Need something to shoot at pool--ideas??

[ReadyDiverOne]

Hi, I need to check out some UW camera equipment and settings in advance of a dive trip and have a chance to be in a pool this weekend. Any ideas on what I kind of object I could use? Need to check focus, exposure, close-focus wide angle and macro settings. Obviously, object needs to be entirely negatively buoyant. Thanks for any suggestions!!

 

[Steve_C]

Couple years ago we had pool camera event put on by one of the local dive groups. Now this pool is associated/next to a dive shop and has a 20 ft deep area at the end. We had the pool. There were a couple of targets. One was a plastic storage box, attached to it were some plastic plants and a couple of plastic fish and crabs. Couple of the fish were buoyant and on strings. It was weighted and on the bottom of the deep end. Note that to take a picture required decent buoyancy control, and the whole thing was maybe 3 ft around so you could play with close in depth of field. Also some of the stuff moved around a bit from passing divers. Were a couple other targets but I forget what they were. Of course, there were other divers. Think that there were a couple of other fish, crabs laying on the bottom. Note that these could be challenging with flashes since the bottom was highly reflective. Like shooting against white sand.

 

[Johnoly]

... Thanks for any suggestions!!

You can have ALOT of fun photographing underwater with action figures bought a the 'dollar store'. The poses are endless and humorous!!

 

[JohnnyC]

Get a paint swatch book from your local home improvement store. Surprisingly useful.

 

[tursiops]

Nudibranch

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

OMG action figures tooooooooo funny. Yeah we got maybe 50 LEGO dudes hanging around. They don’t float??

Too funny. Thanks man.

 

[kmarks]

IMG_3777

• kmarks
• Jan 25, 2019

My UW photography instructor made a T out of PVC pipe and zip tied decorative plastic aquarium "plants" to it. It worked really well for practicing with wide angle (try to get the whole thing), macro (focus on those tiny fronds), filtering light through plants from above, pulling the flash off and holding it at different angles, checking colors, exposure, all kinds of stuff. He tied a few weights to it to keep it down, but the pipes themselves want to float, so it stood upright really well.

 

[Hoag]

You can have ALOT of fun photographing underwater with action figures bought a the 'dollar store'. The poses are endless and humorous!!

View attachment 501390

Thank you for sharing that.

 

[hilljo88]

The toys are fun, but I found it useful to also shoot targets with print or other detail to fine tune focusing, etc. I use a PADI submersible printed slate with a double ender to weight it down.

 

[MaxBottomtime]