The parade of sail at Windjammer days in Boothbay Harbor, Maine is a memorable event to see and photograph. This year the event takes place in the early afternoon of Wednesday June 29.   Seeing the majestic Maine Windjammer fleet all decked out under full sail makes for wonderful photo opportunities that I always look forward to seeing - it just never gets old.                    

While there are some great places to view the ships sailing into the harbor from land one of the preferred ways to make your best shots is by being aboard the Windjammer Days Photography cruise aboard the vessel Balmy Days out of Pier 8.  This cruise takes you out to see the Windjammers sailing into the harbor and you get the benefit of some wonderful and unique look angles to help you make your best captures.  Lining up a sailing ship with a local iconic shoreline icon, like Burnt Island lighthouse and other desirable compositions, is something that you can only expect aboard this cruise.  You do not need to have professional photography equipment as many people have captured amazing images using just their cell phone cameras.  A versatile DSLR camera with a moderate telephoto zoom lens is preferred but again some of the closer shots that will occur can be covered nicely with a cell phone camera.

The Windjammer Days Photography Cruise runs about 2 hours and last year the cruise sold out a whole week ahead of the event.  As of this writing tickets are still available at Balmydayscruises.com or by calling the ticket booth at 207-633-2284 and specifically requesting the Photography cruise.

If you prefer to stay on land and want to make your best shots of the Windjammers you will want to find a place with a good view of the outer harbor where the ships are more likely to still have their sails up.  The Aquarium on the West side of the harbor could be a good vantage point to consider.  You’ll have a good view of the Windjammers before they lower their sails as they enter the inner harbor.  One catch is that from that distance a good telephoto lens will be needed to fill the frame.  A tripod might also be a consideration too as with telephoto lenses any movement of the lens can make for a blurred image. 

Weather is another consideration - Foggy conditions can make for a magical experience for photography and you should not be discouraged if that’s what the weather brings us on that day.  Making pictures of the ships emerging through the soft fog can make for a ghostly scene that can be really beautiful.

The Windjammer Days Photography cruise aboard the Balmy Days has been a part of Windjammer Days for more than 12 years and Mike Leonard has been the host photographer for this every year.  Mike is a local photographer who offers private and public photography lessons, Photoshop instruction, photography cruises and offers photo services that can be found at his website at www.phototourismbymike.com