Choose the best time of day and take the sun into account
This"rule" is common to the photo. Generally, we look for beautiful morning or evening lights because the lighting is softer and warmer. But that doesn't stop you from making beautiful images in broad daylight. There is also a technique to take pictures in the middle of the day and thus improve the quality of the image. When there is a lot of sun and light on board, the flash is used.
It unblocks the shadows, which are very strong when there is a lot of sun. This means that we add light in the shaded areas, because at sea there are many contrasts.
This technique, called"fill-in" flash, is a specific function found on many consumer devices. You just have to find the mode that allows you to trigger your flash even in broad daylight. Do not hesitate to use it as soon as you are against the light or when there are many lights and contrasts during the day. It gives a punchy enough image, dense enough and exposed enough, without having the blacks completely blocked.
The background
The background is important because it will put the image in the external context. So we have to position ourselves so as to place the background in our photo: a beautiful rainbow in the background of the image, a grain with a black sky and clouds, waves to locate the environment and the state of the sea..
I don't have a favourite background, but on a sailing boat for example, I like to use the wake of the boat to show the speed or when you get there, the bow wave. An off-centre picture with a bow wave or the effect of the boat hitting the wave with a spray of water on the side is a context I use a lot.
Navigation or anchorage
Depending on what you want to do, you can take your photos while sailing or anchoring. Action images are better in navigation, but if you want to create a technical, detailed or even advertising image, you can do them very well at anchor, on board. When you're at anchor, you don't have these horizon problems, these wake problems. The boat's not moving.
