27 minute read
Underwater Photography
from Scuba Diver #54
PLANNING A PHOTOGRAPHY DIVE
Following his last article on working the subject, Martyn Guess provides some insight into his thought process when pre-planning a photography dive to help create stand out images
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Photographs by Martyn Guess
My last couple of articles have looked at different
photography techniques and observing behaviour to get some more interesting images. I touched on planning ahead in these articles and I recommend readers check them out and refresh their memories as I want to expand on the planning aspect.
I see a lot of budding photographers that turn up to dive and the only pre-dive decision they have made is maybe the choice of lens they will be using, be it macro or wide angle. In part, the decision is already made for them by the destination they are diving, such as a muck-diving macro location or a blue-water shark dive, for example, or maybe they are using a compact camera with a fixed lens. When diving they react to what subjects and scenes are in front of them. This is, of course, fine, and I know that when reacting to opportunities some good photographs are taken, but with a bit of pre-planning and thinking, maybe a different lens choice or technique can be planned and then brought into action and some more pleasing and different images created. A lot of photographers get into the water and then forget to try different techniques, camera settings or types of lighting or strobe positions as they go into a safe mode and just want to get a shot in the ‘bag’. It is perhaps only when they are back at their computer that they start to think about what if I had tried opening the Image 1. Turtle silhouette. The camera was set up for this shot as I knew there were a lot of turtles on the site and I planned ahead. aperture or back lighting the subject, or using 1/320th F18 no strobes inward lighting techniques
Image 2. Motion blur grey seal. Dark overcast day so I pre-planned for this type of shot and set up my cam-era in advance 1/8th Sec ISO 100 F16
or made a silhouette (Image 1) or tried slow motion blur (image 2). Thinking specifically about different techniques to adopt before diving, taking into account the time of the day and conditions, will help concentrate the mind. As an aide memoire, I print cribs and messages to myself and stick these on the back of the camera housing and recommend this to help you remember what you have planned.
My thought process starts from notes taken during a previous trip and at home before a new trip. I am an avid note taker, and I will review the notes I made of what happened on a trip, camera settings and type of lighting for certain types of images that worked or failed, equipment used or required. I then compile a synopsis which is usually made sitting on a plane coming home. When I go on the next trip, I refer to these notes beforehand and start to plan what I want to achieve. I will usually have seen an image or two from another photographer that I like and plan to try something similar, or perhaps I had tried something which didn’t quite work on the last trip so I plan how I can achieve
Image 3. Blue shark in the evening light. I pre-planned the time of day to dive having regard to the bright sunshine
Image 4. Caribbean reef sharks – overcast and stormy day so pre-planned to take this slow motion shot
the image I am after. This approach works very well for me and whiles the hours away sitting on a plane or coach! When I am on a trip, I then refine my plan by reference to the best time of day to get the light I want (Image 3), the equipment and accessories like diopters, magnifiers, strobe set up, Snoots, etc, that I plan to dive with.
By way of example - I like motion blur images. I may therefore plan to use the technique before a dive. I look at previous images I have taken that I am happy with to check out my settings in advance – what worked best and then on the day of the dive I take in to account the weather, the natural light, the depth, etc, that I will be diving to consider if this type of shot is feasible. If, for example, it is an overcast day, then I am going to plan shots of this nature as lower natural light levels are a real help with the very slow camera speeds required (Image 4). Maybe I need to take a neutral density filter with me to reduce the light that will hit the sensor with very slow shutter speeds or maybe I need to plan to dive deeper where there is not so much natural light.
Another example of planning ahead might be where I dived a site recently and am going to do it again. If I know there is a subject on the site which will look great with backlighting, such as a rhinopias (Image 5) or a leaffish (Image 6)
BIOGRAPHY MARTIN GUESS
Martyn has been diving for over 30 years and taking underwater images for nearly as long. He is a well-known and successful underwater photographer with many successes in National and International competitions and regularly makes presentations to Camera and Photography clubs and Dive shows as well as The British Society of Underwater Photographers (BSOUP)and other underwater photography groups. Today he shares his passion and knowledge - As well as teaching personalized underwater photography courses he leads overseas workshop trips for Scuba Travel and his articles regularly appear in Scuba Diver Magazine.
or a seahorse. (Image 7), I will typically then check out some previous successful images in my library, look at the settings and then make sure the torch I am going to use is in my pocket and that my buddy knows how to use it (Much easier to explain on dry land than underwater!). During a trip the same dives will probably be undertaken a few times and therefore you will already have an awareness of what you are likely to see. If not, the guides will tell you at the briefing of course but you might need to chat to them in advance so that you can prepare with lens choice, lighting, settings, accessories, etc.
I strongly recommend that you look at pictures in magazines, and images that appear in competitions and where you can, other photographers work on their websites. You will quickly find images that inspire you and that you want to try and create yourself. Learn about the techniques that were used to create the images you like and then plan to practice wherever you have the opportunity.
Image 5. Lacey rhinopias -torch back lit with a tiny amount of front lighting. I pre planned the tech-nique knowing the subject was on the site
The two techniques I have referred to in this article to plan before a dive are easy to master. Check out the specific article I wrote for this magazine for motion blur images.
Back Lighting
You can use a strobe with a piece of old wetsuit arm attached to reduce the light beam, but I prefer to use a narrow beam torch, which is far easier to position than a strobe attached to an arm. I either place the torch behind the subject if it is safe to do so and nothing is going to be disturbed or alternatively get my buddy or dive guide to hold the torch for me, which does require the pre-planning that I have mentioned as they need to know what you want them to do (Image 8). Back lighting will work very well for an interesting shaped subject or one with a hairy or lacey edge, such as the rhinopias in image 5 or seahorse in image 7. Something which will become translucent such as the leaf fish in image 6 is worthy of backlighting and will create a memorable image. The technique will hide a messy background and will elevate an image to something memorable. You can just rely on the back light itself so turn off your strobes and position yourself in front of the subject where you can’t see the torch beam. You will see just the light around the edge of the subject. You might need to lower the camera speed to see the outline of the light around the edge of the subject. You can also use one strobe on a low setting to light the front of the subject and the backlight to create a bright edge. The image of the rhinopias is an example of back lighting where a blip of light illuminates the front and shows off the wonderful skin pattern. A backlight strobe will give you a much bigger light so has to be positioned well out of the frame.
With wide angle backlighting the use of a remote trigger
Image 6. Leaffish with strong torch back lighting – I pre-planned this technique knowing I would find this subject
will enable the strobe to be fired and positioned Image 7. Seahorse with torch backlighting and a little front strobe light. Pre-planned technique as I knew I would find this subject out of sight of the camera. This type of remote lighting must be preplanned with your buddy which again goes back to my planning ethos. There are quite a few well known back lit images of a motorbike from the Thistlegorm wreck in the Red Sea, which are a great example of the impact that can be created with this technique.
The next time you go on a photography dive, think before you go about what sort of shots you want to achieve. Research the technique you will need and the best settings for the equipment to be used before you dive. I am confident that pre-planning will help your images improve and help to create a diverse portfolio of images. n
Under the artificial illumination of diver’s torches and
video lights, the underwater world after sunset can be transformed into something spectacular. A dive site that is visited regularly throughout the daylight hours can completely change when revisited at night, and a whole new world of marine creatures be visible.
I have dived Chesil Cove at Portland in Dorset hundreds of times at night, it is my favourite time for filming and photographing the many animals that either visit here throughout the year, or simply call this cove at the mostsoutherly end of Chesil Beach their home.
Diving at night during the summer months does come with a drawback however - it takes a fair amount of dedication to wait for the sun to set before venturing into the inky blackness, and even then at around 10pm, I have often found myself asking ‘Is this truly a night dive?’ as the sun has usually only just dipped below the horizon and topside, at least, there is still a good amount of ambient light.
Thus, an idea I have had for many years now - but always seemed to put to one side - is, ‘what would it be like to go diving in the month of June exactly halfway between the sun setting and the sun rising?’ Would more nocturnal animals be out and about? Would they be more active? Would they be more approachable? So many questions, the urge to find out was becoming increasingly stronger.
In 2019, I had the pleasure of working alongside TV presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff and her team, assisting them with the BBC One Show film ‘Ray at Night’, whereby we went in search of undulate rays off Chesil Cove. I had mentioned the idea about my midsummer night excursion with Miranda while walking along the famous shingle bank – and to this day can recall her smile and response, a very simple and enthusiastic ‘do it.’
Who doesn’t like a UK night dive? The anticipation, the excitement, the senses well and truly heightened, the not-knowing of what will reveal itself. Back in June, Dorset divers Colin Garrett and his wife Sarah took UK diving deep into the night –2am, to be precise
Photographs by Colin Garrett
Gurnards are distinctive bottomliving fish with large heads and eyes. The head is protected by large bony plates and spines, and the lower three rays of the pectoral fins are separate, finger-like processes that contain sensory organs.
Red mullet are a species of goatfish, easily recognisable for their colouration and barbels under the chin.
Bull huss
2020 came and went, COVID-19 basically bringing most UK diving to a halt. There was the odd dive here and there, but in the grand scheme of things, the year was pretty much a nothing year and many of us yearned for 2021 and a slight sense of some normality again. Normality for myself, however, meant getting this dive done – and with the summer months soon upon us, I set my date as 6 June. I was on holiday this week so it helped a fair bit not having to worry about getting up for work the same morning. The evening before the dive we set up all our dive gear ready for our early morning venture, making sure our torches had batteries that were fully charged. Happy in the knowledge all was well, we loaded the car up and went to bed with the alarm set. It seemed before we even knew it the alarm was going off, so bleary eyed we got up, donned our wetsuits and made the short journey from our home in Weymouth to Chesil Cove. It was now around 1.30am. Arriving at the cove, where parking – unsurprisingly – wasn’t an issue, we kitted up in the dead of night beneath an incredibly star-filled sky and the only sound being that on the smallest of wavelets breaking over the pebbles. Conditions couldn’t have been better, and we were ready to go – it was now 2am.
Beneath the surface our torches lit up the darkness, just as they had done so many times before. On this occasion however, as we started to head out to sea, it felt very different indeed. The feeling one gets when you have waited so long for something and finally the day of reckoning arrives. I was now wide awake.
As we approached the skeletal remains of the Preveza wreck, which lies in 6m-8m of water, several lobster were patrolling the seafloor – looking like blue armoured tanks under the video lights – as they investigated the many holes and crevices for a potential meal.
Leaving the wreck, we immediately sighted a fair-sized bull huss swimming effortlessly over the rocks and seaweed in search of prey. These little sharks are quite common all along Chesil Beach, but are usually seen by divers resting on the bottom.
As we continued seaward, another creature of the night – the common squid – came in to look us over, perhaps attracted by our torches. These highly intelligent animals are always a delight to see underwater and, as you look into their eyes, it often feels like a case of who is watching who?
Beyond the rocks and seaweed, the seabed turns to sand, and it wasn’t long before we spotted a very large blonde ray. Over the last few years, we seem to be seeing less and less rays here – of all species – for whatever reason, so it was hugely exciting to see such a large and mature male. Our attention was soon drawn to a beautiful red gurnard. These brightly coloured fish look incredible under torchlight at night and few divers I doubt would be able to resist taking a photo – the red colouration of their body is so vivid and their eyes an amazing blue and yellow that is quite mesmerising.
These sandy patches at Chesil Cove are also good areas to regularly spot cuttlefish, red mullet and juvenile conger eels, and on this particular dive there were plenty out and about searching for prey. In the sand itself however our attention was immediately drawn to a truly nocturnal animal, the night anemone (Halcampoides elongatus). These burrowing anemones, which during the daylight hours retract into the sediment, are not often seen by divers and this was a first for us despite all our years of earlier night dives here.
Around this point, I had really begun to feel that the decision to get up for this 2am adventure had been the right one. The encounters just kept on coming - colourful dahlia and strawberry anemones, strange-looking topknot and large ballan wrasse to name but a few. But sadly, after around 40 minutes – and after checking our dwindling air – it was time to start heading back towards shore to our entry and exit point.
Arriving back at the Preveza, we did our three-minute stop to off gas some of the nitrogen absorbed throughout the dive and I still found my eyes being drawn to more night time activity. Yellowish green European eels moved in and out of the pebbles, weed-covered spider crabs looked for scraps of food in the shallows, and above us a lone compass jellyfish drifted by. I remember smiling at this point, knowing we had just done something quite special and to the best of my knowledge, we are the only two people to dive here at this time of day.
Safely on the beach, we removed our masks, regulators and neoprene hoods before simultaneously reciting the highlights of the last hour - it was clear that we had both thoroughly enjoyed it. The sheer variety of wildlife underwater had been almost overwhelming, and then – as we made our way up the pebbles – we were given one final treat, for just a few feet away, a fox decided to stroll leisurely by completely uninterested in us being there. It was a surreal moment. Back at the car, we removed our kit and got changed before reflecting on what we had just done, seen and achieved. The idea of diving at this time had now become a reality and it had certainly lived up to my expectations. I truly believe, from what we witnessed, is that the animals are far more active at this time than on our previous earlier night dives.
Seeing the night anemone had been fascinating and after a bit of reading up on the animal afterwards, it became apparent that this really is a true ‘creature of the night’ and an animal I have never seen at Chesil Cove before, despite the fact I have dived here many hundreds of times under the cover of darkness. This finding has led Sarah and I to the question of ‘would we do this dive again?’ It certainly is fair to say that it took an enormous amount of dedication to get the dive done, but in hindsight the simple answer is ‘yes’. It was a fantastic dive with life everywhere we looked. There is also a warm sense of knowing that we had done something that we hadn’t heard of being done before.
We are now looking forward to and dreaming about next summer… n
Night anemone Blonde ray buried on the seabed
Dahlia anemone
Having spent 800-plus hours taking photos while
on a rebreather, I certainly see several pros and cons to consider, before you invest $1,000s on training and equipment. In this article, I will review how rebreathers benefit underwater photography, but also highlight the specific challenges they come with. Using examples from my own experience, I will hopefully help you decide whether getting a rebreather is the right thing for your photographic journey.
The pros
Perhaps the most sought-after advantage of rebreathers is getting closer to wildlife. With no bubbles and no first stage regulator noise, welcome to a true silent world! Most marine critters will welcome the change too, allowing you to get closer. I dove ‘le Graillon’, a popular shoredive in the French Riviera for four years without ever seeing the endangered dusky grouper in that spot. The first time my wife Lena and I dived with rebreathers there, we saw three! As soon as we heard bubbles in a distance, the grouper nearby went to hide. Even in places where fish are more comfortable with divers, such as Sydney’s shore dive sites, my rebreather gets me a tad closer to subjects. As we all know, getting just 50cm closer makes a big difference in underwater photography.
Rebreathers also make it easier to get below large animals and frame upwards wide-angle compositions, without bubbles ruining the shot or spooking the creature. When diving Manta Bommie (Stradbroke Island, Australia) last year, I didn’t have to hold my breath while manta rays slowly cruised towards me. At some point, Lena was shouting in her loop to get my attention, as I didn’t notice the manta stationed just above my head.
How often did you curse your SPG when shortage of gas meant you had to ascend and leave a great photo subject? Rebreathers are game-changers on bottom time - my closed-circuit rebreather gets me three hours of no-deco diving at 20m. For deeper or longer dives, decompression accumulates slower as you’re breathing an optimized gas mix. This extra time opens lots of possibilities underwater - covering long distances, exploring further, and navigating back and forth regardless of currents (within reason). There is just more flexibility in planning a dive. For example, my wife and I sometimes dive ‘The Leap’, a drift dive at the entrance of Botany Bay (Sydney), which is dived on an incoming tide, with the tide helping divers reach the exist steps, 350 metres into the bay. When it suits our photographic goals, we jump at slack time, spending two hours near the entry point, and then another hour swimming against the current and taking extra photos over 300 metres. There is also flexibility to amend the dive plan, depending on which photographic opportunities appear underwater.
It is no secret that rebreathers bring key advantages to underwater image-makers, yet they are also more complex to dive and maintain than traditional scuba gear. Underwater photography being a gear-intensive activity by itself, you may wonder, would it be wise to combine the two? Nicolas Remy offers an insight
Photographs by Nicolas and Lena Remy
Rebreathers have actually been around far longer than traditional scuba equipment. In fact, the first basic rebreather based on carbon dioxide absorption was patented in France in 1808 by Pierre-Marie Touboulic, a mechanic in Napoleon’s Imperial Navy.
Rebreathers allow getting closer to wildlife
With ample time before me, I spent 30 minutes photographing this stargazer striking on preys, until I captured the peak of the action Lena takes a closeup portrait of a wobbegong shark A very slow approach and the absence of bubbles saw me floating perfectly still, a metre away from this school of barracudas
Last time I dived Australia’s famous Fishrock, I spotted a large shadow in the distant blue, the opposite direction from the mooring I was heading towards. Could it be the elusive school of hammerheads, which sometimes visit the rock? Fair enough, I had spent a long time at depth already, reaching ten minutes of mandatory safety stop, but my dive computer said that another five minutes at that depth would only increase my safety stop by one extra minute… Yes, I will be fighting a bit of a current on the way back, but hey, after two hours of diving I had only consumed 50 bar on my three-litre oxygen tank, so there was ample gas available… All-in-one, a rebreather allows you to maximize photographic opportunities, within the limits of your experience, equipment and surface commitments.
Sometimes, the photographer’s challenge isn’t getting closer to marine life… but away from fellow homo sapiens! Fishrock (Australia) features a photogenic 120-metre swimthrough ocean cave, often visited by many divers, and such abundant company makes it hard to strike a pleasant composition. With no constraints on gas consumption, we happily let groups pass by, wave them bye-bye, and enjoy this beautiful underwater studio just for ourselves. Same thing on the Umbria wreck (Sudan) a few years back - we waited for other divers to leave, let the visibility settle down, and only then started shooting the famous three Fiat cars.
Communication for photo buddies is always a challenge, but it is made easier with rebreathers. It took us a while to get used to ‘speaking’ in a breathing loop, and though we’re not really formulating sentences, we can understand simple sounds that convey a meaning. For example, if I call my wife’s name and she hears me (easier when there are no open-circuit divers nearby), she will look towards me and understand from my signals if I need her to strike a pose, or just want to show her something. If Lena is adjusting the position of a snoot for backlighting, I will make appreciative sounds to tell her when I like the lighting. This way, I can give her feedback without looking away from the viewfinder.
Lastly, rebreathers are very stable to dive - the breathing gas circulates between the unit’s counterlungs and your lungs, without gas losses (for closed-circuit rebreathers), meaning without buoyancy changes. Think macro shoots where you cannot lay down on the seafloor, this extra stability can be pretty helpful.
However, this stability comes at the expense of… flexibility. Gone are the days where I could just take a deep breath and find myself ‘hopping’ away from the photo subject. My lungs were a sophisticated buoyancy compensator which I controlled just with my mind, how amazing is that? On a rebreather, depth changes mean additional gas consumption - those three-litre tanks can last hours… provided you avoid going up and down the reef too much. You get used to it though, rebreather divers learn to swim around obstacles, instead of above or below.
Another issue is the Work Of Breathing - traditional scuba equipment is comfortable to breath in any position, since the regulator constantly has 10 bar extra pressure of gas to push in our mouth, all we need is to let it flow. On a rebreather though, breathing gas circulates only with the action of your lungs (pumping in/out). In standard diving position (nearly horizontal, torso slightly up) most rebreathers are very comfortable to breathe. Getting upside down to photograph that fish hidden between rocks is another story. I simply don’t do this anymore.
Also, a rebreathers’ mouthpiece is bulkier than a second stage regulator, especially when a bailout valve is fitted. This will be a problem with DSLRs, where you must look through the viewfinder - you may not be able to get close enough. I have resolved that issue by installing an external 45 degrees viewfinder onto my housing.
In the maintenance department, pre and post-dive procedures will take longer with a rebreather. Pre-dive, the rebreather needs to be properly assembled and tested (for batteries, leaks, and key functions), and post-dive it needs to be rinsed, disassembled and dried. It takes me around 30 minutes to assemble my rebreather (bit less when I don’t need to change the CO2 absorbent), and around the same for full post-dive care, which can be shortened when I am diving again the following day.
In the water, ‘flying’ a rebreather involves extra tasks, even on non-decompression dives. Along with BCD and drysuit, there is a new volume of gas to look after buoyancy-wise - your lungs and the breathing loop. You can still release gas from your nose, but you will need to push buttons to add gas (how often depends on the type of rebreather). Moreover, a rebreather diver must frequently monitor the oxygen mix that he/she is breathing to ensure it remains safe, and add oxygen or diluent accordingly. This can be done pushing buttons, but as a photographer, I chose to dive an electronic rebreather which will automate some oxygen additions and free my hands. Yet, electronics may fail, so it is critical for the diver to keep awareness of the gas mix and take manual actions when/if needed.
I would not look back
A pair of dusky grouper fighting during breeding season. A rare event that we could observe and photograph up-close
Getting up close without disrupting the circling grey nurse sharks
Open-circuit buddies had to ascend after an hour, but we could keep on enjoying the sponge gardens of Old Man’s Hat (Sydney, Australia) for an extra 30 minutes
Lastly, rebreather support isn’t available everywhere, especially in remote places. CO2 absorbent can be shipped ahead of the trip, Nx32 will suffice if you dive a semi-closed rebreather. For closed circuit rebreathers, the dive centre will have to fill 100 percent oxygen tanks. Depending on your specific rebreather model, you might be restricted to using specific two- or three-litre tanks, which you will need to travel with, if they aren’t available to rent locally.
The SS Umbria, built in 1912 in Hamburg, was sunk off Wingate Reef near Port Sudan on 9 June when her captain scuttled her to prevent the Allies getting hold of the munitions stored within her holds - and they are still there to this day.
Having extra time in the Umbria wreck, we waited for the visibility to settle down, before photographing the famous Fiat cars
After waiting for fellow divers to pass through Fishrock Cave, we had more privacy to photograph the wobbegong team Conclusion
All-in-one, I am very satisfied with the possibilities which rebreathers have opened for my photographic pursuit, and although they come with some disadvantages, I would not look back. Over the years, I have had many experiences which I couldn’t have on traditional scuba gear, be it witnessing rare animal behaviours, getting closer, or exploring dive sites further from the crowd.
The extra logistics did lead me to discard specific dive destinations here and there, but the world is big, and I never found myself out of travel options.
Besides, the trend of recreational rebreather diving is picking up, manufacturers are releasing models that are simpler to maintain and travel with, so I expect the support for these great tools to only expand, and see more and more photographers diving one! n
WANT TO SEE MORE?
For more images from Nicolas and Lena, visit their website, www.nicolaslenaremy.com or follow them on Instagram and Facebook @nicolaslenaremy
