Every time I post a picture like the one above I get a bunch of e-mails asking how I did it. Well I’m not a professional photographer, and my equipment is limited to a Canon t3i DSLR camera, a 15mm fisheye, an 18-270mm zoom, and a 50mm, but I do enjoy trying to get unique photos shot from rather strange angles.

So what is my set-up? I’m almost embarrassed to admit it; I’m such a cruiser. Because us cruisers really just make do with whatever we’ve got at hand don’t we? To get these pictures I need three things: a telescoping boat hook, duct tape, and a GorillaPod.

If you don’t have a GorillaPod you need to get one. I really can’t recommend this product highly enough. They have a small one that is perfect for point-and-shoot cameras. We used ours all the time back in our VW days. They are indispensable when you want to take a picture of you and your significant other without trying to balance the camera on top of a rock. And they also have a bigger heavy-duty unit for the larger DSLR cameras.

I wrap the GorillaPod around the end of the boat hook first. It’s never fallen off, but it has shifted enough to scare me, so that now I also give it a quick wrap around with duct tape. Then I screw the camera on, set the 10-second timer, focus the shot, push the button, and quickly extend the boat hook out to where I want the shot taken from. It’s so rudimentary it is almost laughable. But it works. And gets me a lot of cool shots. The kind I never got on our first cruise because I just wasn’t all that in to photography back then. I still kick myself at all the amazing photo ops I didn’t take advantage of on that trip. Now I would sail around the world again just so I can take pictures.

Since these pictures were taken I’ve broken down and spent twenty bucks on a hand held shutter release so I will no longer have to scurry about trying to get the shot set up in ten seconds. That should be money well spent. I’ve also picked up a GoPro camera which I’m excited to mess around with more this season in the Sea of Cortez. I’m trying to think up cool ways to shoot underwater shots while under way.

{The above photos were taken while single-handing the boat from San Diego to Puerto Vallarta in 2011.}