On board
On board, it's just using a wide angle to see that you're on a boat and highlight the environment. You can highlight an element or the boat in its entirety. For example, in the first case, images can be taken flush with the bridge to highlight elements such as the winches, the bridge or the roof. In the second case, one can climb into the mast, being secured on a chair, and, from the spreaders or the mast head, have sufficient distance and see the whole boat.
From the outside
Contextualizing the photo
Outside, it depends on the boat and the sensitivity of each photographer. I like to put it in a situation where the maritime side (environment, sea) and the place where it sails is also put forward in the image. The boat is in its element, in the swell, waves or even in the flat calm.
You should use the environment to enhance the boat and not center your photo on it. It's good to give yourself some fields, to use a wave, to contextualize the photo.
Take into account the type of units
Each boat has its frame! The boats made for offshore, offshore navigation have more meaning offshore, in the rough sea. For a dinghy or a dinghy, it will be better to take the picture near the coast, a beach..
It all depends on the type of boat. In any case, you shouldn't always want to use large telephoto lenses because it crushes perspectives a lot, it makes them small and big. A lens between 70 and 200 mm is largely sufficient.
Take into account where the image was taken
The techniques are different, as are the possibilities. If you take a high photo of a fixed point (a bridge for example), the angle of view, as well as the moment will be limited. If we are at sea, we will be as close as possible to the boat to photograph, with more possibilities.
It is easier to photograph a boat from a motorboat since you can easily move around the"subject" and change the angles, but also the height. A semi-rigid is low on the water and allows to take pictures at level or underwater while a flybridge launch allows to have a plunging view on the subject.
As for the helicopter, used with a good pilot, it is the best for taking pictures in harsh conditions. It is more production and work is"easier" for the photographer and his material. Nowadays boats go faster and faster and it sometimes becomes difficult to follow them from another boat. Hence the interest of the air.
Inside
I recommend taking pictures from the inside to the outside and using a tripod with a long enough pose. You have to use ambient lights to create an atmosphere. The pictures taken at nightfall, with the bluish outside light, create a contrast through the portholes, with this cold outside effect and the warm inside effect, with the artificial light
