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January 2009
A happy new year and welcome to Cameras Underwater's January newsletter. Our second issue follows on from the first with more news from the world of diving. Our first newsletter was a great success and we received a large amount of positive feedback. On that note, if you have any comments or suggestions about articles or features you'd like to see please feel free to let us know.
E-mail Dave at daveg@camerasunderwater.co.uk
In this issue you'll find information on new products, an introduction to the new CUW Photoschool, more from Dan Hopkins on taking photos in UK waters even though your reg's frozen solid and you think you may have lost a finger to a particularly vicious sea bass but are not sure as you can't see or feel anything any more (takes a breath), Hartlepool's answer to Chuck Norris, Paul "Duxy" Duxfield talks about how to banish the blues this winter...and many other interesting articles.
Enough said, on with it...
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Underwater photography is about to become easy!
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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.
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http://www.camerasunderwater.info/photoschool/
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Epoque ES150DS package special offer
This month get our best selling strobe package for just £269.99 a saving of 30 quid. Let's face it, at the moment every little bit helps!
The Epoque ES150 strobe is a great little flash suitable for use with almost every compact camera/housing on the market. The kit includes a fibre optic cable which sticks onto the front of a housing, in front of the camera's own internal flash.
The strobe package also includes a tray which mounts onto your housing and a flexible arm. The arm is flexible enough to be able to change the position and direction of the flash to create a variety of different results. The arm can also be removed from the tray and hand held fairly easily if you find yourself wanting to position the flash further away from the camera.
If you are looking to put a strobe onto a standard compact camera we think that this is one of the best value for money strobes on the market. There are cheaper models around but we've found them all to be lacking in one way or another. Often not including vital parts such as a fibre optic cable. This kit includes everything you will need to make it work with most housings. There are also many more expensive strobes on the market but unless you are using a wide angle lens or have an SLR camera, you probably wouldn't get much advantage by spending this extra money.
Go on, treat yourself. Christmas is over, it's your turn now!
Offer valid until 28th February 2009, quote this newsletter to get the reduction.
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/epok/flash/es150ds.html
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New to the UK an affordable SLR housing system from Japanese manufacturer Epoque
Epoque have released two new, very affordable housings to fit Canon SLR cameras, the EOS1000D and the ever popular EOS450D.
The Epoque ERX-C1010 and ERX-C1010 X2 housing will operate most of the functions on the EOS1000D and EOS450D under water. There are five interchangeable ports available for the most popular lenses. A zoom port, two macro ports, for the EF 50mm and EF 100mm macro lenses and two dome ports for wide angle and fisheye lenses. This line up has something to suit every diver's needs.
There is also a strobe housing to take the Speedlite 430 and 430 mkII. The EUS-C430 strobe housing is the perfect addition to ERX C1010 system. The Epoque EUS-C430 is a compact housing for this powerful strobe, providing underwater TTL, and fast recycle times from 1- 2 sec. using the TTL sync cord.
The price of this system is extremely competitive. The housing bodies start from just £749.99 inc. VAT. For more information and pricing please go to:
http://www.camerasunderwater.co.uk/slr/epok/index.html#eos1k
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Paul 'Duxy' Duxfield talks about getting your colours right underwater...
"Why are my pictures so blue?"
This is a question we get asked many times daily, and rather than go into the science of light absorption (dull and boring!)
by using a modern digital compact camera's "Custom or Manual White Balance" controls I am going to show you how you can solve this problem.
Most digital cameras have a manual setting which enables various useful functions that would be normally hidden whilst on full auto or in one of the scene modes.
So first set this to manual, and switch off your internal flash.
You now need to navigate through the camera menu to find the Custom or Manual White Balance setting, usually indicated by the symbol on the right >>>
When accessed you'll be given on screen instructions which you should follow. Your camera will now carry out the white balance reading and it will base this reading on whatever you have the camera pointed at.
I use a small white slate, but you can also use anything fairly neutral like the sand or your hand, which gives just as good results.
It is important to take further readings as you change depth to keep your colours looking good. Ideally it should be set every time you find a new subject.
So practice with this a few times on land to familiarise yourself, thus reducing your task loading underwater.
In store we use coloured gels to demonstrate this and I am sure you still have some sweets left over from Xmas, so now is a good excuse to finish them and use a blue, or any strongly coloured transparent wrapper held in front of the lens to give the camera a coloured cast to correct using the technique above.
This also works well in the more green conditions we get over here in the UK and is a great skill to use in conjunction with a wide angle lens to get shots that look representative of what you actually experienced at the time of the dive.
Lots of cameras have an Underwater setting but this is not the same thing and tends to only give OK results at relatively modest depths.
So learn how to use Custom or Manual White Balance and "banish those blue""
This was based on an article first written for Dive magazine.
Click here for the full article:
http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/article.asp?uan=4304
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before white balance
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after white balance
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The custom/manual white balance symbol
Picture taken with a compact camera using
manual white balance and no extra lighting
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It's not over till the fat lady sings...(can you even say that nowadays?)
Don't forget you still have until the end of the month to be in with a chance of winning a fantastic diving holiday for two.
Spend £50 on anything at Cameras Underwater and until the 31st January you'll be automatically entered into our fantastic free prize draw. The prize is an exciting week for two at the exclusive Anthony Keys Resort in The Bay Islands. The package includes everything except flights and alcoholic drinks. Diving, food and soft drinks, beach front accommodation and other exclusive activities are all included. The location is superb and the diving mind blowing.
For more details about Anthony's Keys please visit the following site:
http://www.anthonyskey.com/en/index.html
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Seal worrier Dan Hopkins, "I can't feel my hands or feet but I must have that shot"...
So it's mid-winter, the water is freezing and the weather is unpredictable (except we know it will be cold). For those of you who hang up your regs at this time of the year, it is no excuse for not keeping up with your photographic skills. Like everything else in life they require frequent practice.
The winter season and cold weather will offer different opportunities for picture taking. Pets are great subjects to practice on, children and flowers too. Try manual white balance under the yellow lights in your front room, in fact get your housing and strobe out and take pictures with the whole set up. Now is a perfect time to get used to seeing how your camera and strobe work together without the worry of running out of air or getting snagged on a line.
For those of us who are brave enough to get wet, keep the dives shorter and don't let yourself get too cold, shaky hands won't help!
On crisp, clear days with good vis stay shallow and think wide angle shots. Use your wide angle lens and manual white balance to correct the colour. Use buddies to add interest and scale to the pictures and don't forget to get close. You will need extra hand signals so have them pre-arranged.
On low vis days think macro and get the strobe out. Positioning the strobe to avoid backscatter in low vis conditions is tricky. Avoid shooting straight down onto your subject, instead try and get onto the same level or shoot upwards if possible. If your subject has eyes then usually you should aim to get either one or both of them in focus. With the strobe, position it so as not to illuminate too much of the foreground, this will detract from the subject. For portraits you can use a torch as I did while taking the flatfish picture on the right, or you can even a snoot (I'll let you google it, lol)
Again it's practice that makes perfect and the more you practice, the more likely you are to be in the right place at the right time.
Dan Hopkins, Devon store manager
http://www.dyanisis.com/
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Dates for your diving diary - 2009 is going to be a busy year in the world of diving. To help you keep track of what's going on here are some dates for you:
Sunday 22nd February - In Deep, The Northern Dive Show, Park Hall, Charnock Richard nr Preston.
This new show is shaping up to be a big one. For more information please go to: http://www.northerndiveshow.org/
Sunday 15th March - DiverSE 09. University of Surrey - Guildford.
A well established favourite of ours with something for everyone, for details see: http://www.bsac-se.org.uk/diverse/
Saturday/Sunday 28/29th March. London International Dive Show 2009, ExCeL, London.
No year would the same without a trip to LIDS, where it all comes together. More info: http://www.diveshows.co.uk/
Friday/Saturday/Sunday 15,16 and 17th May Dive Fest 2009 Pentewan Sands Holiday Park, Cornwall.
What's this? Something different! A diving festival with...wait for it...diving (Dan calm down, stop twitching, leave Duxy alone, you're embarrassing me), yes you can actually go and get wet! Stands, bands and fun on the beach, three days of diving fun. Check it out: http://www.divefest.co.uk/
That's your lot for now, more as the year unfolds.
If you have an event you'd like us to participate in or advertise for you, please e-mail daveg@camerasunderwater.co.uk
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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 |
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