Scott Barnaby, Decatur, GA USA asks:
Did I read somewhere in your forum or trip log that one of you
is a professional photographer?? Are you able to earn funds from your photos? i think you have a magnificent eye for color, composition, and subject!! Many thanks for sharing - your photos are stirring me to get traveling! Scott

Scott Flanders from Egret responds:
Scott, earning funds? The short answer is yes. We have had several magazine articles published along with accompanying photos. We are paid for those photos along with the article. What money we receive we turn into more camera equipment. As pure photographers we don't solicit business or consider ourselves professional photographers by any stretch of the imagination. I believe Egret's different-than-usual cruising location has more to do with articles or photographs vs. any minor writing skills or photography skills. For example, what photographs along with text you see on the nordhavn.com, VofE website we give free trying to inspire as many as possible to join the cruising lifestyle. My favorite of the recent crop is the picture of a fire on the beach with Egret in the background. In full resolution the picture is stunning with the mountains in the foreground reflecting in the broken ice trail left by the dinghy. Mary took that picture with a D50 Nikon and a package Nikon lense (18-55mm). She has had less than two months practice taking pictures but is a fast learner. Cameras today are amazing, not necessarily our freshman skills.

If earning money with photography and articles is a goal let us give you a bit of advise based on our experience. Imagine producing Titanic for the Nebraska nursing home residents......only. When we do get paid we earn about $.10 American pesos an hour. You get the picture.

The pictures you see on VofE postings are reduced to 425 x 320 pixels for Iridium phone transmission. My camera in full resolution (jpeg fine) is 3872 x 2592 pixels (D80 Nikon-10.2mp) and Mary's is 3008 x 2000 pixels (D50-6.2mp). I don't know the pixels on VofE - Pictures. Those pictures are reduced by someone else. You can imagine what you are not seeing in full resolution.

I have better lenses than Mary. She will have the same primary lense as well when we return to the States in October for the Ft. Lauderdale Boat show. (Nikon 18-200mm VR - vibration reduced - perfect for boating.) She won't have the big zoom as YT (80-400mmVR - critter lense). One is enough. With recent help from a local boater our skills took a leap ahead just two days ago. We are enjoying learning a new hobby. It is something we can continue forever improving along the way.

If it is photography that gets you on the water so be it. Good luck.