( CNN ) -- `` Real photographers do n't take photographs , they make photographs , '' says Eileen Ramsay , who is widely regarded as one of the world 's great yachting photographers . The feisty 96-year-old Brit should know . A pioneer in her field , she is credited with being the first yachting photographer to shun the safety of the tripod and compose her pictures while dangling off the side of a boat -- all in quest for the ultimate action shot . `` Other photographers would stand in the middle of their boats taking pictures of big yachts with plate cameras , so I developed my own style -- taking my pictures as close to the water as possible , '' recalls Ramsay . Water-level photography , now an industry standard , quickly became her signature shot , but it was neither easy nor cheap . While adamant that she never dropped one of her German-made Rollerflex cameras overboard , the saltwater took its toll on her equipment nonetheless . `` I used to make sure I shielded the camera under my buttoned-up anorak , but the saltwater would still get to it . Even though I cleaned them after each session , they would quickly get stiff because of all the salt , '' says Ramsay , whose career has been immortalized in a new book by fellow photo-journalist and Brit Barry Pickthall . Read related : $ 16m solar boat sails into record books . It has taken Pickthall over a year to complete the glossy hard-back book , regally titled `` Eileen Ramsay : Queen of Yachting '' . `` It only took so long because Eileeen was so prolific . She kept immaculate records of her work and she remembers every photograph she 's ever taken , which meant that she would immediately pick up on things if I did n't get it right , '' says Pickthall , a former yachting correspondent who now runs a photo agency that specializes in nautical photography . Drawn to picture-taking from a young age , Ramsay began her professional career in 1937 as a 22-year-old receptionist at a photography studio outside London . But as war clouds gathered across Europe and the call to arms began , the owner of the studio discovered that his personal services would be required to record the impending conflict , so he gave each of his staff a camera and told them to go out and take some `` interesting '' photographs . The one to come back with the best pictures would take over the studio in his absence during the war . `` I did n't know anything about cameras then , but my pictures were judged the best and I got the job , '' says Ramsay , who spent the war years honing her skills in portrait photography by taking pictures of soldiers and their girlfriends . After the war she decided to go at it alone and set up her own studio in London , taking on any commissions that came her way from magazines and newspapers . In 1953 , she and her boyfriend decided to move closer to the ocean , and after purchasing a 28 foot ( 8.5 meter ) ex-Royal Air Force boat that they moored at the end of their garden , she set out to make her mark in the nautical world . Sailing enjoyed a post-war explosion in Britain , and it was during the 1950s and 60s that Ramsay 's yachting photography career really took off . It 's this period that Pickthall has tried to capture in his book . More from Mainsail : When superyacht chic meets hybrid technology . `` I feel it 's very important to save Eileen 's archive . Her early pictures of our sailing pioneers have great significance when recording Britain 's sailing history , '' says Pickthall , adding that grown men were `` moved to tears '' at the sight of her original photos , which he brought to a boat exhibition last year . `` All these people were gobsmacked , they could n't believe these photos existed . They kept spotting themselves as children as they flicked through her albums , '' says Pickthall . As for Ramsay , she is not fazed by her new moniker as the `` Queen of Yachting '' . `` I knew I was original back then , '' she says bluntly , before adding : `` You know , when you are 96 years of age , nothing can really faze you . ''
Eileeen Murphy began her professional career as a 22-year - old in 1937 . She pioneered the water - level diving technique , now an international standard . Her career took off in the 1950s and 1960s when sailing became a post - war explosion in Britain .