Worthy of her grandeur, this is how you take a photo of a luxury cruise ship

Once the largest cruise ship in the world, the QM2 was launched in January 2004, with Queen Elizabeth II smashing a ceremonial bottle of champagne on the bow. That bow, once again, is featured prominently in the new commemorative photos, with the ship’s captain, Kevin Oprey, standing on it.

The photo shoot, according to The Daily Mail, wasn’t exactly easy. The ship was anchored a mile off the coast of Bali in Indonesia. When photographer James Morgan suggested the shot of the captain standing on the bulb, “they all looked at me like I was a tiny bit mad, but the fact it hadn’t been done was why we had to do it,” Morgan told the The Daily Mail. Weather conditions had to be perfect, and although it didn’t seem ideal when Morgan arrived in Bali, the weather calmed enough for Morgan to set up the shoot safely.

Cunard created a behind-the-scenes video (below) of how they achieved the spectacular photo, with Oprey and Morgan discussing the experience, and what it was like to stand on the ship’s bow and surrounded by water.

(Via Jaunted; images via James Morgan/REX/Cunard)

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends