Most seafarers bring their camera along when they go ashore, but remember to take pictures of everyday life as well. Don’t just take the camera along when there is a party or a holiday. Pictures of happy friends and family are suitable for the photo album, but if you want your photo to be published, you need to take pictures that can illustrate various situations.

The Norwegian Maritime Authority has several publications and web-pages, so there are many opportunities for your photo contest entry to be published. It is not just the winners that get used, because there is a great demand for pictures of seafarers' lives and of maritime situations.

Here are some useful tips

  • Let the picture tell a story! Photos showing something happening or illustrating something are always more interesting.
  • Find a main motive! Try not to include too much in the picture. Move closer or use the zoom and avoid things that simply distract.
  • Turn your back to the sun! It is tempting to take pictures of beautiful sunsets, but try for once to turn the other way. A setting sun provides warm light and throws shadows that give life to the picture.
  • Use the flash! You may also need to use the flash outside in good weather. In strong sunlight, shadows give the picture too high a contrast. The flash lights the shadows lowering the contrast.
  • Symmetry provides order, but try to put the main subject to the side of the center. It makes the composition more interesting. Just make sure that the main subject is in focus.
  • If you are unsure, leave the setting to "auto". If you want to experiment a bit, then a wide aperture gives shallow depth of focus that makes the main subject stand out more clearly from a soft background, while a small aperture makes for great depth of focus and sharper backgrounds.
  • Use high resolution! With today's large memory chips you still have storage space for a great number of images. It's a shame if we can’t use a good picture because it is no larger than a postage stamp.