The Morrison Spring Cavern Project

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Lets start a list of available equipment and see what kind of setup(s) we could use:

Canon G10 (If Ikelite gets the housing finished by the end of November as they announced)
Ikelite D50 Strobe
Ikelite D51 Strobe
Olympus E-420(no housing, but suitable to UW photograhy due to LiveView)
Zuiko Digital 8mm Fisheye(no port)
Zuiko Digital 11-22mm(no port)
SeaLife generic strobe, capable of being set off manaually
10w HID(focusable - hot spots aren't attractive on a photo!)

I wonder if SeaYoda's ports are big enough to support my 11-22, or even better, the 8mm Fisheye? The 8mm would be ideal, especially considering the characteristics of water narrowing out typical angles of view anyway.
 
Hey..... We can go in at the Boat ramp and no one will even know... :wink:

On a Serious note,
Great point about multiple people in the cavern if the flow isn't high to clear out silt it will ruin the shot.

If you anchor the camera rig in a good position of the cave system and set the shot with a camera man to activate the timed exposure and you have several other divers who can hold strobes in a way that illuminates the cave walls away from the camera, eliminating a washout of that area from direct light towards the camera, that should get you close to the shot you are looking for....

Since there is no light in the cave... 5 sec or 5 minute exposure will give you the same...NOTHING, relatively speaking.

I'd have 3 or 4 divers positioned so they can provide 3 or 4 strobe shots to the walls in their area, Signal them with a 1,2,3 flash of my hand held flash light and then turn all lights out hit the shutter and allow the others to move to their positions and strobe the place and see how that does.
 
I do not know how much spare room is inside most housings, however several folks mentioned doing long exposures. A remote shutter timer release could be an option it you can slide it in the housing.

I use this one for my night long exposure shots. You can set it to take any form of exposure, release for a certain amount of time, take another timed exposure etc. Most remotes simply release the shutter when you let go of the button. You set this one, leave it alone and the camera does its own thing.

The trick will be finding a housing that will allow it to be used. Good luck. Ive never used a underwater housing before other than a ill elcheapo reef masters with a tiny strobe. I'm wondering if there is a way you could use a spring clamp or something to depress the shutter in manual mode?

Kenny
 
I have a Sea&Sea strobe that could be used. I've experimented with it at home and it could be rigged as a slave (it uses a fiber optic cable).

As for my role in this, I'll play safety diver/slave strobe holder.
 
I have a LOW tech (Non-DSLR) Sony W7 (7mp) It has a Manual timer option for it and you can set it, with several apature settings and exposure times. You can also view the pix after it's taken.

I'm not sure of the bottom time you might have in the room but if you have a person manning the camera tripod (should be a tripod out of the way of the main flow so it doesn't move) he can view the shot and determine if its a good one or if an adjustment would be needed.

I was on watch on the bridge of the Carrier I was on and I took a night pix of the aircraft on deck while in port and there were barely any lights.... After the long exposure shot... the deck was bright and you could see in the dark nooks and crannies.

This is totally a do able thing and I wish that I was Cave Cert'ed and had the gear.... UGHHHHH. This is my kind of techy stuff.
 
The LCD review of the shot really won't show accurately how sharp the picture is, but it'll atleast give us an idea on exposure and if anyone shines the damned camera! LOL! :D
 
I wonder if SeaYoda's ports are big enough to support my 11-22, or even better, the 8mm Fisheye? The 8mm would be ideal, especially considering the characteristics of water narrowing out typical angles of view anyway.

I've got only the one dome port, but we could try the wider lenses to see how they fit. The other consideration is how close do they focus. I can't remember off-hand what the minimum is for the 14-54 but it can focus close enough for the virtual image without a diopter lens.
 
Another thing you might want to consider is having a entry control point. As in only having 1 way in and out using a rope of some sort. For those who have dove morrisons it can be kinda tricky getting past the current right at the entrance of the cave. To prevent any silt getting stired up of any kind have 1 diver go in with a rope and attach it so that its away from any sand or silt. That way any diver entering the cave not only wont have to fight as much to get in but wont stir any thing up messing up the picture.

I think this is a great idea!! I have a HD camera I just picked up that does both video and photos I dont know if it will help much in this situation but are welcome to use it if needed.
 
There is only one way in and out of the cavern. Also, there is already a permanant rope in to the cavern. You really dont silt the cavern getting in because the flow is so strong pushing out. When you stir stuff up going in the cavern, it just goes in to the basin hole. Also, once u drop in the cavern it is rock unless u go all the way down to the cavern floor. In my opinion u have to work real hard to silt morrison cavern up. Now, the basin and hole by the log is a different story.

I have seen the flow in the cavern throw stuff around when the flow is high. The logistics of silt and divers will be the easy part in my opinion. The technical part of the camera and light will be the real challenge.

Another thing you might want to consider is having a entry control point. As in only having 1 way in and out using a rope of some sort. For those who have dove morrisons it can be kinda tricky getting past the current right at the entrance of the cave. To prevent any silt getting stired up of any kind have 1 diver go in with a rope and attach it so that its away from any sand or silt. That way any diver entering the cave not only wont have to fight as much to get in but wont stir any thing up messing up the picture.

I think this is a great idea!! I have a HD camera I just picked up that does both video and photos I dont know if it will help much in this situation but are welcome to use it if needed.



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I've got only the one dome port, but we could try the wider lenses to see how they fit. The other consideration is how close do they focus. I can't remember off-hand what the minimum is for the 14-54 but it can focus close enough for the virtual image without a diopter lens.

My 11-22mm will focus as close as 11", according to the Oly website :)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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