My second favorite hobby (not far behind surfing) happens to be photography, and I have always been much impressed by what some water photographers can produce… So I finally recently made the big investment and bought myself a beautiful water-housing for one of my cameras.
For those of you who know a bit about the subject, I purchased an Aquatech water-housing to fit either my canon 1v or my canon 20d… shooting with a 15mm.
After a few sessions out shooting, I can now tell you what are the major problems I had to deal with…
I have to find a better pair of swimming fins to fight against the rip. The ones I have are really confortable but really lack of power. you can see on the attached photos what i am using. What fins would you guys suggest I should use?
I find it really hard to go out taking pictures when it’s firing… I generally take a sequence, and seeing how good it is (like on this attached photo of my brother body surfing), I just go out, put the camera back in its bag, grab a board and go and get shacked myself…
I sometimes have focusing problems, any photographer there could give me some tips???
Anyway I would love to see your water and underwater photographies
Looks like you don’t need much help in the photo department, shots look good. Your fins are very representative of all the medium size offerings, you’ll need to move up to bigger blades. Not being able to stroke because you’re hanging onto the cam will build you up to kick the big fins, your ankles will suffer, the long bones in your feet try to get bent over, and fin sores. Do some testing with loaners, rentals. You might find big long diving fins to work with comfort but they always come off in the wipeouts or bigger takeoffs, tie on leashes. There’s a good swim fin thread running right now, “What are the best fins for Bodysurfing”. We must admire the Hawaiin photogs sitting amidst the heavy surf, drifting around on boogies and surf mats. Maybe do some web hunting to see some pictures of those guys and their set up.
3. I sometimes have focusing problems, any photographer there could give me some tips???
Donald, I shoot a bit when I have some spare time. Regarding focusing problems, if you’re shooting with the 15mm, try taking it off of autofocus and that will help a lot. Before you put the body in the housing, set the manual focus to whatever distance your subjects will most likely be and leave it there. The great depth of field of the 15mm will do the rest. Looking forward to seeing more of your shots in the future.
Sorry, but I’m not a pro photographer so I can’t give you any expert advice. But for the point and shoot novice (that’s me), I just got the new Olympus 770SW which is a small high-tech hand size 7-megapix camera, zoom lense, waterproof up to 33 ft. and shock-proof to drop 5’ on concrete. Fits in the wax pocket of my board shorts. When I’m out stand-up paddling I wear it around my neck to grap a quick shot of a whale, passing turtle, or ray. Since several of the guys out surfing now have similar small cameras, you can trade cameras with a bud and take pics of yourself to prove you really were buried in a two-story tube (ok, maybe a knee-high slapper). These new cameras bring a whole new world of water photography to the novice.
I was thinking of getting one of those too… the reviews suggest the pic qulaity is not great and they are slow however there is nothing else available that will fit in shorts pocket…how have you found it? Any chance you can post some pics you have taken
Thanks guys. Here are a couple more. Shooting from the water is really fun. I wish I could do it more often because it’s very challenging yet rewarding when you get a good one. If I could give anyone one piece of advice though…seriously consider wearing a helmet if you’re shooting up close with a wide angle. In the air shot below, the fins were only inches from my head by the end of the sequence. Actually, the first day I wore a helmet I took a fin to the head and it didn’t leave even the slightest bruise. They look goofy but I don’t think I’d swim out there without one.
no editing