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Night
& Photography: Because subjects at night are
found at the end of your torch beam, they show their true colours.
A light attached to your flash is best; and there is no better
place to learn than in the sea at night, experimenting with colourful
subjects and various angles of flash. Discipline yourself to work
in a small area and get yourself a perfect buddy, one who not
only acts as spotter, but leads the dive and so manages both your
depths, dive times and direction. Certain species of coral and
marine life retreat from any hint of light, and Edge views these
with the very outside edge of his modelling light. His own particular
night-time successes have been when working near the surface,
where numerous creatures, including squid, lionfish and pufferfish,
are, contrarily, attracted by moonlight or dive lights. Other
good subjects are parrotfish, fish eyes, fish portraits and profiles,
small marine life on corals and crabs. But don't waste time shooting
what can be seen during the day. |
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Shipwrecks:
They are usually deep. Use the widest angle lens you possess and
available light, no flash. Martin used a 16mm full-frame fish-eye
lens for this shot of the stern of the Giannis D in the northern
Red Sea. The diver is equipped with a video light, so it will
record on the film, and the subject has been positioned within
the frame on the thirds intersection, being directed by hand signals.
Use a faster film, like 200 or 400 ISO. |
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Divers:
First rule, tell your model not to look directly at the camera.
Instead, you should create the feeling that he or she is looking
at something, and wherever possible, include the source of interest
in the picture. Eye contact is important, so make sure the model
(or your buddy's) mask has light in it, either flash or natural.
Isolate the diver from a cluttered background by surrounding him
or her with blue or green water - obtain a low viewpoint and shoot
up into mid-water. Bubbles look good, so get the uman subject
to exhale. And finally, you don't have to have a diver in the
shot to fill space: the use of a model can sometimes ruin a great
shot. |
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Fish:
A piece of advice a renowned underwater photographer gave Edge years
ago has had a profound influence on his approach to fish portraits:
basically, you have to develop an almost silent rapport with the
fish you are photographing and make its very essence and personality
jump out of the film and on to the printed page. It's the difference
between an identification picture and a proper portrait (think of
the difference between a passport picture snapped in a photo booth
and one taken in a proper hotographer's studio).
Don't chase the fish - you'll both be exhausted. Instead, find
it and then Stop and Consider (Edge's perennial formula for success).
It takes a gradual approach and patience. The eyes must always
be pin sharp or the image will fail. Edge mostly uses two flash
guns positioned at 45 degrees to each side of the subject. Moving
shots need to be well planned and anticipated and it's best to
use panning, following the subject's movement with the camera
and pressing the shutter while the camera is still moving - the
background is blurred, but the creature is in sharp focus.`
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