 |
|
|
February 2009
Well the snow's cleared and we can start thinking more seriously about
getting wet again. That is of course assuming that you're a laid back
diver like myself, who's been snuggled up by the fire with an Alex
Mustard book (sigh, he’s so cute) and a bottle of whiskey and not a
crow bar toting, seaweed munching, hard core type like our very own Dan
'camera killa' Hopkins who's been diving throughout the winter. Either
way welcome to the Cameras Underwater Newsletter numero tres.
This month we have our normal 'features'; Dan talks more about UK
waters photography, this month’s episode entitled "To strobe or not to
strobe". Paul 'Duxy' Duxfield brings us more excitement than we deserve
with another riveting article on how to take pictures underwater that
otherwise we might have to go and buy.
Something new and exciting is an article by Pamela Mazey Mertz who is
the Sales Director for Gates Housings in San Diego. Pamela is about as
knowledgeable as it gets when it comes to underwater videography, as
are all the Gates crew. She’s going to tell us a bit about the
history of their company.
Additionally last month Neil Wilcox asked us for some advice on getting
better video results underwater. So with that in mind Duxy puts pen to
paper again for us and especially for you Neil, to talk about
underwater video lighting techniques.
And finally…
We’re having a special Canon day at our London showroom on Saturday
28th February. You'll be able to play with all the latest kit, talk to
Canon product specialists and get a discount off all Canon packages.
We know that a large proportion of you can’t get into London so just
for you we’re giving you an e-voucher which will give you 5% off
anything on our Cameras Underwater Express site. Shop as usual, enter
this code ‘save me money’ at checkout and save money. Don’t forget
the voucher is valid for one day only, Saturday 28th February.
Phew, OK, enough from me, here we go…
|
| |
Underwater photography is about to become easy!
|
CU Photoschool is a new website designed to help you with your underwater photography. You do not need to be a "profesional" or have thousands of pounds worth of kit to get great underwater pictures. We'll show you how to get stunning pictures using simple techniques and the equipment that you already own.
|
|
http://www.camerasunderwater.info/photoschool/
|
|
|
The Facts (or what you really need to know about a Gates Housing)
100% mechanical controls
Durable and reliable—get the shot every day, every dive
Made of machined aluminum
Hard anodized to be impervious to saltwater
Depth rated to 137 meters
2 year renewable warranty
Legendary customer service
Slightly negative and well balanced for ease of shooting
Customizable with options for ports, lights, monitors and other
accessories
For specific Sony, Panasonic and Canon cameras from high-end consumer
to professional
|
|
The lovely Pamela Mazey Mertz tells us about a very cool company that makes a very cool product
Greetings to the
United Kingdom!
Pamela here from Gates Underwater Products in Southern California.
Cameras Underwater asked me to contribute something for their monthly
newsletter and I pondered what product or feature might be interesting
to you, the reader. Then it occurred to me that you might not know
much about Gates, the company. So allow me to introduce ourselves!!
The Story (or how we got where we are)
Gates was founded in San Diego in 1969 by Elwyn Gates. He began by
making extension tubes and framers for Nikonos cameras and he made them
in his garage! Eventually (after moving to a proper location) he began
making housings for various types of cameras but did it as bespoke
projects whenever someone was seeking what they couldn’t find
elsewhere. The first actual production (multiple units) housing was
for the PC1 handycam from Sony. After refining his craft, spending 33
years building the business and becoming known for reliable, dependable
and durable housings, Mr. Gates decided to retire and live a life of
leisure on the warm beaches of Mexico. He had met an aspiring
videographer several years earlier by the name of John Ellerbrock. As
it happened, John (who had spent many years in the wireless industry)
was looking to find a way to combine his business expertise and his
passion for underwater video. It was a match made in heaven and the
rest, as they say, is history. Seven years ago, John and his wife
Karen purchased Gates Underwater Products. Together with a clever
staff and a trusty dealer network, John and Karen have brought Gates
into the forefront of underwater video housings to become the world’s
premier product.
I look forward to more articles and more opportunities to tell you
about Gates products in coming newsletters. In the meantime, more info
and specs can be found here:
www.gateshousings.com
Feel free to contact Cameras Underwater resident video experts Duxy,
Dan or Adam or you are welcome to contact anyone here at Gates directly
if you have questions.
Gates.Sales@GatesHousings.com
; Tech.Sprt@GatesHousings.com
; Customer.Srvc@GatesHousings.com
Until next time, Pamela Mazey Mertz
Director of Sales, Gates Underwater Products
|
Open Wider, by Paul "Duxy" Duxfield
As the first major accessory purchase for your compact and housing, you
can't go far wrong with an add-on wideangle lens.
These come in a variety of types from both Inon and Epoque, and attach
to your housing utilising a handy adaptor. Depending on the brand you
have the option of a screw fit lens or a quick and easy bayonet
attachment.
Why are they such a big deal?
Well, if you are trying to picture a whole wreck, a reef scene or a
swirling school of Red Sea Snappers, fitting it all in and still being
close enough to guarantee good clarity and contrast can be difficult
with a compact that doesn’t have a particularly wideangle lens to start
with. This is because you have to get further away from your subject to
fit it all in and are consequently shooting through more water, which
is no good. Remember get close, then get closer still.
So give your shots a big boost and fit a wideangle or the even wider
fisheye lens to your compact, you wont regret it.
Quick Tip:
Use your wideangle in conjunction with your compacts custom white
balance to give great ambient light shots, that have depth and detail
aplenty.
Check out the wideangle section on Photoschool for a more in depth
explanation.
http://www.camerasunderwater.info/photoschool/wideangle.html
|
|
Taken with a compact camera fitted with a wideangle lens and using manual whitebalance
The same wreck, this time without the wideangle lens
|
|
|
Dan Hopkins – Strobe Master Extraordinaire
One question we're always asked is do I need a strobe? Unfortunately
there is no obvious answer to this question as it all depends on the
type of dive you are about to do. If you have a SLR then you have to
think seriously about which lens you are going to take, apply the same
thought to your strobe.
If you are going for a relaxing shallow dive say around the pier
(8-12m) then the strobe may just be extra drag, leave it behind and
think about the composition of your wide-angle shots. Sometimes it pays
dividends streamlining your kit and making it easier to handle.
Obviously night dives, wreck penetrations and deeper dives require
extra lighting, as there is not enough available light for the camera
to take a colourful shot. Then we have to ask ourselves do we take both
strobes, how long should the arm be, do all the cables work? Added
stress to what is already, a more stressful dive than normal. Therefore
take your time and make sure your buddy knows you will be taking things
slowly. The extra size to the rig will make it unwieldy; take this into
consideration if planning wreck or cave dives.
Clip the rig to a D ring on your BCD, wrist straps are OK but not ideal
and never use neck straps. Bear in mind despite the possible thousands
of pounds you have spent on this set up your life is more important,
you should be prepared to let it go, after all it is insured isn't it? |
Duxy explains how to light your video shots and use manual white balance to
get great underwater footage
Getting your video footage to look natural underwater can be
quite a challenge. The problems we have with colour balance when
shooting still images are further accentuated when using video. Video
cameras require more light to work efficiently and up until recently
didn't have particularly good manual white balance.
Adding additional lighting overcomes part of the problem.
If you are short of available light in your video clips, either on a
night dive, inside a wreck or cave, or just to liven up a dull day at
Swanage, the answer could lay with the addition of some extra lighting.
A cost effective first port of call, could be pressing into service
your dive torch.
You will however, need to figure a way of fixing it to your housing, so
check out the various brackets and arms from Ultralight or 10Bar here:
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/general/brackets.html
Torches designed for diving don’t have a particularly wide beam, so
this method is going to be good for macro subjects.
If you need a wider beam to light up the foreground of your wideangle
shots, a purpose designed HID or LED light is a better solution, check
out the Light Cannon HID or the new LED lighting options from Ikelite.
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/video/lights/index.html
If finances allow and your requirements are more demanding, the
excellent Squids from Greenforce will shed light into the gloomiest of
corners.
With any lighting options it’s important to maintain subtlety so don’t
flood the foreground with too much light, try and maintain a good
balance between foreground and background illumination so as not to
make things look too artificial.
All of the above lighting solutions can be used with the camera in it's
auto white balance mode. You may however encounter problems. Lights
always tend to give you a 'hot spot' where the beam falls. Your camera
may well get confused (older video cameras in particular) as to what
it's meant to be colour correcting - the hot spot or the surrounding
area. This will mean that either your subject looks too red or the
peripheral area will be too blue. Some lights come with a diffuser
which help get rid of hot spots.
If you're not getting the results you want with auto white balance try
the manual adjustment. With older cameras use a red filter on the
housing (some housings, like the Gates, have it built in) and then
select the manual setting from the menu. If you're not sure how to do
this refer to your cameras instruction manual or visit:
http://www.camerasunderwater.info/photoschool/whitebalance.html
Take a
reading off a white slate or some white rock or sand and off you go.
You can do this with or without additional lighting depending on how
much available light there is.
We've just finished testing some new camcorders and are pleased to be
able to tell you that the new Canon machines manual white balance
without filtration in the same efficient way that their still cameras
do - very easily and very effectively.
|
And that, I'm afraid, brings us to the end of this months episode. Tune
in next month for more from Dan 'Dare' Hopkins and Duxy Duxfield. We'll
also have more from the USA. Additionally It will be almost time for
the London International Dive Show at Excel in good old London Town. So
we'll have a feature on that including a bit about our seminar 'Dive
with a Compact, Shoot like a Pro' (not sure what sort of pro were
talking about seeing how Duxy's doing the talk with every girls
favourite, Adam 'Mojo' Green) and the ever popular Digital Clinic with
Alex, Saeed and Duxy. We've also got a special from Richard Peirce, The
Shark Trust Chairman about their activities.
If you can make it to our Canon Day in our London store on the 28th,
we'd be very
happy to see you, if not don't forget to take advantage of our 5% off
on-line voucher.
Don't forget if there anything you'd really like to see in this
newsletter or something you think really sucks, please let us know -
daveg@camerasunderwater.co.uk
See ya.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2010 Cameras Underwater Store
Cameras Underwater Limited, East Island Farmhouse, Slade Road, Ottery St Mary, Devon, EX11 1QH
Tel: 01404 812277
Fax: 01404 812399
UK Registered Company #: 4314607
V. A. T. #: GB 794 6551 81
Directors: Ms J Rosenfeld, Dr D W Knight |
|
