ConchyJoe
Contributor
I spent Friday October 17th working with Cathy Church in a private lesson.
Rig:
Oly E-420
Heinrich bulkhead
50mm
PT-E03
Dual Inon Z-240-3
Our agenda was:
Equipment overview and verification of settings.
Overview and critique of photos from the previous three days.
Overview of techniques
Dive with Cathy and shoot away!
What happened:
Cathy immediately was concerned with the length of my strobe arms. We switched from two 5" arms to an 8" floating and 10" standard on each side. I ended up with 10" floating and 8" standard arms, and the rig was much easier to handle. I learned that the strobes were causing the camera to tilt forward. The floating arms eliminated that problem. I ended up putting a little silicone on the o-rings, and this made it much easier to set the clamps, keep the strobes in one spot, but still easily move them.
We went over my photos. We took the camera, shot pictures around the shop, and determined the best initial settings. I ended up manual, 180th, center weighted, cloudy WB, and set the LCD to shadow/hilight. I was immediately able to determine over/under exposure. Originally I was A mode, and the camera would ignore the sync, and shoot up to 430th for some reason. We also determined just how close the lens would focus.
We talked composition, and determined that the main challenge might be placement of weight on my body, and my ability to stay put. In the water we determined that my feet floated too much, and Cathy recommended 1lb ankle weights. I also went to a weight belt to better distribute the weight. My bouyancy has always been spot on, but distrubution of the weight is very key, and Cathy was right about that. It was amazing how much better I was able to position myself without my feet floating up, and having to flutter my fins to keep steady.
We started by taking a shot, looking at the results, changing the aperture or strobe position based on that, and shooting again. Cathy would talk to me, write on her board, and move me and the strobes around to show the best position to be in, and the best angle to take a shot in.
Then Cathy told me to select a few subjects, and do what she had taught me. I went around, took some pictures, and we headed back to go over everything.
Once back in her shop, we downloaded and went over what we and I had done. We talked more about composition and focus. I ended up staying with single mode focus, and just need to get more experience with the camera to get better at holding focus.
My takeaways:
I should have worked with Cathy after one day of diving instead of three. I could have had two more days of much improved shooting.
Make sure your weight is distributed properly. going to a weight belt instead of integrated, as well as putting 1.5lb weights on my ankles made me so much more stable, and kept me from eventually standing on my head trying to get a shot. Having the camera and strobes properly bouyed, along with having myself properly bouyed made a HUGE difference in my ability to position myself and not drift.
Don't be afraid to get closer, closer, closer. Make sure you know what the minimal focal length is of your lens is, and use it!
Be one with your camera. Mine is new to me, so I really needed to spend more time getting to know it, and better understand the features, and how to best use them.
Always shoot RAW! Mine can shoot RAW plus JPG, and I have an 8GB card, which I think is the biggest I can get in CF. I took over 1500 shots in a 6 day period.
Move your strobes around. A LOT. And pay attention to your over/under exposure views in your LCD. I found that proper strobe placement will add depth and texture to your shots by bringing out the highlights and shadows in your subject.
Be patient and position yourself properly. The tube worm will come back out in a minute, and the fish WILL swim back by.
If you are going to Cayman, and feel there is room for improvement, as I did, I highly recommend a session with Cathy. You can find her at Underwater Photography and Scuba Diving in the world of Cayman's Cathy Church
Rig:
Oly E-420
Heinrich bulkhead
50mm
PT-E03
Dual Inon Z-240-3
Our agenda was:
Equipment overview and verification of settings.
Overview and critique of photos from the previous three days.
Overview of techniques
Dive with Cathy and shoot away!
What happened:
Cathy immediately was concerned with the length of my strobe arms. We switched from two 5" arms to an 8" floating and 10" standard on each side. I ended up with 10" floating and 8" standard arms, and the rig was much easier to handle. I learned that the strobes were causing the camera to tilt forward. The floating arms eliminated that problem. I ended up putting a little silicone on the o-rings, and this made it much easier to set the clamps, keep the strobes in one spot, but still easily move them.
We went over my photos. We took the camera, shot pictures around the shop, and determined the best initial settings. I ended up manual, 180th, center weighted, cloudy WB, and set the LCD to shadow/hilight. I was immediately able to determine over/under exposure. Originally I was A mode, and the camera would ignore the sync, and shoot up to 430th for some reason. We also determined just how close the lens would focus.
We talked composition, and determined that the main challenge might be placement of weight on my body, and my ability to stay put. In the water we determined that my feet floated too much, and Cathy recommended 1lb ankle weights. I also went to a weight belt to better distribute the weight. My bouyancy has always been spot on, but distrubution of the weight is very key, and Cathy was right about that. It was amazing how much better I was able to position myself without my feet floating up, and having to flutter my fins to keep steady.
We started by taking a shot, looking at the results, changing the aperture or strobe position based on that, and shooting again. Cathy would talk to me, write on her board, and move me and the strobes around to show the best position to be in, and the best angle to take a shot in.
Then Cathy told me to select a few subjects, and do what she had taught me. I went around, took some pictures, and we headed back to go over everything.
Once back in her shop, we downloaded and went over what we and I had done. We talked more about composition and focus. I ended up staying with single mode focus, and just need to get more experience with the camera to get better at holding focus.
My takeaways:
I should have worked with Cathy after one day of diving instead of three. I could have had two more days of much improved shooting.
Make sure your weight is distributed properly. going to a weight belt instead of integrated, as well as putting 1.5lb weights on my ankles made me so much more stable, and kept me from eventually standing on my head trying to get a shot. Having the camera and strobes properly bouyed, along with having myself properly bouyed made a HUGE difference in my ability to position myself and not drift.
Don't be afraid to get closer, closer, closer. Make sure you know what the minimal focal length is of your lens is, and use it!
Be one with your camera. Mine is new to me, so I really needed to spend more time getting to know it, and better understand the features, and how to best use them.
Always shoot RAW! Mine can shoot RAW plus JPG, and I have an 8GB card, which I think is the biggest I can get in CF. I took over 1500 shots in a 6 day period.
Move your strobes around. A LOT. And pay attention to your over/under exposure views in your LCD. I found that proper strobe placement will add depth and texture to your shots by bringing out the highlights and shadows in your subject.
Be patient and position yourself properly. The tube worm will come back out in a minute, and the fish WILL swim back by.
If you are going to Cayman, and feel there is room for improvement, as I did, I highly recommend a session with Cathy. You can find her at Underwater Photography and Scuba Diving in the world of Cayman's Cathy Church
