Thursday, August 5, 2010

Appearances - Namena Marine Reserve, Fiji

One of the things I've realized about this blog is that I have never posted an underwater shot, and to be honest, that is where my passion for photography began. I always took snapshots back in college, mostly of nature and landscapes, but they were always just snapshots. No tripod, no filters, just point and shoot with 200 or 400 speed negative film.

It wasn't until I had 2+ years of diving experience that I realized I needed a camera to take underwater. Losing my old SLR off the top of a moving car and two friends investing into UW rigs motivated me to invest in one of my own in the year 2000.

Shooting film was challenging underwater as strobe lighting was new to me and the lack of instant feedback meant nice images were difficult to come by. I did improve, but ultimately my last roll of film was shot in the fall of 2005.

Fast forward to 2010, and I am much more familiar with the skills involved with underwater photography and my patience, admittedly short in the beginning, has grown. This is key for any style of photography, especially underwater.

This shot was one of many, as I battled the ocean's energy that was pushing both the two anemone fish and me all over the reef.

4 comments:

  1. I imagine it's hard to get sharp images under water as everything is always moving, especially you and the water sucks up so much light.

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  2. That's interesting! I've never tried shooting under water. First of all the equipment should be adjusted. Second of all you need to know what to shoot and where.

    Your photo is amazing - the light and colours are just perfect. The composition is wonderful - it's like these fish were posing you:)

    Great, great photo - I want more!

    Greetings,
    Asia

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  3. Hi Jim, your images are awesome. I've been following your photography for a while and i love it. Can u suggest a good underwater camera for beginners?

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  4. Max, depending on budget, you may want to look at something like the Canon G11 or the new G12. Nikon just came out with the Coolpix P7000 that also looks really nice and has a wider field of view, something that is important for underwater. If you can afford a DSLR and housing, Canon's T2i or Nikon's new D3100 are great entry level camera bodies, but you would need lenses and the housings and ports aren't cheap. Good luck!

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