On a recent trip to Catalina (The March 2009 Dive Matrix SoCal Dive In) we stumbled onto zillions of large Janolus Nudis just outside of the park. We'd be scootering along over the sand, looking at the long leaves of the Elkhorn kelp, and when one of these huge leaves would blow over - there we'd see a Janolus.
We'd be 2 or 3 minutes outside of the park, and the kelp and ground was covered with them.
Chica and I jumped into action and started doing some Light Table stuff. For those who haven't seen my site or the series, its like this:
All of these shots were taken of the same Nudi on the same kelp leaf within moments of each other. I moved in, moved out (to fill the frame), had Claudette hold the leaf taught, or fold the leaf and tilt it different ways so I'd get different undulations and plays of light.
Its amazing what you can do down there at 80 or 90 feet with folding kelp, a patient slug, an HID light, a great buddy and some creative freedom.
I hope you enjoy this series, all shot in succession. This is the Light Table Series: Janolus
---
Ken
Strobes turned up a bit to provide light from the top while the Nudi glows from the inside. The higher intensity strobes wash out the glowing kelp. The counter effect is the Nudi looks like he's floating over the kelp.
Same Nudi, same kelp, strobe intensity turned down a bit. I also came at the kelp from a side-type angle so I could capture the natural undulations and ripples of the glowing kelp. He's glowing a bit more from the inside. Check the nudi guts and the tons of eggs all packed inside the guy. We had some surge at 88 feet, as you can see from the Nudi. Claudette was amazing in holding this 15 foot by 4 foot kelp leaf that was blowing her and my subject around like a sail down there.
Same Nudi, same kelp - X-ray style! Very, very low strobe output, faster camera speed, almost 100% lit from the bottom. I moved my angle of approach from the side to almost dead overhead so we can get the full X-ray effect. Nice vascularity for a slug! At this top-down angle almost all of the undulation of the kelp is lost - just Nudi on a light table.
Same Nudi, same kelp, just folded a bit. I had Claudette fold the kelp up so I could get some black space behind and around the light corona, and I back kicked off of the scene a bit so I could capture more of the leaf and less of the Nudi. This was the first time we've folded the canvas and played with lighting it like this - really trying to move the surrounding stuff into the role of subject and the Nudi into the role of focal point. When I looked at the LCD on the camera, I flipped out! I DID NOT go over to show Claudette after this first folded-kelp shot. I knew what I wanted and this wasn't 100% there. Still too much camera strobe intensity. I love this shot, but its not what I was looking for. I love this shot, but its not what I was looking for. However, notice the ellipse-shaped HID pattern under the kelp - more on that below.
The Janolus Nebula with the Starship Nudibranch! - This is the same Nudi, the same folded kelp, just with the stobes backed way off and the speed and ap shifted a bit. I got the darkened valley behind the Nudi. The specs of junk on the kelp bounced the strobes back at me like stars in space. The colors of the kelp over her HID are different (green, orange, yellow, etc.) because she's not putting the lighthead 100% against the kelp, but is angling it towards the kelp - the result is an ellipse of illuminated kelp (not a circle or bull's eye) with varying intensity of light - hence varying colors. She came up with this one on her own. The light ellipse is all Claudette. Remember - less strobe light always equals more more of the glowing Nudi.
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So that's the latest - all shot at about 80 - 90 feet, all shot in very close succession. I took about 8 or 9 shots, as this wasn't our objective. We were scooting to the Valiant and we stumbled on the Janolus field.
We stopped, shot for about 10 or 12 minutes, then resumed our dive to the Valiant!
Claudette - you are the reason I can do this stuff. I have a vision for what I want to achieve, you realize it, roll with me then start to take artistic license on your own. This is something new over the last 6 months or so, and its so beautiful to see in you. You are the diving photographer's dream, and I feel very fortunate that we get to try this stuff. You are the apex buddy.
---
Ken
.
.
.
.
We'd be 2 or 3 minutes outside of the park, and the kelp and ground was covered with them.
Chica and I jumped into action and started doing some Light Table stuff. For those who haven't seen my site or the series, its like this:
- You take a very bright dive light and hold it UNDER the kelp leaf either right below or very close to the Nudi. The thing to remember is THIS BECOMES YOUR KEY LIGHT. Your objective is to use this as the primary light for the Nudi. Yes, you're lighting him from beneath - essentially making him glow and lighting him from the inside (they're just clear bags of slime anyway...)
- Then you set your strobes to varying degrees of intensity, and your shutter and Ap to varying degrees of speed, depending on the effect you want.
All of these shots were taken of the same Nudi on the same kelp leaf within moments of each other. I moved in, moved out (to fill the frame), had Claudette hold the leaf taught, or fold the leaf and tilt it different ways so I'd get different undulations and plays of light.
Its amazing what you can do down there at 80 or 90 feet with folding kelp, a patient slug, an HID light, a great buddy and some creative freedom.
I hope you enjoy this series, all shot in succession. This is the Light Table Series: Janolus
---
Ken
Strobes turned up a bit to provide light from the top while the Nudi glows from the inside. The higher intensity strobes wash out the glowing kelp. The counter effect is the Nudi looks like he's floating over the kelp.
Same Nudi, same kelp, strobe intensity turned down a bit. I also came at the kelp from a side-type angle so I could capture the natural undulations and ripples of the glowing kelp. He's glowing a bit more from the inside. Check the nudi guts and the tons of eggs all packed inside the guy. We had some surge at 88 feet, as you can see from the Nudi. Claudette was amazing in holding this 15 foot by 4 foot kelp leaf that was blowing her and my subject around like a sail down there.
Same Nudi, same kelp - X-ray style! Very, very low strobe output, faster camera speed, almost 100% lit from the bottom. I moved my angle of approach from the side to almost dead overhead so we can get the full X-ray effect. Nice vascularity for a slug! At this top-down angle almost all of the undulation of the kelp is lost - just Nudi on a light table.
Same Nudi, same kelp, just folded a bit. I had Claudette fold the kelp up so I could get some black space behind and around the light corona, and I back kicked off of the scene a bit so I could capture more of the leaf and less of the Nudi. This was the first time we've folded the canvas and played with lighting it like this - really trying to move the surrounding stuff into the role of subject and the Nudi into the role of focal point. When I looked at the LCD on the camera, I flipped out! I DID NOT go over to show Claudette after this first folded-kelp shot. I knew what I wanted and this wasn't 100% there. Still too much camera strobe intensity. I love this shot, but its not what I was looking for. I love this shot, but its not what I was looking for. However, notice the ellipse-shaped HID pattern under the kelp - more on that below.
The Janolus Nebula with the Starship Nudibranch! - This is the same Nudi, the same folded kelp, just with the stobes backed way off and the speed and ap shifted a bit. I got the darkened valley behind the Nudi. The specs of junk on the kelp bounced the strobes back at me like stars in space. The colors of the kelp over her HID are different (green, orange, yellow, etc.) because she's not putting the lighthead 100% against the kelp, but is angling it towards the kelp - the result is an ellipse of illuminated kelp (not a circle or bull's eye) with varying intensity of light - hence varying colors. She came up with this one on her own. The light ellipse is all Claudette. Remember - less strobe light always equals more more of the glowing Nudi.
.
.
.
.
.
.
So that's the latest - all shot at about 80 - 90 feet, all shot in very close succession. I took about 8 or 9 shots, as this wasn't our objective. We were scooting to the Valiant and we stumbled on the Janolus field.
We stopped, shot for about 10 or 12 minutes, then resumed our dive to the Valiant!
Claudette - you are the reason I can do this stuff. I have a vision for what I want to achieve, you realize it, roll with me then start to take artistic license on your own. This is something new over the last 6 months or so, and its so beautiful to see in you. You are the diving photographer's dream, and I feel very fortunate that we get to try this stuff. You are the apex buddy.
---
Ken
.
.
.
.
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