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Underwater Photography the nex Frontier

ComicDom1

Subscriber Member
My girlfriend and I are traveling to Jamaica in August. I am going to be getting my feet wet for the first time snorkeling and attempting to do some underwater photography. I bought an IKELite housing which came with ports, a Canon Camera body, Lens, and some other accessories. Unless I find out my 5D or another body I have will fit the same housing, I will be using a film camera for my first outing.

Does anyone have any Underwater experiences shooting either film or digital?

This seems the next new Frontier in photography at least for me.

Jason
 

fultonpics

New member
the obvious, make sure the seals are real clean and you fasten everything down correctly--seems like dumb advice, but i was working with one of the top pros in this area and he forgot a latch and ended up with a canon 1Ds mk11 FULL of water. oh, yeah there was a 14 mm on it too.

i prefer digital since i can see the results and make sure the exposure is right--you are using lights,right?
 
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ddk

Guest
the obvious, make sure the seals are real clean and you fasten everything down correctly--seems like dumb advice, but i was working with one of the top pros in this area and he forgot a latch and ended up with a canon 1Ds mk11 FULL of water. oh, yeah there was a 14 mm on it too.

i prefer digital since i can see the results and make sure the exposure is right--you are using lights,right?
He's only going snorkeling, he's not going to really need the bulk or the added headache of exposure with lights, unless he can dive really deep, but a first timer, doubtful.


Jason, is the trip for two what you won courtesy of getdpi? :toocool:
 

Terry

New member
I'm not an underwater photographer but from my readings there are a couple of important points. I don't know what the white balance should be but from what I understand that is one of the keys to getting good underwater results. The other is using a wider lens than what you think because of the way you see through water (things seem bigger).
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
I'm no underwater photography expert and have neverr taken a camera under water on purpose however I think that unless the sun is directly overhead and the water is clear you just might need some sort of lighting...at least that's what I've always seen on any National Geographic TV show.

I also agree (for what its worth) about the wider lens.

Suggest you go to a local dive shop and speak to them regarding this.

Best of luck

Don
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I think you are pretty good to about 12-20 ft to use just daylight as your balance but any deeper than you will start running cooler in temp. I snorkeled in the Cayman Islands several years ago and things worked out fine but getting any deeper than that you start running into more light and WB issues. Yes use a wide lens for sure. I would certainly shoot digital here to make any adjustments
 

fultonpics

New member
ok, no expert here, but again if you are below just a few feet the light drops dramatically and the WB gets funky. I took this only 3 feet down (this is a Corbis shot, but i took it, so okay to post here for instructional usage). note the color drop off. this is in a pool with relatively clean water--the ocean is full of all sorts of goodies. anyway, if you shoot without lights, shoot digital and adjust accordingly. good luck!!
 
O

Oxide Blu

Guest
He's only going snorkeling, he's not going to really need the bulk or the added headache of exposure with lights, unless he can dive really deep, but a first timer, doubtful.

The color red is complete gone at 12-ft deep -- 1/2 gone at 6-ft -- 1/4 gone at 3-ft. Yes, you need artificial lighting u/w for correct exposures, perhaps even more so with film. If you are floating at the surface and shooting something 6-ft under you, you won't have much red in the picture. I forget at what depth yellow is gone, it's next to go.

And yes, I have a lot of u/w photography experience. It's not something that can be covered in a single thread.

My recommendation is to start with protecting your equipment. Test it BEFORE you use it. Get a bucket of water, load up the housing and submerge it. Look for any water in the bottom of the housing, below the camera. My housings each had a 9v battery and small audio alarm. Two bare leads (+ and -) in the bottom of the housing, below the camera. One time I was at about 15ft on my way down and I heard the alarm -- surfaced and was able to fix the problem without any damage whatsoever to the camera or lens (Nikon). There was only a single drop of water in the house but that was enough to make contact between the two leads and sound the alarm. The problem was a piece of lent on a seal -- wicked sea water into the housing.

ETA: the greatest change in water pressure occurs closest to the surface. The deeper you go, the less variation. It matter because you need to consider dynamic pressure on the housing seals, not static pressure.
 
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fultonpics

New member
yeah, my comment above about a photographer losing a 1Ds Mk2 was in 6-7 feet of water--we were doing an international swim meet and using housings that we remote fired off the bottom of the pool---he simply forgot to tighten a latch all the way. I always check my seals before a gig and make sure they are clean and silicon'ed as required. whatever you do, Don't Use a Cheap Housing!! unless you want your insurance to replace your gear.....anyway, too much to worry about, just have fun.
 
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