OK - so I got the rig together, and I finally got it wet - really wet this weekend on a 2 dayer to San Clemente Island / Catalina Island. Locals will know what I mean. Picture two smallish islands off of the So Cal coast, mostly desert (mojave, not palm trees) and you get the idea. Great diving, but essentially rocks in the sea.
Things I've learned so far, include:
* Save the killer landscape shots for topside. The first three rules of Underwater Photography we've all read and heard (1 - get close, 2 - get CLOSE and 3 - GET CLOSE) apply to me. Not that I thought I was somehow immune from the physics of shooting wet, but I was in denial. Bottom line - there's a reason there aren't too many landscape shots underwater - you simply can't get enough light. After seeing some of the amazing wideangle work by VTernovski (here and some other places... truely inspiring work, my friend...check out his/her gallery) I was fired up to go shoot huge vistas UW. That was very ambitious on my first day of shooting - and I got a few dark semi-keepers, and realized I needed to radically alter my thinking. I don't have the eye or the chops to turn out VT-scapes yet. I get the idea - take the biggest shot, monochrome it so you can pull out the contrast you need to keep it dynamic... A lot of dark stuff is saved by making it mono and chranking it up... we all do it. I just don't have the game to even capture those big shots yet, let alone produce them.
* There is a reason you see so many Macros. See above. Enough light, most macro stuff doesn't move too fast (like fish) and Macro lenses are cheaper than Dome Ports and Wide Angles. I need to plan a Macro Dive sometime soon. I did some close ups, but no Macros - simply because I was buddy diving and I didn't want Arnaud to have to hover about while I messed with my rig.
* Open Circuit is LOUD. Fish spook when I roll up on them with cam in hand, sounding all Darth Vader. So I started holding my breath (better, taking a deep breath) to move in silently... of course that presents its own issue - specifically bouyancy issues. I need to add a couple of pounds when I shoot so I can move in strealth mode a little better. I never realized how I must be spooking fish before I started trying to shoot them. WOW. We do churn out a bit of noise down there, don't we.
* We all Shoot The Same Stuff. I was looking through my shots - they could be anyone's shots. In So Cal we all shoot the same things. Bluebanded Goby, the ubiquitous Garibaidi, gaping Morays, rays through the Kelp, short Lobsters poking out of holes, splayed Starfish, swaying Gregorian Fans, blah blah blah... I was so depressed when I was going through my stuff. It looks like everyone elses. I think its because a) this is what's out there, and b) its easy to shoot. If I'm gonna shoot the same stuff, I need to differentiate it with composition. I like my Goby pic, framed with the Sea Urchin on a mosaic of color. I like my Reg Gregorian Fan with the Sea Cucumber in the foreground (the pic is so dense and the colors so high contrast, and the saturation so complete, I had to make it small to get it under our size limit... its technically my best shot to date.) I like my clinging Starfish. These are tired subjects, but I'm trying to shoot them differently.
* Fish Butt. For every fish, I get 3 - 6 Fish Butt shots. I know, I know.... its part of shutter lag. Its part of approach technique, etc. I could fill a gallery with Fish Butts and I've only been shooting 2 days. After about my 20th fish butt, I was so hacked off I went another direction. I wanted to get a shot of a huge school that was wizzing by. I took two or three shots, but they all looked like I was outside of the school. I wanted to be IN the school - so I took a breath, swam really fast towards the school, reached out one hand (like a reporter in a throng of people at a sporting event) and plunged into the school and sort of took a "Hail Mary" shot. I like it... I get the feeling of being IN the school. My point is sometimes, crazy things work. My other shots were lit better, and more in focus, but they didn't deliver the moment like this one.
* UW Portraits. This is an area I'm going to like. Topside, my focus (pun intended) is on location portraiture. Its So Cal, so I can shoot outside all year. I go places, and shoot people. Underwater, I think I'm going to enjoy this, too. I got a great shot of Arnaud this weekend. Not diver pics, but UW portraits... I'm going to work on this. I may fashion some UW reflectors (like the Photoflex I use topside.)
* I'm learning about the creatures I dive among. This is an added bonus I hadn't planned on. I'm learning the habitat, the names and the interaction of all of the critters that for years, I swam among, but never really studied. There is a shot below of some funky spiraly white thing. Its was beautiful. I don't know what it is, I've never noticed one before, but I saw it, and shot it. And soon, someone will tell me what it was. I like this very much, indeed. I can tell the difference between a male Rock wrasse and a female Rock Wrasse. A week ago, I had no clue. THIS is fun.
* I need a second strobe. I hate the shadows. What I really hate is the limitations of only having the strobe available on one side. If I needed to light a subject from the right, I was out of luck. I'm going to try handholding the strobe next trip for some of the more challenging lighting (currently, lighting from the RIGHT is challenging!) We'll see. I forsee a second D180 in my future before summer, though.
Here are some shots... I have so much to learn still.
Thanks to all.
Ken
Things I've learned so far, include:
* Save the killer landscape shots for topside. The first three rules of Underwater Photography we've all read and heard (1 - get close, 2 - get CLOSE and 3 - GET CLOSE) apply to me. Not that I thought I was somehow immune from the physics of shooting wet, but I was in denial. Bottom line - there's a reason there aren't too many landscape shots underwater - you simply can't get enough light. After seeing some of the amazing wideangle work by VTernovski (here and some other places... truely inspiring work, my friend...check out his/her gallery) I was fired up to go shoot huge vistas UW. That was very ambitious on my first day of shooting - and I got a few dark semi-keepers, and realized I needed to radically alter my thinking. I don't have the eye or the chops to turn out VT-scapes yet. I get the idea - take the biggest shot, monochrome it so you can pull out the contrast you need to keep it dynamic... A lot of dark stuff is saved by making it mono and chranking it up... we all do it. I just don't have the game to even capture those big shots yet, let alone produce them.
* There is a reason you see so many Macros. See above. Enough light, most macro stuff doesn't move too fast (like fish) and Macro lenses are cheaper than Dome Ports and Wide Angles. I need to plan a Macro Dive sometime soon. I did some close ups, but no Macros - simply because I was buddy diving and I didn't want Arnaud to have to hover about while I messed with my rig.
* Open Circuit is LOUD. Fish spook when I roll up on them with cam in hand, sounding all Darth Vader. So I started holding my breath (better, taking a deep breath) to move in silently... of course that presents its own issue - specifically bouyancy issues. I need to add a couple of pounds when I shoot so I can move in strealth mode a little better. I never realized how I must be spooking fish before I started trying to shoot them. WOW. We do churn out a bit of noise down there, don't we.
* We all Shoot The Same Stuff. I was looking through my shots - they could be anyone's shots. In So Cal we all shoot the same things. Bluebanded Goby, the ubiquitous Garibaidi, gaping Morays, rays through the Kelp, short Lobsters poking out of holes, splayed Starfish, swaying Gregorian Fans, blah blah blah... I was so depressed when I was going through my stuff. It looks like everyone elses. I think its because a) this is what's out there, and b) its easy to shoot. If I'm gonna shoot the same stuff, I need to differentiate it with composition. I like my Goby pic, framed with the Sea Urchin on a mosaic of color. I like my Reg Gregorian Fan with the Sea Cucumber in the foreground (the pic is so dense and the colors so high contrast, and the saturation so complete, I had to make it small to get it under our size limit... its technically my best shot to date.) I like my clinging Starfish. These are tired subjects, but I'm trying to shoot them differently.
* Fish Butt. For every fish, I get 3 - 6 Fish Butt shots. I know, I know.... its part of shutter lag. Its part of approach technique, etc. I could fill a gallery with Fish Butts and I've only been shooting 2 days. After about my 20th fish butt, I was so hacked off I went another direction. I wanted to get a shot of a huge school that was wizzing by. I took two or three shots, but they all looked like I was outside of the school. I wanted to be IN the school - so I took a breath, swam really fast towards the school, reached out one hand (like a reporter in a throng of people at a sporting event) and plunged into the school and sort of took a "Hail Mary" shot. I like it... I get the feeling of being IN the school. My point is sometimes, crazy things work. My other shots were lit better, and more in focus, but they didn't deliver the moment like this one.
* UW Portraits. This is an area I'm going to like. Topside, my focus (pun intended) is on location portraiture. Its So Cal, so I can shoot outside all year. I go places, and shoot people. Underwater, I think I'm going to enjoy this, too. I got a great shot of Arnaud this weekend. Not diver pics, but UW portraits... I'm going to work on this. I may fashion some UW reflectors (like the Photoflex I use topside.)
* I'm learning about the creatures I dive among. This is an added bonus I hadn't planned on. I'm learning the habitat, the names and the interaction of all of the critters that for years, I swam among, but never really studied. There is a shot below of some funky spiraly white thing. Its was beautiful. I don't know what it is, I've never noticed one before, but I saw it, and shot it. And soon, someone will tell me what it was. I like this very much, indeed. I can tell the difference between a male Rock wrasse and a female Rock Wrasse. A week ago, I had no clue. THIS is fun.
* I need a second strobe. I hate the shadows. What I really hate is the limitations of only having the strobe available on one side. If I needed to light a subject from the right, I was out of luck. I'm going to try handholding the strobe next trip for some of the more challenging lighting (currently, lighting from the RIGHT is challenging!) We'll see. I forsee a second D180 in my future before summer, though.
Here are some shots... I have so much to learn still.
Thanks to all.
Ken
