One of the big pluses about going on a cruise for me is the unique vantage point you get being high above the water, overlooking scenery that you normally only get to see from ground level.
Also, the views of coastal ports and towns as you approach or leave from seaward is usually much more visually appealing than actually being in place on the ground, where views are obscured more often than not.
And I took full advantage of these twin benefits to film our departure from the port of Livorno, on the Mediterranean coast of Italy, during a ten day cruise that my wife Liz and I enjoyed during October 2023.
Being thirteen decks up did provide some technical challenges, such as how to mount a heavy DSRL and lens combo onto the ship's structure, but a heavy duty Gorillpod solved that problem.
Another problem was how to smooth out the rocking motion caused by waves hitting the ship, but again, a dose of warp stabiliser in Adobe Premiere Pro solved that particular issue, leaving me with a rather interesting speeded up time lapse video of our departure.
Filename - livorno port timelapse 03
Camera - Canon EOS250D
Lens - 17-40mm zoom @ 19mm
Exposure - Aperture and ISO set to give a shutter speed of 1/50 sec
Filters - None.
Music - Blizzards - Riot
Location - Livorno, Italy
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 48 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2023 unless otherwise stated.