NikonGear'23
Images => Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes => Topic started by: elsa hoffmann on July 17, 2015, 20:43:24
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From my days as a scuba diver. sadly I can no longer dive
All nudibranchs - sea snails in the most awesome colours.
last one is a huge crop - hermit crab with some amphipods - they are about 1mm big - or is it small.
Image quality not that brilliant - in the days of a D70 and I didnt have a bloody clue about what I was doing.
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Elsa, wow!
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Thank you sweetie
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Really nice with the last one, crustacean covered by crustaceans. That and the first one is my favorites. Most those who have not been into it may not realize how challenging underwater photography is.
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And to make everything even worse: people look at, and evaluate such pictures as ordinary photographs ..... (which, of course, is the appropriate approach, but frustrating on a personal level when you face so much difficulties to make the shot in the first place).
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Thanks guys
Underwater photography is extremely challenging
you move all the time. There is absolutely no way to "stand" still, the surge or current moves you all the time.
there is huge amounts of algae in the water - between the camera and the subject (unless you shoot in the Artic where I believe the visibility is awsome.
Often visibility was only 3 meters. sometimes 5 - 10, so conditions are not that great in Cape Town.
the strobes - which you cant shoot without - lights up every bit of matter in the water - between you and the subject
Placement of strobes is crucial to avoid lighting up the backscatter.
I started out doing underwater photography - before I did on top of water photography. and no one could or would help me.
These days every diver has an amphibious camera. My days the housing, ports and strobes cost as much as the (then) expensive D70 and lenses.
but nothing beats being under water. literally nothing.
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Thanks guys
Underwater photography is extremely challenging
you move all the time. There is absolutely no way to "stand" still, the surge or current moves you all the time.
there is huge amounts of algae in the water - between the camera and the subject (unless you shoot in the Artic where I believe the visibility is awsome.
Often visibility was only 3 meters. sometimes 5 - 10, so conditions are not that great in Cape Town.
the strobes - which you cant shoot without - lights up every bit of matter in the water - between you and the subject
Placement of strobes is crucial to avoid lighting up the backscatter.
I started out doing underwater photography - before I did on top of water photography. and no one could or would help me.
These days every diver has an amphibious camera. My days the housing, ports and strobes cost as much as the (then) expensive D70 and lenses.
but nothing beats being under water. literally nothing.
Very nice Elsa. What caused you to stop diving? I prefer a snorkel to scuba ... more of a challenge.
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you had no clue what you were doing ? ... well to me the images say otherwise !
I have taken images with the submersible cameras and so far have zero images I like, and one camera which I borrowed got flooded , so I bought a new one in order to return it
One thing I got from the frustration trying to shoot cute colorful fishes while snorkeling was some ideas to plan the shooting I did with the pregnant girl
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Great photos,lovely colours.
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Thanks guys
Armando - you got inspiration at least.
There are only 2 kinds of underwater photographers - those who have flooded their housings - and those who are going to flood their housings.
Gary - I am not suited for a snorkel - that thing makes me feel like drowning every 10 seconds.
I had to stop in 2010 due to a heart attack - and just when i started diving after recovery - I got a frozen shoulder. Still have it 3 years later. It is not safe to dive if I don't have good mobility - not safe for me nor my diving partner. I am a dive instructor - for me diving was a life style. And photography with it.
Underwater photography is expensive with little return. Or it was basically no return when I dived. There are some excellent U/W togs who do sell well. But mostly it's the same as wildlife - you do it because you love it not because you get commissioned work. Therefor any investment into the set-up is carefully considered.
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Sorry for your injuries and life style changes. (I understand the love of diving and of our oceans. I majored in Marine Biology.)
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oh its no problem Gary - ye if you did that you would really understand.
life happens. either we face it, deal with it, and get on with it - or be miserable the rest of your life.
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very nice elsa... i always wondered how to illuminate the subject underwater... very challenging
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Porn for divers, great series Elsa.
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Impressive series.
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Thanks guys for the comments
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Great shots and I can't imagine how challenging it must be.
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Thank you Jørgen!
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These are lovely Elsa.
I learned to dive whilst studying marine biology, which was a nice combination. And it was diving that really got me into photography, but I could never afford the housings so stuck with above the water shooting.
Sorry to hear you've had to limit your diving.
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Thanks Colin for the comments. ;)
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Clearly there is a huge difference between your nothing and my nothing!
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Very colorfull pictures.
I love particularly the last one : amazing creatures which I had never saw before.
They are so many examples of symbiosis in the underwater world !
I am aware how difficult must be to take this sort of pictures...
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of course the worst of it all is that it's done. The underwater photography I mean - no going back. but such is life.
thanks rosko and Peter.
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Hello my lover
(before you have any type of reaction, please consider that in the NW of England where I live you can use this expression, or just "love" or even "me duck" - my duck - to say something like "sweetheart").
The lighting topic has already been mentioned, would you care to elaborate a little more?
Did you regularly use those strobes with long arms to light from the sides, in order to avoid scatter from matter suspended between the subject and the lens? One or more strobes? How unwieldy was it, did it still make it possible to enjoy the dive from a swimming perspective, or did it turn it into a single purpose (photography) mission?
"didn't have a bloody clue" I wish had half the bloody clue you had back then.
I have experienced all the problems you mentioned when I tried using a Sony RX100 (MkI) with an enclosure (no strobes, just shooting with natural light immediately below the surface). Got almost nothing worth remembering, I wish I got anything remotely comparable to your images.
I was snorkeling, don't know if you have tried snorkeling recently, but if you stick to the surface without diving there are now some very nice snorkels that automatically drain the water from the bottom, leaving breathing always unobstructed. Just a thought, apologies if you have already considered all the options and taken your decision.
The Med may not have as much colorful marine life, but the water is generally warm, calmer, and in many places very clear. It is my favourite place for swimming.
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Sweetheart - the strobes are crucial - its basically flashes (like speedlights but underwater ones - so you call them strobes)
I have a set up of 2 strobes so that I could place them (on long arms) to light the subject from the side rather than head on.
Not even 45 degrees - usually between 45 and 90 degrees kind of thing. Reason being that you want to avoid lighting the water between the lens and subject
as there is particles in the water - and any light shining on it makes it visible, whereas if you only light the subject from the side, you dont get the
interference of the backscatter (particles) and you have no idea how many particles float in water.
Generally - The more particles in the water - the less the visibility to the diver. Some days viz is better than others - in the arctic (or is in antarctic) viz can be many many meters. seasons also has an affect. Depending on the surge, wind, whatever else - you can have sh*t floating and we have had times that viz was so bad - we used to jike that you dont have 1m viz in front of you - but rather 6m behind you :)
I was only interested in shooting, so I wasnt unhappy, but swimming underwater with a hyge set up - and it is quite bulky - isnt easy or much fun. As a photographer you basically float around and shoot - especially doing macro - you hardly look further than 3m, you just focus on what you shoot in front of you. Very helpful to have a spotter, or two shooting together.
Remember also than colour starts going from around 3m, so if you dont have strobes - you will loose colour and everything is blue - as you might have seen.
Snorkelling has never been my thing - and since I stopped diving - I wont even consider doing that. Especially since I dont shoot U/W anymore. Hey I dont even swim! (not that I could do that well either) I have a swimming pool at home - which I NEVER set foot in.
Warm water diving has so many positives - not least of all the drysuit you dont need and tons of weights - but in Cape Town the water may not be warm - but marine life is so varied and plentiful - it made up in spades.
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Sweetheart - the strobes are crucial - its basically flashes (like speedlights but underwater ones - so you call them strobes)
I have a set up of 2 strobes so that I could place them (on long arms) to light the subject from the side rather than head on.
Not even 45 degrees - usually between 45 and 90 degrees kind of thing. Reason being that you want to avoid lighting the water between the lens and subject
as there is particles in the water - and any light shining on it makes it visible, whereas if you only light the subject from the side, you dont get the
interference of the backscatter (particles) and you have no idea how many particles float in water.
Generally - The more particles in the water - the less the visibility to the diver. Some days viz is better than others - in the arctic (or is in antarctic) viz can be many many meters. seasons also has an affect. Depending on the surge, wind, whatever else - you can have sh*t floating and we have had times that viz was so bad - we used to jike that you dont have 1m viz in front of you - but rather 6m behind you :)
I was only interested in shooting, so I wasnt unhappy, but swimming underwater with a hyge set up - and it is quite bulky - isnt easy or much fun. As a photographer you basically float around and shoot - especially doing macro - you hardly look further than 3m, you just focus on what you shoot in front of you. Very helpful to have a spotter, or two shooting together.
Remember also than colour starts going from around 3m, so if you dont have strobes - you will loose colour and everything is blue - as you might have seen.
Snorkelling has never been my thing - and since I stopped diving - I wont even consider doing that. Especially since I dont shoot U/W anymore. Hey I dont even swim! (not that I could do that well either) I have a swimming pool at home - which I NEVER set foot in.
Warm water diving has so many positives - not least of all the drysuit you dont need and tons of weights - but in Cape Town the water may not be warm - but marine life is so varied and plentiful - it made up in spades.
Very informative, thanks.
I guess the learning point is that if one is serious about underwater photography adequate ligthting is a must and that means the whole diving experience is dedicated to photo in a limited space rather than exploring around. I probably value being under water more for the physical feeling and the sense of exploration, therefore doing proper UW photography probably I would feel I am missing on too much other stuff.
A Nikon AW1 with kit lens is more than I need for casual snapping just under the water surface. I don't have that yet but following Øivind's post I guess I'll get one at some stage if it can be found at rock bottom prices.
My experience snorkelling in the Med is that in good places and on good days visibility can be quite good. On some occasions I have been able to see at many tens of meters distance.
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Sweetheart - the strobes are crucial - its basically flashes (like speedlights but underwater ones - so you call them strobes)
I have a set up of 2 strobes so that I could place them (on long arms) to light the subject from the side rather than head on.
Not even 45 degrees - usually between 45 and 90 degrees kind of thing. Reason being that you want to avoid lighting the water between the lens and subject
as there is particles in the water - and any light shining on it makes it visible, whereas if you only light the subject from the side, you dont get the
interference of the backscatter (particles) and you have no idea how many particles float in water.
Generally - The more particles in the water - the less the visibility to the diver. Some days viz is better than others - in the arctic (or is in antarctic) viz can be many many meters. seasons also has an affect. Depending on the surge, wind, whatever else - you can have sh*t floating and we have had times that viz was so bad - we used to jike that you dont have 1m viz in front of you - but rather 6m behind you :)
I was only interested in shooting, so I wasnt unhappy, but swimming underwater with a hyge set up - and it is quite bulky - isnt easy or much fun. As a photographer you basically float around and shoot - especially doing macro - you hardly look further than 3m, you just focus on what you shoot in front of you. Very helpful to have a spotter, or two shooting together.
Remember also than colour starts going from around 3m, so if you dont have strobes - you will loose colour and everything is blue - as you might have seen.
Snorkelling has never been my thing - and since I stopped diving - I wont even consider doing that. Especially since I dont shoot U/W anymore. Hey I dont even swim! (not that I could do that well either) I have a swimming pool at home - which I NEVER set foot in.
Warm water diving has so many positives - not least of all the drysuit you dont need and tons of weights - but in Cape Town the water may not be warm - but marine life is so varied and plentiful - it made up in spades.
A true queen you are Elsa!
I see Bjørn already diving in your pool with his AW1. I so envy him!
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oh my hat - I should really check my posts before posting them - the typos!!!!!!! >:(