Photo contest

WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR SPONSORS FOR THE PHOTO CONTEST 2002!

You can see the results, and the Best Pictures from our previous photo contest right here...

We could provide the wonderful prizes our contestants received thanks to the generosity of people at

And the Winners of the sailfree.com Photo Contest are:

1st Prize: picture #52

Runners up: picture #16 by Scotty Giles

and

picture #46 by Cary Diehl

FIRST PRIZE WINNER
by Unknown - please forward your name to us!
RUNNERS UP
*by Scotty Giles*
*by Cary Diehl*
SPECIAL RECOGNITION PICTURES
*by Zbigniew Turkiewicz*	*by Zbigniew Turkiewicz*	*by Mitch Polgar*	by Unknown - please forward your name to us!
*by Scotty Giles*	*by Rafal Zubko*		*by Rafal Zubko*

HOW TO TAKE GREAT BOATING PICTURES

One of the basic rules of good photography is to use a tripod whenever possible to assure a razor-sharp image. But according to Chuck DeLaney, Dean of the world's largest photography school, New York Institute of Photography (NYI), there's one situation where a tripod is NOT advisable. It's when you're shooting from the deck of a boat. Here's why. On board a sailboat or motor yacht, you experience a passing parade of images that you would love to capture with your camera. Sunsets. Shorelines. Beach scenes. Other boats. Hardly a moment passes without a new beckoning scene.
But boats roll. And tripods on their decks roll with them. So if you mounted your camera on a tripod, you would end up with blurred images at best. What to do?
According to DeLaney, on a boat a tripod will do a worse job of stabilizing the image than simple hand holding. Here's what NYI advises its students: Stand with your legs comfortably apart, and your knees slightly bent. In this position, your knees can act as shock absorbers, and your handheld picture will be fairly steady. To cut movement to a minimum, use fast film - ISO 400 or faster - and shoot with the fastest shutter speed you can.

For further tips about how to take great pictures from boats, of boats, and on them, see the complete article on the website from the New York Institute of Photography (NYI) at <http://www.nyip.com>.