tonight with friends in Rugby and board MV Marco Polo tomorrow for a 34-night cruise to Canada where I will be lecturing on photography. It is both exciting and a little scary too!

Day 1, 7th September – Welcome Aboard

We left Tilbury Dock, London for our first port of call.  It was my first time on the MV Marco Polo – you can see my guided tour of the ship here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HuDTQ3En3Y

Day 1, 8th September – Amsterdam

We are at our first port of call – Amsterdam.  Here we pickup the Dutch passengers who will be joining us for this commemorative voyage.  While they embark we have the chance to look round the city.

Day 3, 9th September – Cherbourg, France

It’s day 3 or our virtual cruise to Canada. We are still in Europe, today we visit Cherbourg in France. This is our last stop before 5 days at sea as we cross the Atlantic Ocean to Canada.

Take a look at today’s travelogue to find out what we saw in Cherbourg…

For the next five days we will be at sea. During that time there will be no travelogue videos, but I will share a few photography hints and tips from the lectures I gave while we were at sea.

Day 4, 10th September – At Sea

It’s day 4 of our virtual cruise, and we are at sea, beginning our 5-day crossing of the Atlantic. So I don’t have any travelogue videos for this day.  However, for me it was the first of my Photography Lectures on board.  The lecture was “The Secrets of Great Composition” so let me share with you the highlights from that talk.

There are three ‘rules’ that will help you with every image that you create.  They are:  Subject, Focus, Simplify

CLICK HERE to learn the 3 rules of composition

Day 5, 11th September – At Sea

It’s day 5 of our virtual cruise, and we are on the second day of our 5-day crossing of the Atlantic.   Two years ago today, in my Photography Lecture “A Matter of Perspective” I showed passengers how to move a 2000-year-old temple using nothing more than a camera.

CLICK HERE to learn how it was done.

Day 6, 12th September – At Sea

Atlantic Ocean

Let’s talk about sea sickness.

It’s day 6 of our virtual cruise, and we are now halfway across the Atlantic. I hope you aren’t getting too sea sick on this virtual cruise.

If you are you might like to know what causes it. Our brains like to interpret what the eyes are seeing so that horizontals remain horizontal and verticals remain vertical. When you are inside a moving ship the brain keeps the interior verticals and horizontals so that they APPEAR to remain straight. However, the motion detectors in our ears can sense the motion of the ship. So we have eyes that are telling the brain nothing is moving, and ears that are telling the brain everything is moving. It is this conflict that causes the brain to get confused and that confusion manifests as nausea.

What can you do about it? Well, my favourite trick is to go out on deck so I can see the horizon. The brain then has a reference point that it knows is horizontal: we now see the ship moving (and the horizon straight) this means there are not conflicting inputs from the eyes and the ears. I find that really helps… of course the fresh air on deck helps too.

We still have two more days at sea before we get to St John’s in Newfoundland.

Day 7, 13th September – At Sea

Day 7 of our virtual cruise and we are now two-thirds the way across the Atlantic ocean, it’s at this stage we are all really wanting to get back on dry land. There’s lots going on aboard the Marco Polo, games, cabarets and lectures.

But for a photographer, there’s only so many ways you can photograph the sea! So to scratch my itch to get photographing I start photographing the empty rear deck.

CLICK HERE to see how I got on.

Day 8, 14th September – At Sea

On our virtual cruise, it’s the fifth and final sea day before we make landfall in Canada.  Tomorrow we will be at St. John’s, Newfoundland.  Again I was lecturing, my subject this time “Photography when the weather turns bad.”  As I gave that talk on this day in 2015, I had no idea how apt and appropriate it was going to be, nor had I any idea just how much rain would be waiting for us in St Johns.  But I’m getting ahead of myself and I’ll deal with all that tomorrow.

CLICK HERE to see a tip for protecting your camera in the rain.

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