Underwater Photography

Please accept my apologies on the initial release of this blog. Some of the photos and videos were yet to be loaded before initial release. For this reason I am releasing it again in its completed form.

Underwater Photography

 I purchased my first home made underwater camera from a friend of mine.  It was an Argus C-3 in a 3/4 inch Plexiglas home made housing.  Since I had started diving in the mid 50s I have been driven to capture a record of the things I had seen underwater to show other divers and non-divers.

Argus C-3

 Let's be honest here, I am not what some people would call a professional photographer.  Out of the multitude of photos and videos I have shot, I only display the best ones for viewing.  Even professional movie editors leave most of their work on what's known as the "Cutting Room Floor".

 In addition to the underwater videos and pictures, I have also tried to document the topside of trips to show others what various locations have to offer.  In my book I show a number of black and white examples of my early attempts at both surface and underwater photography.

 Do I read books by professional photographers, yes but they take the preparation and setting up of a particular shot farther than I really want to.  I know the basics such as light availability dictating how the exposure should be the use of standard and wide-angle lenses as well as how to set up the flash units.

 My first truly professional camera was the Nikon V 35mm which had been very popular for some time.  I invested in the camera along with the standard, close up and wide-angle lenses.  In addition, I purchased the light tray and the corresponding flash units.  This camera was a camera and housing all in one.  Very compact it was easy to pack for a trip and easy to carry underwater.  The controls were simple and easy to read for the user.

Nikonos V Camera

 The Nikonos was a very good camera and it took some great photos especially on the trip three of us took to Truk Lagoon in 1988.  This is the location where the United States Navy pulled a reverse Pearl Harbor in WWll on a Japanese cargo fleet, sinking over 60 ships anchored in this lagoon.

 Truk Photos

 The Nikonos V was a great combination and it worked very well.  It was almost a point and shoot camera for a novice like me.  Unfortunately, when film cameras started to be phased out, 35mm film started to become scarce.  You were also limited to 36 exposures which shooting the last frame always happened just before the best shot came along.  We were in Truk for two weeks and dove 43 times so you can imagine how many rolls of film I went through.  Finally, movies could not be accomplished with any of the 35mm cameras.

 I had used film cameras for on-shore photography for a number of years, especially in my work as a district manager for an earthmoving manufacturer where documenting various situations became necessary. 

 When the digital age of cameras came to be, it offered new possibilities in surface as well as underwater photography.  The two that intrigued me the most were an almost unlimited amount of still shots that could be taken as well as being able to switch over to video whenever the situation called for it.

 In rushing into this new type of photography my biggest mistake was purchasing a brand of camera that I liked for surface work and then finding a suitable case to take it underwater.  I was a big Olympus fan having carried one of their point and shoot cameras for work and later purchasing one of their 120/220 large format cameras for shooting professional grade photos for our advertising department.

 It was easy to purchase a digital camera I liked, but then it became necessary to choose an underwater housing for my model.  At that time, Olympus was not offering any underwater cases for their cameras so I was left to forage for a case that would accommodate the model I had.

  Because of digital photography being relatively new the selection of cases was few and far between.  I did however, locate a case and proceeded to adapt my Olympus to it.  

From there on it became necessary to select a flash unit that would not only adapt to the camera but also attach to the exterior of the case.  Unfortunately by using this approach I ended up with a mediocre camera set up that would have ongoing problems.

 Now-keep in mind, that because I not only locked into a particular brand of camera but I didn't go far enough to learn what cases were being offered, on the market, for various other makes of cameras.  It probably would have saved me a lot of trial and error in trying to get two incompatible items to work together.

 I also fail to mention my own lack of expertise in rushing into the digital market without opening more books and studying up on this new type of photography.

 Needless to say, I did get some acceptable results but there was considerable trial and error.  During a dive I could not count on the results I had been getting with the Nikonos V.  Sometimes the exposure was off, the flash failed to go off or one of the outside controls would not connect properly with the camera's setting knob.

 After about a year of this trial and error, mostly error, I found out that Olympus began offering their own camera housings for a number of their cameras.  Enter what they called their Olympus PEN camera along with their case designed to accommodate it.  Everything was designed together so reliability, for the novice, was there and ready to be taken advantage of.

Olympus Pen camera and housing

 This combination gave me the confidence that I was looking for in that everything was designed by the manufacturer for the most efficient operation possible.

 Prior to this development by Olympus, you could purchase a variety of cameras that were designed by a manufacturer and was made up of a less than known camera as well as a case made to house it.  The problem was that if you had the camera for about two years and for some reason the case flooded while on a dive you had a hard time finding another camera to use in the case.  Reason being that the cameras were not sold by themselves and in about two years the manufacturer was on to making another updated model and were no longer offering the one you had.

 Not so with the Olympus configuration for the camera inside the case was a model used by land photographers so if anything happened that resulted to the case taking on water, there were enough of these cameras on the market where you could get one used or new to replace it.

 There was no special mounting in the housing, like I had experienced in the past, you just dropped the camera in and cam locked the back closed.

Once the back was closed you are set to go.  All controls for the camera's functions are clearly marked on the back of the case and the buttons are far enough apart then, those on the camera itself, for ease of use underwater.  This I find very handy, more so than some other camera housings on the market.

Pay particular attention to the red marked button because it is used to allow the user to immediately switch from still shots to video and back.  This is very handy when a situation presents itself.

 For example, when I was in the Maldives we had the opportunity to snorkel with Whale Sharks.  On one occasion I began filming as we swam to catch up with one.

Now when we finally caught up with the shark and were even a little ahead of it, I hit the red button to take me out of video and switch over to still and following is the result.

In this case I was using the available light due to being so close to the surface, also it is very difficult to swim with a camera that has strobe lights attached with extension arms.

 Speaking of strobe lights, they are definitely necessary it you intend to capture the color of the various subject matter the ocean has to offer.  In addition, the lights have to be positioned off to the side, shooting toward the subject on an angle so as to eliminate the various types of plankton or other debris floating in the water.

 If you are only using one strobe it can be positioned off to the side or even overhead depending on the size of the subject matter you're trying to catch.  For these reasons you will have to purchase a holding tray that the camera mounts on in the middle and is long enough that the strobe arm can be attached to the end.  Then the strobe arm is usually made up of some kind of flexible joints or arms that will allow you to position them to acquire the best angle of the flash.

Most of the time both flash units are used but you can turn one or the other off to suit the situation.  Sometimes you may have to move a strobe at an angle to zero in on a subject under a ledge or in a hole.

 If I'm only going to go with one strobe, I usually attach it to the left side of the camera.  Reason being that all the adjustments as well as the trip lever is situated on the right.  Sometimes you  have to be creative in positioning the strobe to allow enough light on your subject.

In this shot of a grouper you can see the effect of one flash being used on the left side by the illumination of the coral on the left and the grouper's shadow on the right.  This is not considered a bad photo because the subject is well illuminated. A professional photographer might add that a second flash would eliminate the shadow and light up the coral to the right. They may be right, but at the time I only had one flash.

The light in the center, on top of the Olympus housing, is a flood light and is used mostly during night photography.  Most of the time it isn't even necessary to carry more than one strobe because you have enough light with the flood to take a great shot.  It's especially useful when shooting a video at night when you can follow your subject if they move in front of you or, as in the next video, the subject keeps coming back for more.

 I look back on how much time and money I have invested on  equipment to capture some my encounters.  Today I see what's available on the market to accomplish them easier and less expensively.

 When my son Gary purchased his GoPro camera, I thought he would have a hard time getting the quality pictures and videos that I have.  That theory fell all apart when he showed me his first video that was fantastic coming from that little three inch square box.

Gary with his GoPro

And now he is even looking over his shoulder at the company that is developing an underwater case for cell phones.  Where will it end?  But that's progress, an easier way to allow divers to bring back to the surface a record of what they experienced.

I've had a lot of fun capturing some of the encounters with various animals, crustaceans and fish of all species.  As I said I don't pretend to be a professional photographer and I guess it's because I enjoy diving first and the photography as an add-on.  I have spent a lot of time studying diving and a little time on taking pictures and videos.  I would rather come back to land safely with some acceptable photos than not come back at all.

And no matter what anyone says, my photos and videos are great, at least the ones I show people.                                                

 George