The Secret of Underwater Time-lapse Photography Equipment

The Secret of Underwater Time-lapse Photography Equipment

Shooting underwater shots is not an easy job. Photographers should not only be able to take pictures, but also dive. A good photographer should not only be able to take pictures, but also be able to go to heaven and earth.

The documentary "Tracking Coral" was created by Netflix and directed by Jeff Orlowski and their passionate team. This documentary recorded the phenomenon of coral bleaching on the earth with underwater time-lapse camera. Orlowski and his photographer Andrew Ackerman showed the equipment needed to capture the gorgeous and devastating visual effects of this film.

Underwater time-lapse photographic equipment

One of the large-scale intuitive devices for tracking corals is the underwater time-lapse photography device. In order to take these pictures, we finally took a long time-lapse photo by hand in red. Manual time-lapse photography refers to shooting the same picture in the same place for three minutes every day for several months. Between our two teams, we spend 2-4 hours every day capturing more than 100 different shooting locations underwater. We went to a place, pointed the camera at the frame of the first day for three minutes, and then took all the equipment to the next place to shoot.

A.DCES diving cap

This huge device can ensure the safety of our red camera underwater. It has a vacuum seal and an alarm lamp device. Once the vacuum seal layer is broken, the alarm lamp will go out (fortunately, we never use this function). Nauticam's customer service is second to none They shipped parts to us from all over the world.

B.REDEpic Dragon red dragon 6K camera

One of the goals of making this film is to make the underwater influence as immersive and cinematic as possible. Through the Red Dragon, we can shoot amazing 6K slow-motion pictures underwater. RAW's shooting ability is also very important for color correction-as we all know, the color correction of underwater lens is very poor, because the light gradually loses color underwater.

C. red mini Mag 5 12GB

This is the biggest storage when buying a red dragon camera. We usually dive every hour when shooting, but every once in a while, we shoot underwater for 2-3 hours at a time. In these cases, extra memory is very important.

D.Nauticam lens zoom and focusing device

By connecting these devices to the corresponding lenses, the photographer can manually zoom and focus under water. Never forget to install these before diving.

E. canon f16-35mm f/2.8l USM lens

This is a great wide-angle zoom lens that can be used underwater. Usually we use two cameras to shoot underwater, one will use this lens and the other will use a 24-70mm lens.

F. canon ef 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens

With this all-powerful top lens, we find it very valuable to have a large depth of field underwater. Most of the underwater pictures are either super wide-angle fisheye pictures or super macro pictures. We like to use more depth of field to present the theme and wildlife of underwater world.

G. red cable

Please prepare extra cables. One of our cables is almost broken. We must prepare spare parts, because we often live on very remote ships or islands, and it is difficult to send express delivery without Wi-Fi and cell phone signals.

H. Red 5-inch LCD touch screen

Although we prefer 7-inch screen to 5-inch screen, it is not suitable for diving hood.

First, Keldan 8X portable LED video diving lamp

These are the strongest lamps on the market. You will be surprised to find how much light and color have disappeared in the depths of water. We need the biggest and softest lamp we can find. These are all tips.

J. hexagon wrench kit

All underwater equipment from photography to diving needs hexagon wrenches. Don't forget to bring it.

K. Lesemann tools &; Screw driver kit

This is a necessary tool for every DP. It is a life-saving tool. We use it to assemble all kinds of diving equipment screws.

Length Zen 230mm mm Nauticam N 120

Considering the quality and life of the picture, we prefer to use the glass dome cover instead of acrylic.

Time-lapse cameras are used to capture the decline of coral reefs.

Meter (abbreviation for meter)) vacuum sealed pump

This pump can seal the underwater diving hood and reduce the possibility of being submerged by water. This is the pressure of the underwater world: putting a red one underwater will make people anxious, and this small vacuum pump (and the green light behind the diving hood) will make you feel much better.

Tusa diving watch

Underwater photography can easily make you forget what you did while diving. Such as your oxygen consumption and depth. The frequency of monitoring your status varies greatly, with a computer in your hand and not on your waist.

O.Nauticam lamp wall and lamp wall clamp combination

These devices allow you to install lights of different lengths and arrangements on the diving mask.

Page (abbreviation of page) Manfutu 055 tripod

When taking time-lapse photography, stability is the key, especially when we take videos instead of photos. We found that this tripod is a good combination of lightness, durability and compactness. This is not a tripod designed for diving, but it does a good job in this role. The key is to clean it thoroughly after each use. You have to take good care of your equipment by diving every day for several months. Metal and salt cannot be together.

Q.rich W-50 underwater notebook

This waterproof notebook allows me to communicate with each other and record the notes of different time-lapse shooting locations and the changes we have seen.

R. reference photos

We brought many photos of each shooting point. Copying the exact same camera angle every day is a huge challenge. These photos are very helpful for listing shooting locations.

South Aqua Lung 5mm Echozip Ergo diving boots

Nice diving boots! Usually we shoot in a small space, so wearing flippers is not a good choice. They will make swimming easier, but they will also make it easier to kick corals and fools. I often lose my flippers and walk from the shooting location to the next shooting location under the sea. It makes you feel like you are on the moon. Great!

T. Innovative scuba concept aluminum underwater laser pen

Like the reference picture, this laser batch is the key to help us arrange the lenses accurately. We connect these to the red diving hood or tripod bracket, point to three different axes, and then align them with the different terrain of each shooting location.

Unit diving weight

Even if Nauticam red diving hood weighs about 60 pounds on water, it is almost neutral buoyancy under water. When shooting time-lapse photography manually, we will try to add extra weight. There are often rough waves underwater, which makes it difficult for a huge diving cover to rely on a tripod perfectly. If the weight is probably large, it is easy to stay at the bottom and stay still.

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