LESSON ONE:
Welcome to class. In this lesson I will cover an intro of my
equipment, the number one problem with underwater photography and Dr
Mark’s 10
commandments of Underwater Photography.
I will also present my Cardinal rule that too many people
regretfully ignore.
My
Equipment
I currently use the
following toys…
Intova IC10 (10 megapixel
digital
camera in underwater housing)
Intova ISS2000 (Strobe
flash with
fiber optic cable)
Intova Infra Red Filter
(IFRED)
Intova Wide angle lens
Gateway
T series computer with Adobe Photoshop
Elements.
The reason for these
choices… There
are lots of options when it comes to underwater photography. There are two factors that have influenced
me. One, I wanted good quality. Two, I wanted some money left over to
actually dive with! You can easily pay
$10,000.00
for a top notch setup. The Intova gives
you a good product for a very reasonable price.
The IC 10 ten megapixel camera including the well built
underwater
housing is less than $250.00. That’s
cheaper than a lot of cameras by themselves.
The ISS2000 strobe is about $130.00. That’s about one-tenth of
the price
of many strobes. So what’s the trade
off? The Intova takes 6 seconds to
recycle. A $1500.00 strobe recycles in
about 3 seconds. I can live with that
for the price difference.
The Number One
Problem with Underwater
Photography
Most people find their
underwater
pictures come out lousy blue/green pics lacking detail.
When you are trying to capture and keep some
of the awesome memories it is so disappointing to see such mediocre
results. First the good news- almost
anyone can take really cool underwater photos.
Now, the “other” news- it takes practice and lots of it. It isn’t just point and shoot like the land
lubbers do. It really does take practice.
I have listed here my “10 Commandments of Intova Underwater
Photography.” These really apply to any
camera system you
are using. Like God’s big Ten, these are
not multiple choice if you want decent pictures.
Dr
Mark’s
10 Commandments of Intova Underwater Photography
I.
Know
every
button
and
feature
BEFORE
you
ever think of getting in the water (What, ya gonna waste precious
air tryin
to figure it out 100 feet down?)
II.
Use
Lithium
batteries
and
replace
after
every
two tank dive (Alkaline batteries won’t last for a two tank
dive if
you take video and tons of pics. Dead
batteries when a stingray comes your way is beyond frustrating!)
III.
Use
the
red
filter
if
below
5 feet
(the red filter is NOT optional. The
Intova red filter is actually a balance between red and yellow (orange)
to
replaces the color lost by the filtration of the water robbing the
color specrum).
IV.
The
closer
you
are
the
better
the
picture (so use the wide angle lens when possible)
V.
The
strobe
is
not
optional
(Just
be
careful to not overexpose when close by powering down for closeups. Although there is some caution against using
the strobe and red filter at the same time, it is
much easier to tone down the red than
create it- see lesson 2 on strobe).
VI.
ALWAYS
pre-focus
(On
Intova
press
half
way
down till green for “go” appears).
VII.
HOLD
STILL
(Use
extra
weight
if
you
need to. Video should be the objects
moving NOT the camera panning- See instructions on good video shooting).
VIII.
Shoot
first
ask
questions
later
(IOW-
take
as many photos as you can and sort em out later).
IX.
Photoshop
correction
is
required. (I recommend
Photoshop elements and see my
instructions on correcting underwater photos).
X.
YOU
MUST
USE
DESICANT
PACKS
INSIDE
THE
HOUSING (these absorb the moisture that will tend to condense when you
go from
the warm moist air on the surface to the cool water below- otherwise
you will
eventually fog up on the dive making the camera unusable for the dive).
And the Doctor's cardinal rule of
digital photography…
“Don’t be stupid-
backup the SD card immediately.”
SD
cards are NOT for storage! They are for
camera capture and transfer.
More to come
including…
How to use photoshop to
make your
pictures reflect what you really photographed.
How to do video the RIGHT
way.
Building your own
underwater video
housing
Please email me with your
comments or
questions or suggestions.
