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As the largest estuary in the United States, the Chesapeake Bay region from Maryland to Virginia boasts a special sanctuary with unparalleled landscapes, wildlife and historic sites to photograph. Marinalife caught up with expert Chesapeake Bay photographers who know what it takes to capture the moment.
Hailing from Annapolis, MD, native Jay Fleming grew up fishing and exploring local waterways which cultivated his love for preservation and documentation. He currently teaches photography workshops and embarks on excursions from international islands to the glorious Chesapeake, where he gets up close and personal in the working watermen culture.
Jill Jasuta grew up in New Jersey and didn’t get into Chesapeake Bay photography until later in life when she moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She began shooting during her time as a volunteer for Cambridge Main Street’s nonprofit, which eventually led to a career in commercial photography. “In my photography, I’m trying to add something to the scene to give it a sense of place,” says Jasuta. “For example, I live near the Choptank Lighthouse and that’s been one of my favorites. If the sky looks interesting in the dawn hours, I’ll pop in my car and run over there. I like to include the lighthouse as part of the sunrise scene ‘cause that gives it a whole different feel.”
Jay Fleming first realized the importance of light for a picture- perfect shot at a young age while tagging along on trips with his father, a long-time professional photographer. “We’d always go out at sunrise or sunset when the light was nice and soft with color in the sky,” says Fleming. “Typically, we avoided shooting in the middle of the day unless something special was happening. Going out in the morning or evening, it’s easy to see why those are the best times to shoot.”
Fleming suggests choosing days with flat, calm conditions on the bay to get the best reflections on the water. “When the water is calm, it reflects the sky conditions, so you get a lot more texture and brightness,” he says. “I typically gravitate towards those calm days and, for me, that’s usually in the mornings.”
He says a cloudy day isn’t necessarily a bad day to photograph and can help reduce shadows from sunlight, but it’s about focusing on weather conditions that affect the water. When snorkeling for underwater photography, he never uses strobes or flashes and relies solely on natural light.
Like Fleming, Jasuta says clouds can be a good thing. “Low winds are nice for good reflections, partly cloudy is better for sunrises and sunsets because the light is filtering through the clouds making dramatic colors and shapes, but of course you don’t want 100% cloud coverage because then you can’t see anything, so there’s a sweet spot,” says Jasuta. “I also love foggy mornings when the sun is breaking through the fog — to me, that’s one of the most beautiful times to shoot on the water when the sun comes through with golden tones.”
Jasuta says to capture the perfect golden hour shot, don’t leave as soon as the sun goes below the horizon because often the more dramatic colors come after. This can be challenging on a boat, and you will need your shutter open longer to get light into the camera. When shooting in manual mode to capture action shots like wildlife, she says increasing shutter speed is critical to reduce shakiness and out-of-focus shots, and recommends using tripods.
When it comes to framing the best angles, Fleming likes to aim the camera low to the water and flip the LCD display screen up on the back to eyeball it rather than looking directly through the viewfinder. He may even hang over the boat (safely) or place the camera inches from the water. This requires creativity yet maintaining safety to protect both you and your camera.
Fleming believes in all things natural from lighting to editing the final product and he focuses on minimal modifications to preserve the original colors. “If you hype up the saturation and hype up the contrast, a lot of things tend to look unnatural,” he says. “Try to make things look as natural as when you saw them.”
Jasuta agrees that minimal and natural editing is best, and she shoots in RAW settings on her DSLR for the highest pixels. “In some situations, you have deep shadows and bright lights and when you shoot RAW that gives you the maximum ability to adjust and make it in line with what our eyes see.” She says this allows for easy editing to lighten up shadows, tone down highlights and balance tonal range.
•Most professional shooting can be done with a Digital Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera, but for the latest and greatest technology, Fleming suggests mirrorless cameras, which have an electronic viewfinder and a faster frame rate. His mirrorless Nikon can shoot up to 120 frames per second. He says even the new iPhones have enough high-quality capabilities to shoot over 40 megapixels — but they do have limitations of lenses and zoom — so nothing truly compares to shooting with DSLRs.
•For outdoor photography, he recommends Aquatech’s Sport Shield Flash waterproof cover which acts as a “camera rain jacket” for foul conditions.
•Fleming also uses Pelican camera cases to store and transport equipment and says, “they are waterproof, crush-proof, have protective foam, and you can get different cases depending on what gear you have.” Jasuta likes to carry her camera in a backpack for comfort and uses a Lowepro bag.
•Jasuta suggests apps and websites to help plan shoots: Photographer’s Ephemeris allows you to set location to see the exact direction of sunrise or sunset, as well as tools that predict the sky’s colorfulness such as Alpenglow and sunsetwx.com.
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