As a commercial Photographer, my brief can be to capture anything from the tiny to the ridiculously large. On this occasion, my client requested images of their 299 meter long, liquefied natural gas carrier (LNG) ship. It’s only when you see them up close that you can fathom (intended pun) the sheer size and scale. This particular vessel was also in dry dock, which was even more impressive.

My clients brief was to photograph ‘below the waterline’ work being carried out including technical photographs of the azipods (incredibly engineered propellers). Photography included images of the crew; from members on the bridge to engineers in the engine room and on deck with a myriad of pipes. The images were required for a new website and other marketing collateral.

As a photographer this shoot was challenging, exhausting but ultimately very rewarding. Why challenging? Well ship designers don’t really consider us photographers when it comes to building ships, they’re more concerned about its function. From my prospective, one of my main challenges was lighting areas like the engine room and other enclosed parts of the vessel. The lighting onboard is functional and perfect from a health & safety point of view, aesthetically, not so great. So I used a little creative license and added some lights of my own to create a little more interest and impact.

Why exhausting? Given the massive scale of the vessel getting anywhere with equipment takes planning and a team effort. Thankfully I’ve spent many years and a tonne of money investing in equipment which makes this kind of shoot manageable within a tight timeframe. These vessels don’t hang around for long, they aren’t making money when they’re not at sea.

The rewarding part comes when the client receives the images and pings you back a message saying how please they are and can’t wait to use them. Forward a few months, I emailed the client to make sure that they where ok with me using the images for this blog and their response was yes “We were delighted with the photos and yes, have used them wherever possible. I’m desperate for another vessel to come to Belfast!”

You can visit their website at www.seapeak.com