Underwater photography skills?

Water absorbs various colors, such as red, orange and yellow. That's why your underwater photography looks blue when you don't use flash or flash. The deeper you d

Water absorbs various colors, such as red, orange and yellow. That's why your underwater photography looks blue when you don't use flash or flash. The deeper you dive, the more colors the water absorbs, so we often say that the depths of the sea are black. Here are some underwater shooting techniques I have compiled for you. Welcome to consult them.

10 underwater portrait shooting skills

Jenna Martin, an American underwater photographer, used to take a lot of underwater portrait photos. She said that she was an "underwater photography brain" from the beginning. No matter what she saw, the first thing she thought of was how the object was put in the water and whether it could be put at the bottom of the pool. When looking for a model to take pictures, the first question is "Are you good at diving?" . Recently, she wrote an article and shared her experience of taking portraits in water:

Accept new things.

Underwater, everything is different. According to my experience, the light intensity is six times that on land. * * * It also depends on the depth and distance from the model. Because photographers and models are also close to zero gravity, equipment and clothes will be difficult to control, so no matter how many years they have been shooting, can a photographer feel like a novice when he goes underwater for the first time and tries everything from scratch?

Don't be cheap when buying underwater equipment.

I have bought three different kinds of cheap waterproof bags myself, and I have also used professional waterproof hard shells. The shooting effect of the former is very unsatisfactory. The waterproof shell can't be saved at all, because when the camera lens in your hand is worth tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, a little water leakage can already cause disastrous results and affect the image quality, so the waterproof device is not a project of "I play first, I really want to shoot underwater and then upgrade".

I suggest that if you just want to play, you can consider buying GoPro or renting waterproof equipment, and then see if you like underwater photography.

Clearly understand that different water quality is different.

The situation of swimming pool, sea and freshwater lake is different, and the density of water is also different. For example, the model's eyes may not adapt to the chlorination pool, and there may be dangerous creatures such as jellyfish and garbage in the sea. Freshwater lake is the place I recommend. There are also several swimming pools. I will only go to the seawater pool to shoot, and I will not choose the chlorination pool.

Use wide-angle lenses more.

When shooting underwater, the closer to the subject, the better. If it is too far away, the picture may become blurred because of the turbid water. But it also depends on the shooting content.

Learn to sink underwater.

The key to staying underwater is not to hold your breath, but to let all the air out. The less air in the lungs, the less buoyancy, which sounds terrible, but you will soon learn how to use limited oxygen. The more times you do this, the longer you stay. Of course, if you shoot at the bottom of the sea, you have to use diving equipment.

Be patient with the model.

It is extremely difficult to make a good expression underwater. They can't breathe and have to shoot beautifully, but they can't see the camera clearly and don't know what you are doing or what you want her to do, so give the model enough time to adapt.

For most models, I will let them practice underwater first, teach them to pump out oxygen, and then guide their movements or expressions when they feel that it is okay to sink underwater. But these things should be said before going into the water, otherwise you can't talk underwater.

Learn to shoot quickly.

Even if the water is not cold, underwater photography is very tiring, especially when the model has to make various poses underwater, and his nose and ears will get water, which makes him very tired. I will prepare a few bottles of drinking water and some dry food to eat during the break. Similarly, when soaked in water for too long, the panel may start to wrinkle and the cosmetics may fall off ... so for the shooting effect, the sooner the better.

Ideally, there will be a large number of assistants.

Underwater shooting can be dangerous, especially when the model is wearing a skirt with a lot of cloth and can't tidy it up by herself, so she needs help from others. At the same time, having an assistant on the water can ensure everyone's integrity. Assistants can also handle lighting and adjust equipment. This will be more efficient.

Delayed acceptance

When underwater photos or films come out directly, colors and the like will be very unsatisfactory, but sometimes it's not the lights or cameras, but the wonderful pictures we see on the Internet, which are actually more or less late. Such as mixing colors and removing impurities, strange reflections, bubbles, etc. So try to make the picture well before considering the equipment.

Understanding underwater photography requires a lot of time to accumulate experience.

Underwater photography is not easy, physically hard, time-consuming and expensive. When I first started filming, I was often sick, my eyes were allergic and my ears were ringing. I took tens of thousands of photos, and maybe only two were satisfied. But as long as you love shooting and keep practicing, you will definitely make progress.

Underwater photography skills

1, the difference between underwater photography

Visual misjudgment in water, because of the refraction of light, the distance between objects in water looks closer than the actual distance 1/4, which makes the objects look bigger 1/3, and it is easy for photographers to misjudge the distance.

The change of color temperature disappears at the water depth of about 6 meters, and the yellow color disappears at about 19 meters. The deeper the water is, the higher the color temperature is. However, since the light intensity decreases with the water depth, it is not recommended to use a color temperature correction filter, but an artificial light source should be used to increase the light intensity and correct the color temperature, such as a flash lamp. And the reasonable use of manual white balance for mediation.

Suspended particles in water The light in water is atomized by the reflection between suspended particles, which will produce sharp photos. Especially when the flash is used, the phenomenon will be aggravated and even light spots will appear. Here are five suggestions: minimize exercise and avoid raising bottom sand; Try to get close to the subject and shorten the distance between the subject and the lens; You can use backlight to shoot silhouette pictures upwards; The middle layer of the water layer is clearer than the water meter and the bottom; Adjusting the flash to an angle of 45 degrees can not only avoid the refraction of light to the lens, but also simplify the background.

2. The use of underwater light sources

The closer you get to the subject, the better. The shorter the distance, the thinner the water layer from the lens to the subject, so that a clearer picture can be obtained, and at the same time, the ability of the flash to correct the color temperature can be prevented from weakening because of the long distance.

Under the natural light source, the boundary of corrected color temperature ***CC 30R*** is within 8 meters of water depth.

When mixing light sources, we should pay attention to the visual differences caused by different color temperatures. Because the flash output is the standard color temperature, the color temperature outside the flash range is high, but if used properly, it can make the seawater appear bluer.

Single-point lighting is not as good as double-point lighting. Although sunlight is also a point light source, it can be regarded as a fully diffused light source because it is too far away, especially in the water layer, and spreads more evenly than on land. But the flash can be a standard point light source, and it is close to the main body, which is easy to make the main body produce shadows. If the flash is close to the optical axis of the lens, it is easy to make the reflection of suspended particles enter the negative film and produce small white bright spots. Therefore, it is suggested to use double lights and light at a 45-degree angle from left to right, which can obtain better stereoscopic effect and prevent shadows. If dual lamps cannot be used for various reasons, here is a suggestion: the single lamp is at a 45-degree angle on one side, and the other reflector is at a symmetrical position as supplementary light. The reflective plate can be replaced by the underwater recording plate, as long as it is a white strong reflective material. Due to the barrier of the water layer, the closer the reflector is to the subject, the better the light compensation effect will be.

3. Underwater wide-angle photography skills

Skills of using flash lamp

The greater the angle at which the photo is locked, the farther away the flash should be from the lens. A light with a flashing angle of 100 is suitable for this kind of shooting. If the angle is wide, especially when using fisheye lens, two flashlights are needed. In order to avoid floating dust, flashlights must be placed horizontally or vertically. Underwater, the performance of floating dust in wide-angle lens is much stronger than that in telephoto lens, which also determines the particularity of lamps placement. So try to keep the light away from the lens, killing two birds with one stone. The ideal information is that when shooting an angle of about 96 degrees with a 20mm lens, the lamp should be mounted on a 2 x 400mm lamp arm. When the angle is wide, use 2 x 600mm lamp arm; When using a fisheye lens, use a 2 x 400mm lamp arm.

Wide-angle landscape photography

Fisheye lens is the most suitable. Generally, when shooting such subjects, the light is mixed and changeable. Exposure depends on the ambient light at the scene, and the flash is only a supplement. Never use TTL mode. In order to show the perspective effect, choose a lower position and point the lens slightly to the water for shooting. Avoid shooting underwater landscapes from top to bottom like a bird's eye view, otherwise your photos will be a large plane without any contrast and clarity.

Wide angle portrait

The portrait was taken with a 20mm lens at a distance of about 1 m, and you will get a full-body photo of the diver with clear details.

The fisheye lens is not suitable for this kind of shooting because it is too deformed. When using flash lighting, don't forget to consider the ambient light to create the surrounding environment.

The golden rule of wide-angle photography

The shooting method of wide-angle lens is completely different from other long-focus lenses ―― as close as possible is the only rule for successful shooting of large films.

The position of the flash lamp is very important for reducing the reflection of floating dust and distributing the light evenly. The wider the lens angle, the farther away the lamp should be from the lens.

A wide-angle lens can give you a very large depth of field, and it is unnecessary to use an aperture smaller than f8. A larger aperture allows you to absorb more ambient light and get rid of the bulky flash.

In wide-angle shooting, the foreground lighting is given to the flash, and the rest lighting is taken care of by the ambient light. It takes some time to study the skills and short-term effects of several organic light combinations.

The first step in the combination of ambient light and flash is to extend the shutter time, perhaps 1/60 seconds to 1/30 seconds, or even115 seconds. This shows that ASA 100 * * or ISO 100 * * film is a better choice-it allows you to use the appropriate shutter speed even in dark ambient light, such as in the deep.

For wide-angle photography, the best condition is that the sea water is clear and sunny, which can give enough ambient light. So take a wide-angle shot into the water when the sun is shining, and leave the macro to those rainy days.

Wide-angle lens is a sharp weapon to shoot divers, because even at a close distance, you can take a full-body photo of divers. If there is only one diver in the photo, please be careful not to exceed 100 degrees, otherwise there will be serious deformation.

A good wide-angle photo should also have three parts: close shot, middle shot and distant background.

4, underwater macro photography skills

Lighting lamp and its position

The traditional macro lighting method is front lighting. Putting the flash directly above the camera can ensure that the subject can have good lighting in most cases. In some cases, front lighting and side lighting are combined to emphasize some specific functions.

Exposure; expose

To minimize the aperture, a 50/60mm macro lens and a flash with a flash index of 1 1***, that is, GN value-translator * * *, are more suitable. When shooting with 100mm/ 105mm macro head, the flash output should be doubled. This can be achieved by using two lamps. The special macro flash can provide a suitable color temperature of 5600K, so the color reproduction is good and easy to carry and control. Wide-angle flash is used for long-distance lighting, its color temperature is relatively low, and its color tone will be orange or red.

hole

In view of the short depth of field of the macro lens, it is necessary to properly select the focal length, and at the same time, of course, keep a small aperture f22 or even f32. When shooting a plane object, the camera should be parallel to the plane object.