Landscape & UW Photography ??

[misshotnspicy]

Hello All,

I'm new to UW photography. I've been reading as much as possible in this forum, but I have to admit I'm a little confused and lost (so much info for my little pea brain to handle ). I am a landscape photographer, lauravuphoto.com, and I'm interested incorporating landscape and underwater objects such as starfish, small schools of fish, corrals, reef, etc to my photograph. I'm scuba certified & have all my scuba gears, but I imagine this type of photography will only require a little snorkeling. My current setup are Canon 5D Mark II, Canon G12, Canon 580ex II, & no UW housings yet.

I would like to purchase an entry level strobe kit to fit my G12 and possibly use it for the 5DII later on, if possible. I was thinking about purchasing Canon WP-DC34 for my G12 right now & seeing if I like UW photography first before investing in more money. I was wondering if either of these strobes below would work for my needs:

1.) Ikelite AF-35 kit
2.) Sea & Sea YS-01
3.) S-2000

Thanks in advance,
Laura

 

[bvanant]

It isn't clear what you want to shoot to me, but if you are interested in wide-angle photography, none of those strobes is going to be of much use. They are really designed to shoot tiny subjects, quite close to you. What you are trying to do when you shoot a reef scene is light up the foreground and hope that natural light will fill up the reef in the background but to get a wide angle you should look at strobes like the InonZ240 or the S&S YS 110alpha or strobes like that
Bill

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board. What you have to realize is even with the most powerful (read big bucks) strobes you can get, the max distance you can effectively light is 6 to 10 ft. Anything past that and ambient light is all you have to work with. With a wide angle lens you can get closer to your subjects and give the illusion that you are farther away then you are, still you need the best strobes you can get and a wide angle lens. UW photography is a lot different than topside.
Don't bother with entry level stobes if you want anything more than OK vacation photos, UW strobes are not cheap and cutting cost will likely not give you the results you are looking for. The AF-35 is a waste of money IMO. It's fairly low powered and the controller/mount make it next to useless.
I am a big Inon fan, of the 3 the s2000 would be my pick. HOWEVER, go ahead and spend the money on a D-200 instead. Powerful and very controllable in a small package- remember you have to travel with them. It will work well with a P&S camera but is still good enough to use with a DSLR. It also has a aiming light you will eventually want. Unlike cameras that outdate fairly quickly, a good strobe can be used with a lot of cameras over a long time.

My best advise it not to skimp on the strobe if you really want to do UW photography.

 

[misshotnspicy]

Bill - I would like to photograph part of the ocean (ex: reef, starfish) and part landscape in 1 photo...so I basically I'm using the reef/starfish/small school of fish as an anchor and incorporating it with landscapes. I know it sounds kind of strange, but I hope that is a little clearer?

Herman - Good to know. I'm hoping with a descent strobe and enough ambient light, I can light up my foreground (reef, starfish, & basically any object that is interesting that I find in the ocean). I don't know how effective/good I'll be in UW Photography so I just don't want to invest too money on something I've never done yet.

Thank you for all the advice! I'll look into Inon d-2000, InonZ240, S&S YS 110alpha, or DS-51.

Laura

 

[herman]

It this what you have in mind? I was 3 or 4 ft at the most from the fish and sponge. You will also want....pretty much must have IMO, a camera that will allow you to do full manual operation. Auto modes just don't cut it for UW photography.

 

[misshotnspicy]

Herman - Sort of ... just imagine your picture with the reef and fish, but you can also see some landscape on top of the ocean. Here is a photo from a photographer that I inspire to be, michaelandersongallery.com/photo/islands-in-the-stream. Instead of just empty water (seen on Michael's gallery), I would like to photograph the water with reef/fish/starfish, etc. on the bottom.

 

[herman]

What you are looking at doing is megabucks of camera, lots of experience and at a darn near nonexistant location. Good luck.

 

[under water]

Herman - Sort of ... just imagine your picture with the reef and fish, but you can also see some landscape on top of the ocean. Here is a photo from a photographer that I inspire to be, michaelandersongallery.com/photo/islands-in-the-stream. Instead of just empty water (seen on Michael's gallery), I would like to photograph the water with reef/fish/starfish, etc. on the bottom.

Forget the strobe. For that picture with fishies in it, you need a really big dome and a really wide lens and photoshop.

 

[bvanant]

No photoshop needed. What you are trying to do is called an over/under or a split shot. Something like this?

If so, then you will need a big dome (8 inch at least), lots and lots of practice and really good luck.

Bill

 

[tangfish]

Get the Canon housing for your G12 and learn to shoot with the internal flash and ambient light first. You need to learn the basics of diving while shooting and also how light behaves in water before making the jump to shooting with a strobe, in my humble opinion.

Enjoy each stage and don't rush ahead. Many of your land-based photography skills will not translate to the water. And, it's as much about how you dive as it is how you handle the camera underwater.

Best of luck to you and don't hesitate to ask more questions!