Staying Still

[ChillyWaters]

Okay, it's a dumb question, but thought I might hear an innovative idea or two.

The short question:
How do you stay still when taking pictures?

The long:
I'm strobeless in dark waters -- especially lately. Even by setting a 1/30 shutter speed, the pic is COMPLETELY dark. In auto, the camera is defaulting to about a 0.5s shutter speed.


I've long been considering a small tripod, but this isn't good for all situations. On the bottom, it'd be fine, but that's about it. I might be able to use it against a wall too, for support (if the wall doesn't have anything sensitive on it).

I'd also use the 2 second timer, so the button press doesn't shake the camera.

Any other thoughts or suggestions?? And please don't turn this into a "buy a strobe discussion."

- ChillyWaters

 

[Halthron]

It's completely dark? Stupid question, is your flash triggering?

 

[ChillyWaters]

It's completely dark? Stupid question, is your flash triggering?

Yup, it's completely dark. No flash.

- ChillyWaters

 

[alcina]

OK, first we need to figure out if your internal flash is firing or not. If it is, great. If it isn't, obviously we need to sort out why to get you on the road. I'm going to assume it is for right now.

#1 - how close are you? In relatively bright light most internal flashes are only going to be really helpful to a max of six feet, and that's probably generous. The darker your conditions are, the closer you are going to have to get - to a point. Also, make sure that your flash is on it's highest setting...in brighter waters, I actually drop mine down a notch or it blows out the foreground.

#2 - what mode are you using? If you have very little light and no external strobe in dark waters, you are going to have to open the aperture up as much as you can so the camera can collect as much as possible. This is going to give your photos a bit softer look than if you were able to shoot at a higher aperture, but that's the tradeoff, unfortunately. If your photos are black at 1/30 and internal firing then you are either a) too far away or b) aperture set too small or a combination...

1/30 is doing it hard for underwater camera work. It's so slow that you are bound to get some movement - either from the camera or the surrrounding environment. I doubt the button press will cause more motion than the timer...with the timer you are going to have to keep everything perfectly still for even longer or you risk losing your composition and angle. If possible, let's up this to at least 1/60...a bit faster would be better. In order to do this we are going to have to sacrifice something else.

#3 - what ISO are you set at? If you are following the general recommendations, you're probably at 80 or 100. If your conditions are really dark and you are shooting wider than macro, then you may have to sacrifice in this area and bump up the speed. This will cause more noise in your photos, but used wisely and with some editing you can get some great effects.

In dark waters, you are going to be limited to getting very close to your subject - even more so for lighting your subjects than if you were in clearer waters with more ambient light. However, you can experiment with ambient light, ISO settings and other things to get the photos you want.

It would help, me at least, to visualise some options/possible solutions if I knew what you were trying to shoot and if there was any light around or if you are really in night like conditions.

 

[Vtdiver2]

To stay still when taking a picture I get neutrally bouyant, try to get out of current, take a deep breath and exhale half of it. I rarely use my flash, and don't have a strobe, so my pictures come out dark also. I then use PS to clean them up. Here's an example. This picture was taken in the dark, in water with about 10 ft vis.
View attachment 23656
Can't wait til I get a strobe though,
Good Luck,
C-Dawg

 

[alcina]

Yup, it's completely dark. No flash.

- ChillyWaters

Why isn't your flash firing? If it's dark you have to put light on the scene somehow - ambient or from the camera or strobe...no images without it!

 

[ChillyWaters]

Why isn't your flash firing? If it's dark you have to put light on the scene somehow - ambient or from the camera or strobe...no images without it!

This is why I titled the thread "Staying Still." I was looking for tips to steady the camera for those slow shutter speeds.

No flash by choice. You get different pictures, and thus different effects from using the flash. I use the flash at times, but I still prefer those natural shots. However, as noted, getting natural shots are tough in very low light conditions.

My note about the timer was in regards to using the camera's timer -- time between pressing the button and picture taking. If I were to use the timer (say 2 seconds), then I can illiminate the "joggle" of the camera as a result of my finger pressing down on the camera. That is, I press the button, brace the camera, and then the camera takes the pic.

Anyways, if anybody has a suggestion on how to stay still, or how to best use a small tripod, then fire away. I'd want a small, easy to use tripod I guess, so that I can brace it against a wall or a rock.

- ChillyWaters

 

[alcina]

Ahhh, ambient light. Very interesting shots to be had, but lots of experimenting to be done to get what you are looking for - looking forward to seeing your results! I'd still try bumping up the ISO if you are in very dark conditions.

OK...staying still...

Excellent buoyancy control and this comes with more practice with the camera in hand. Buoyancy changes a lot when you use a camera, as you've noticed, and the only way to master it all is to practice and really think about your body and gear position.

Steady breathing all the time - long, slow, steady, controlled will minimize movement.

Elbows in to body - visualise a triangle and use your body parts to support each other. I've seen some photogs hold camera in one hand and brace the wrist with the other... doesn't work for me, but might for you.

Try to look over the camera instead of through it. This helps position body and camera in line and helps you create less movement. Also helps eliminate head movement and bubble interference.

Experiment with different weight configurations. you'd be surprised at how moving weights around your body/rig will change your balance and buoyancy. I love weights in my shoulder pockets - rock steady in a wide variety of positions that suit me to a T, YMMV. Weights on the tank itself are also comfy and seem to provide more stability to a lot of divers. Even moving the heaviest weight to the side instead at the back can help. Unfortunately, ever diver is different so it's a matter of trying things out...

I am still intrigued by the camera's timer...for me I don't think that would work. I want the minimum amount of time between pressing and shutter release possible. The more time, the more time there is for unwanted movement - even when braced there may be unwanted movement of water particles, subject or even the camera; even a change in breathing could alter the position of the framing a bit - at 1/30 no movement at all is going to be tough. A tripod with a remote trigger would be ideal for photos but not so very practical for diving! The jiggle from pressing can be modified by technique (practice basically, smooth and sure). When you do use the flash, it helps freeze the frame and reduces that jiggle even more.

Hope something helps...

 

[Warren_L]

I tend to think there's a difference between hand held 1/30s or slower on land versus underwater. On land, my hand is fairly steady when not using a telephoto, so 1/30s is doable, but I wouldn't if I could avoid it. But underwater is a completely different story. Because of the significantly higher viscosity of water than that of air, it is not difficult to shoot 1/30s or even slower and avoid any significant camera shake.

It would also depend on the type of shots you are taking too. With macro, probably quite a bit more difficult. But for my wreck shote, I routinely shoot 1/30s underwater with great results. Again, it depends on how you set up your shot, and for me, with lower ambient light, in conjunction with my strobes, the strobes can provide sufficient light to light up the focal point of my shot and combined with slower shutter speed, it allows a greater amount of ambient light in to bring out the background more.

This shot was done at 1/25s.

 

[alcina]

Yup, slow shutters can be do-able, for sure - nice shot!