Sync Cords

Have you ever been concerned about your sync cords? Those flimsy cables stretching between your camera and strobes are the key to simple lighting underwater. These delicate wires can be easily damaged or over stretched by a variety of hazards – the snatch of a well-meaning deckhand, a buddy’s fin tip or even a piece of coral. In addition, sync cords can be outrageously expensive to replace. I’ve paid over fifty dollars for a part that probably costs a few dollars, at most, to produce.

My protection device is a few feet of fairly rigid, clear plastic tubing from the hardware store. After measuring a piece that fits between your camera housing and the strobe, cut it length wise with a razor blade. On your next dive trip, place the sync cord inside the tubing and use a cable tie to encase the fragile wire. After your cable is in the protective coating, use a few more cable ties to attach the assembly to the strobe arm. Beyond preventing your sync cords from damage, the clear plastic tubing will stiffen a wimpy strobe arm.

Diopter Dilemma

The fourth quarter was a busy time for me. My excursion to the far eastern edge of Indonesia, quickly followed by the family-focused holiday season, prevented me from composing any thoughts regarding underwater photography.

My primary objective in Raja Ampat was to capture the pygmy seahorse image I failed compose two years ago in Sulawesi due to a very inconsiderate diver. Armed with my new hybrid camera, lens and diopter, I was confident in attaining my goal as I stepped aboard the Paradise Dancer for a 10-day journey. My conviction rose even higher when I encountered the same guide that created my photographic safari in Sulawesi. Unfortunately, I immediately discovered my equipment configuration was not strong enough to focus on the tiny creatures. (Before the trip, I had practiced focusing on the letters of a Durcell AA – I should have used a AAA.)

The guide found me at least two pygmy seahorses every day, but I had extraordinary difficulties in getting the right magnification and focus combination. I delved deep into the manual camera settings and took dozens of shots day after day to no avail. Confounding me even further were two other photographers who were taking wonderful pictures without any effort. Finally, I luckily managed to capture one “wall worthy” image after about seventy attempts.

Focus lock was a key component to my success. This is a camera feature every macro photographer should master. Focus lock is not holding the shutter button down halfway and waiting for a subject to wander into the proper position. Instead, the technique involves manually focusing the camera on a small area within the frame. In automatic mode my camera, for example, uses sixteen points as focal references. In focus lock, a small reticule appears and what is inside the box is brought into focus by how far the camera lens is away from the subject. By extending or retracting my arms focused is achieved similar to old film cameras. This is a difficult skill in the topsy-turvy ocean surrounded by delicate soft coral and other divers. I must have stumbled upon the magical spot where my lens distance was perfect and the reticule was over the seahorse’s eye.

Experiment with focus lock before an upcoming trip. Also, if you add a diopter to a camera, purchase the most powerful one you can afford and ensure it has a solid connection to the camera housing. (Mine accidentally fell off along a wall mid-trip. I found it laying on a tiny ledge at 93’.) Another recommendation is to borrow another photographers diopter and screw it onto to yours, if feasible, to increase the magnification.

Really, Edie?

How much do you use Photoshop? Do you tinker a bit with the program to remove an annoying piece of backscatter from a picture, adjust the color tone or crop-out a buddy’s fin tip? Or, are you an “Edie?”

Several years ago cruising through Fiji aboard the Nai’a my friends and I encountered Edie, a very annoying diver and photographer. After every dive, Edie would sit in the lounge in her damp, ill-fitting swimsuit and manipulate her images at the table she commandeered for the entire trip. Edie even ate her meals hunched over her laptop. This routine, combined with her absolute disregard for the marine life and her fellow photographers brought scorn upon Edie. (As a side note, Edie also had an annoying habit of asking the men on the trip to help doff her wetsuit. I quote, “Can you give me a peel sonny?” – yucky.)

At the end of the excursion everyone showed their best images. All of Edie’s pictures were met with smirks and eye-rolls. Were the pictures real or compositions from multiple sources? In one striking picture Edie had the silhouette of a shark framed over a beautifully lit coral head with the sun’s rays streaming from the surface. No one believed she had actually captured the scene despite her protests.

My suggestion is don’t be an “Edie.” Underwater photography is an endeavor filled with tales of got-it, screwed-it-up or missed-it shots. If you can’t find enjoyment in the journey, don’t compensate by altering images until the picture is only a vague representation of the experience or your skill level. Why haul equipment to the far side of the world to capture mating mandarin fish, if you’re just going to create the image in Photoshop? If you capture a good, or great, picture – wonderful. If you’re strobe fails or the camera settings aren’t correct – those are the breaks. I admit to using the program to improve pictures, especially ones of creatures that are fairly difficult to find and frame. Ultimately, I’ve found the images that elicit the best response from friends are the ones that remain unchanged even after pressing the autocorrect feature in Photoshop. (Like this toadfish taken by Ken Shine.)

Next month, I’m heading to Raja Ampat with only the basic equipment due to the weight restrictions on Indonesia’s airlines. I’m leaving the wide angle, back-up camera, etc. at home. Wish me luck.

How Much?

Recently, I had two conversations at the shop with customers interested in pursuing underwater photography. Both people were newly certified divers getting ready to embark upon their first salt water adventures and willing to spend around two hundred dollars.

My initial suggestion to the customers was to simply enjoy the dives while becoming familiar with the equipment, buoyancy, environment, etc. I asked them, “Why do you want to add an additional, unfamiliar task to an entirely new experience?” My second piece of advice was to forget underwater photography unless they were willing to invest at least five hundred dollars in a “starter kit” that included a camera and strobe. Moreover, any money they were considering spending on a camera should first be applied to a regulator, computer or jacket.

One gentleman was interested in only purchasing a camera and adding a strobe in the future. I had to remind him how the spectrum of colors will begin to dissipate as soon as his head goes under the waves. I said, “Remember ROYGBIV? All your pictures will be blue & green without a light source.” He mentioned his exceptional skills with Photoshop, which made me cringe. I’m not certain how effective the latest version of Photoshop is in massive color correction, but I’m not a proponent of excessive touch-up. (More on the subject in a future post.)

The other customer asked about putting his high-end Nikon SLR in an underwater housing. This option exists, but the price of custom camera housings are well beyond five hundred dollars. When we began discussing strobes, he asked about just using ambient lighting. In ten to fifteen feet of water sunshine can be a wonderful light source. Below the safety stop level, however, sunlight can only play a secondary role in illuminating a subject.

Both customers followed my final comment. If you’re not ready to commit finances, and occasionally frustration, to underwater photography, hire a local photographer to follow you around for a 2-tank trip. Ask the boat crew for a recommendation. You’ll get better images than anything you could do on your own with a new camera for a fraction of the cost and no hassles. I still have a picture the photographer took of me on my second ocean dive hanging on my wall.

Wide Angle Practice

I returned from a wonderful week at Turneffe Island in Belize on Saturday. This trip was the maiden voyage for my new camera system. In addition, I tested the video/dive light versus strobe theory mentioned in my previous post on a few dives.

Equipped with my new 9-14 lens and dome port I opted to concentrate entirely on wide angle images. Instead of capturing brilliantly composed scenes of horse eye jacks schooling over The Elbow, I left Turneffe Island completely empty-handed after five days of moderate shooting. The camera settings weren’t difficult to manage, but using a true wide angle set-up, instead of an arrangement on a point & shoot camera, will take practice.

My major challenge was getting too close to subjects with the dome port and negatively impacting the focus. Everything appears fairly small on the LCD with a wide angle lens. As a result, I took numerous shots at macro distance trying to enlarge a fish on the LCD. After a few days of diving I began to get a get accustomed to the space required for a decent picture by peeking over the housing after seeing an image on the camera screen.

The Sola video/dive light attached to the housing hot shoe worked very well during the day dives – no night excursions on this trip. The compact light really does put all the colors back into the coral and has the potential to eliminate strobes. The only disadvantage to exclusively using Sola is the beam strength scares the fish. Relatively stable creatures like lobsters, crabs and eels retreated as soon as the halo illuminated them. Video shooters successfully use video/dive lights, but they’re sweeping the reef and not trying to capture tight images. The benefit of strobes is the quick burst of light that fish can’t react to before the shutter snaps. In the future I’ll be carrying a combination of the two light sources to maximize my options underwater. At the very least a housing, or arm, mounted Sola eliminates the need for a primary dive light and extra batteries.

A trip to the Flower Gardens is coming up over Labor Day. I’ll be giving the dome port another try.

Obsolete Strobes

Over the last month I decided to upgrade my camera system to improve my macro & wide angle capabilities. One of my pre-delivery concerns was whether my old strobes would be compatible with the new equipment. This situation led to a series of discussions at the dive shop regarding underwater lighting.

The prevailing opinion among divers is to add the biggest, most affordable strobes to a camera. Digital camera sensors, though, are much more sensitive to light than film. As a result, the need for a brilliant flash of light is essentially gone, especially considering the latest in underwater photo equipment. The new avenue is for photographers to use video/dive lights. Bob Wohlers, the head of Instructional Design at PADI describes this development in latest issue of Undersea Journal. The process has a few advantages according to Bob:

1) The coverage provided by the lighting equipment (total coverage, shadows, highlights) can be seen prior to taking a photo.

2) The lights can be used with video (most still cameras on the market now can render high-quality video).

3) The equipment act as super-bright primary night diving lights.

4) Power can be increased or decreased on the lights.

5) During the day the white balance can be employed using the video/ambient light combination.

Depending upon the model, the video/dive light can also eliminate the hassles associated with strobes – luggage space, changing batteries, etc. I purchased a rechargeable Light & Motion Sola which is very compact and has a seventy minute burn time on the highest setting.

The possible disadvantages to using a dive/video lights are being able to approach a skittish fish and fine tune lighting. In the Undersea Journal article, Bob only discusses photographing still objects – like coral. Video divers take wonderful sequences with huge white beams of light crisscrossing the ocean; but will I be able to creep up on a skittish fish for a tight face picture? Also, the dive/video lights do not have too many power settings. The high-end Sola has just full, medium and low options. I only adjust my strobes, though, about 30% of the time when the opportunity exists to set-up on a creature for a few minutes.

My old Sea & Sea strobes worked with new camera, so I will be experimenting on my upcoming trip to Belize. If the Sola does not scare the fish I may decide to purchase another one, shed the bulky strobes and batteries and completely convert to the new method.

Camera Upgrades

My camera-free trip to Cozumel went very well. All of the new dive equipment performed as expected and a last minute switch to a different boat operation proved to be a good decision. I’m always appreciative of a captain that allows seventy-five minute bottom times and prepares his own guacamole. Swimming around the reefs and not worrying about taking pictures, rinsing the housing, having a deckhand stretch a sync cord or some moron scrubbing defog into the camera bucket was very liberating for me.

As expected, a few instances arose when I wished I had my camera. Cruising along Ramon’s Mountains I came across a large nurse shark underneath a tiny shelf with the current flowing over the top. The best part of the encounter was the shark’s position – facing the sun in about forty-five feet of water, its body curved and the tail perked up. I’ve yet to capture the perfect nurse shark image and this would have definitely been “the shot.” The other opportunity was in the sandy grotto area near Tunich and Yucab. I encountered a mid-sized turtle inside a swim through snacking on the coral hanging from the ceiling. The picture would have been a great wide angle image with the sun peeking through the holes in the coral.

As I look forward to my other diving adventures in the coming months I’ve been very tempted to upgrade my camera system. My eight megapixel point & shoot camera was top of line equipment in its class five years ago. Now, however, the thoughts of a larger screen, different lenses to boost my macro capabilities, non-existent shutter lag and a fat fish-eye lens are compelling me to spend big ducats on new gear. My evenings are filled studying a few different set-ups.

Also, I flooded my favorite flashlight in Cozumel - the skinny UK LED. I always had the UK strapped to my camera tray and it acted as both my primary light and focusing beam on night dives. The flashlight still works, but the beam seems weaker to me. So I’m considering adding one of the new Light & Motion Sola lights to my camera system. These lights are compact, unbelievably bright, completely sealed and have multiple illumination settings. The best feature on the photography model is a red beam. Instead of trolling the reef with a creature-terrorizing white light, you can stealthily swim along using an easy-on-the-eyes red light. I still need to determine if the camera can focus on a subject in the red beam mode, though. The only drawback is the cost. . . we’ll see.