| Wow - fifteen rolls and nothing? Usually,
somewhere in the first fifteen rolls (often on the first roll),
at least one outstanding, sometimes even brilliant image is
achieved; a sort of gift from God. As to why this is, I have
not the slightest idea - it often doesn't happen again for
years. I can tell you this; shooting with a straight 35mm
lens doesn't exactly array the odds in your favor. This is
especially true if you've had little experience and no serious
coaching.
I noticed that you didn't mention extension tubes. An extension
tube is a tube which mounts between your camera body and the
lens, moving the lens further from the film plane and thereby
allowing you to focus much closer than the closest distance
of two and three-quarters feet which is marked on your 35mm
lens. A wire framer is then attached to the tube. Extension
tubes are used for "macro" photography of small
subjects with picture areas (subject and background) of about
four and a half inches by three inches or smaller. It's almost
certainly true that 90 percent of their best photographs with
one of these setups.
For starters, you can position your strobe over and in front
of your camera at a distance of about six inches from the
center of the framer area. Set your aperture to 22, your focus
control to closest focus, your strobe on TTL, and your camera
on A. Place your subject within the wire frame, leaving about
a quarter-inch margin around the inside of the framer, keeping
the plane of the sharpest focused subject even with the rear
of the wire framer. You will almost certainly get in-focus,
properly exposed photographs on every roll - assuming the
camera is properly loaded with film and all of your gear work,
and, of course, also assuming that the camera doesn't fill
up with water. Fortunately, all of these conditions are, for
the most part, totally under your control. All that is needed
from you is "due diligence." Furthermore, you will
not just find one or two technically acceptable to perfect
frames on your macro roll. With a little care in executing
a few simple techniques while positioning your strobe and
framer, you will probably produce roll after roll of technically
good to flawless photos. Can you believe this? Well, there's
more!
Extension tubes are cheap! If for the next hundred years
you decide to pursue the tortuous and often challenging practice
of underwater photography in searching to find your place
in the universe and to achieve, through prayer and hard work,
a mental and spiritual stature from which you can gaze upon
the countenance of your God, you will never, ever see such
a remarkable improvement in your friends' response to your
photographs for under $150.00 again! Get a set of extension
tubes. Trust me on this!
For the sake of getting a sense of what's involved in putting
together a decent underwater image, let's assume that there
are basically four types of photographs. There is the macro
or close-up photography, done either with an extension tube
or a close-up lens and having a picture area from a square
inch or less to about a square foot or so. These photographs
are taken from distances generally less than a foot from the
camera. Next, there is the medium-range photograph that is
generally taken of a subject two to three feet or so from
the camera, and that encompasses something like a few square
feet of picture area. Third, there is the wide-angle photograph
which can cover picture areas the size of a barn door, more
or less. And finally, there is the wide-angle close-up, with
the foreground of a close-up and the background of a wide-angle
shot.
Of all of the types of photographs mentioned above, the medium-range
photographs are, in many ways, the most challenging. In the
moment of truth (as the more bombastic of us call the instant
of shutter release), the picture area to be put on film has
to be under control if the result is to be satisfactory. Under
control means that no important part of the subject is either
so close or so far from the lens as to be disturbingly unsharp,
or so close to the flash that it is overexposed or "burnt
out." Under control further implies that there are no
unwanted anchor lines, beer cans, floatsam, fins, fish fractions,
or parts of your fellow divers (known in photographic circles
as asses 'n elbows) in the photo. On and on it goes - not
to mention the problems of positioning the subject pleasingly
in the frame with an enhancing background and / or foreground.
The bigger the picture area, the more stuff has to be in
order. It follows that it is generally easier to control a
couple of square inches of macro picture area than several
square feet, the normal area photographed by the 35mm lens
at a normal distance of about three feet. Although wide-angle
photographs generally cover a larger area than the typical
35mm shot, they can still be more forgiving. Typically, a
wide-angle shot may have a nice sea fan or reef in the foreground
taking up a large portion of the frame, maybe the sun and
even the dive boat in the background, or maybe even a diver.
Unless the diver becomes impatient during the time it takes
you to set up the shot, decides to ameliorate the condition
causing his groin squeeze, and attacks the offending neoprene
knot as you trip the shutter, these photos are generally at
least somewhat aesthetically pleasing if properly exposed
and focused. Likewise, the wide-angle close-up. Since you
mention that you have only a 35mm lens, and these shots really
require a wide-angle lens such as a 20mm (or, even better,
a 15mm), you're still one or two thousand dollars away at
present from improving your results by shooting wide-angle.
Back to the 35mm, then. The 35mm is a fish lens. Yes, you
can photograph a piece of the reef with this lens, or maybe
a big starfish or clam or strand of kelp or some soft coral.
You may even score a nice shot now and then. But most of your
reef photos will look sort of like pizza or salad unless there
is a fish or acceptable fish substitute in the frame. So now
you've got one or more fish to manage.
Managing fish is simply a bitch. See, you've got a gob to
do - catching them out in the open where they are still and
visible. They've got a job to do - not getting caught in the
open, still and visible. You've been doing your job for a
few hours now, and they've been doing their job…..well,
if they're still around, they must be good at it.
Underwater photography is more like hunting than like diving
or general photography. It requires patience, stealth, good
diving skills, black magic, and an extensive vocabulary of
naughty words. Some technique and knowledge of the animal's
nature and habits, which generally comes with experience,
helps. The normal thing for a diver who has just acquired
a camera to do is to head for the reef, spot a fish, then
to barreling after in, whip off a shot or two (the second
shot before the strobe recycles), then rummage about for the
next subject and repeat the process until out of air, film,
or fish. As in big game hunting which employs parallel techniques,
most shots will be taken as the subject / game is exiting
the scent. Although a "tail shot" of a nice reef
fish is not as big a problem to deal with as a butt-shot grizzly,
it certainly ain't a keeper.
Some suggestions. Preset your camera to A, your strobe to
TTL. Set your lens to closest focus - about 2.75 feet. If
you have mostly water behind your subject, aim the camera
at the water in back of where your subject will be, turn your
aperture knob until you see sixty and 125 on the shutter speed
reading LEDs for a nice blue water background in your photo.
If you have reef for a background, set your aperture for the
film you're using as specified on the exposure chart on your
strobe - probably around 8. You will be shooting subjects
just beyond the reach of the fingertips of your outstretched
hand.
Settle and watch the reef activity for a while. You'll notice
either there are fish trails that seem to have regular traffic.
At some points on the trail, you'll see structures on the
reef that will make nice backgrounds. Fish like to be in coral
for the cover it provides, and will pass through these structures
on their routes, which are much more regular than might appear
at first encounter.
Kinda mosey into position when things look promising. Try
not to make eye contract with the subject - appear disinterested.
Bring knitting or something. This is the hard part. The subject
shows you a little face, then turns away moves right in front
of a beautiful soft coral, then turns and darts behind it,
then comes out halfway and looks at you. Yes he's screwing
with you! It's part of the game. You have to resist the temptation
to rush in for that inevitable tail shot. Sit tight. Go through
that ever-crucial vocabulary of naughty words over and over
- like a mantra. It'll help you to feel like you have some
sort of power over the situation, although nothing could be
further from the truth. With patience, you'll get lucky often.
Anyway, this should be enough for starters. May the farce
be with you.
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