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We had a little bit of time to try out the new Olympus Tough TG-5 prior to its launch, in and around the waters of Seattle. As the weather improves, we’ll look to update this gallery with additional underwater samples and a range of samples from various lighting conditions. For now, wet your whistle with these.
See our Olympus Tough TG-5 Gallery
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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In 2015, Oregon-based company Under a Foot Plant Co. filed a lawsuit against Maryland-based competitor Exterior Design Inc. over the latter company’s alleged copyright infringement. According to the lawsuit, Exterior Design used 24 of Under a Foot Plant Co.’s copyrighted photographs without permission, resulting in 133 instances of copyright infringement. Under a Foot Plant Co. had created the photos to market a product line called Stepables, while Exterior Design used them to market a competing product called Treadwell Plants.
According to the lawsuit, Exterior Design’s infringement of Under a Foot Plant’s copyrighted images began in 2011 and continued through 2014. The legal document claimed that Exterior Design was engaging in ‘copyright infringement, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and unjust enrichment.’ Though Exterior Design denied the allegations, the legal matter proceeded and, after the better part of two years, has reached its conclusion in Under a Foot Plant Co.’s favor.
Per the jury’s decision, Under a Foot Plant Co. can choose to be awarded either $ 300,000 in statutory damages or $ 900,000 in actual damages, but isn’t allowed to receive both.
Via: PDN
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Tunnels have a unique lighting situation – they are dark in the middle, with the light coming from one end.
They can also be a great place to create or take unique photographs. Here is what 18 photographers created with photos of tunnels:
By Tore Bustad
By Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York
By Susanne Nilsson
By _ Liquid
By Indigo Skies Photography
By Rex Boggs
By ??? tocausan
By Matt Niemi
By Andi Campbell-Jones
By Hernán Piñera
By Vincent Lock
By darkday
By darkday
By Vaidotas Mišeikis
By pieter musterd
By Rahigrim Monasterios
By Simon & His Camera
By darkday
The post The Light at the End of the Tunnel – 18 Totally Tubular Images by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
As a rule, sticky substances and photography don’t mix. For a beloved camera, any liquid substance is a cause for concern. So naturally, I was surprised when I stumbled upon a neat trick used by glamor photographers back in the day. Actresses of the 1920s and 30s were photographed in the soft-focus style that photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen developed.
Arnold Grethe and Victor Georg, photographers of Vanity Fair used hazy focus, diffusion filters, and other techniques to soften the portraits of actors, particularly women. This stylized softness was adopted by American filmmakers who before then had stuck to the sharpest focus possible. Doris Day, queen of romantic glamor portraiture was rumored to have insisted that photographers use diffusion filters to soften the focus of her photographs. And sometimes, in a pinch, photographers applied Vaseline or petroleum jelly to the lenses.
An abstract photograph of yellow flowers, taken with Vaseline or petroleum jelly applied to a clear filter. The waves in the image reflect the density of the petroleum jelly applied to the lens.
Creating a diffusion filter with petroleum jelly is actually quite simple, and a lot less messy than it sounds. First, raid your bathroom cupboard for some Vaseline. If you don’t already have a supply, you can purchase a tub from your local pharmacy.
Next, you’ll need to apply the jelly to your lens. There are two ways to go about this. One method is to first stretch a layer or two of cling wrap over the front of your lens, forming a barrier between the jelly and the lens. Fix the cling wrap with a rubber band and double check for holes in the plastic before you start applying the jelly. The potential risk of this method is that the plastic might rupture, causing the jelly to ooze all over your lens instead.
Alternatively, if you have a spare clear filter handy, you could smear petroleum jelly all over that instead. This is a little simpler and you can remove the jelly with alcohol wipes later. Either way, DO NOT apply the petroleum jelly directly to your camera lens – it won’t end well.
This abstract photograph of water was taken with only a thin level of petroleum jelly applied to the center of the lens filter.
Start off by adding very small amounts of petroleum jelly to your lens or cling-wrap rig. You can apply the petroleum jelly with your finger, a brush, or some additional plastic for varying results. I’ve found that if you use your finger to apply the jelly, it can leave abrupt areas that affect the softness of the resulting image. Even in very small amounts, the softening effect of the petroleum jelly is quite pronounced. The more you add, the more abstracted the resulting photograph will be.
The direction in which you apply the petroleum jelly also has a significant impact on the outcome of your photograph. Swiping the petroleum jelly in one direction could result in a completely different effect to that of jelly applied in the opposite direction. Experiment with different application methods by tracing different shapes into the lens with your finger.
I also pack some alcohol or glass wipes in case I want to remove a portion of the Vaseline for artistic purposes.
The direction that the petroleum jelly is applied impacts how the resulting photograph will look. For this image, I applied streaks of petroleum jelly around the outer edges of the filter. I then used a tissue to clear the center area. This resulted in a clearer view of the subject in the center of the photograph, and streaks of color on the edges.
A balance between abstraction and soft-focus, this effect was achieved with different densities of petroleum jelly distributed over the lens filter.
For this effect I used my finger to draw zig-zag patterns in the layer of petroleum jelly on my filter. The resulting image is clearly shaped by the sharp edges I traced.
An abstracted image of tree branches with diffused light peaking through the leaves.
When finished, carefully remove the cling wrap or filter. You can wipe the filter down with some alcohol wipes before stowing it away for later use.
Give this fun abstract soft-focus technique a try and share your results in the comments section below.
The post How to Create Abstract Images With a Soft-Focus Look Using Vaseline by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.
With spring comes new life, growth, rebirth. It’s also time for the bugs to show up!
Those creepy crawly, flying, buzzing, annoying insects. But yet some of them are oddly beautiful as well. Let’s see some images of these creatures.
By Allxan.
By Mike Keeling
By Grozzle J
By Dinesh Valke
By Tibor Nagy
By Santanu Sen
By Markus Trienke
By uditha wickramanayaka
By Giuseppe Calsamiglia
By Robert Whyte
By Robert Whyte
By Ziva & Amir
By the_tahoe_guy
By Mike Keeling
By Mike Keeling
By coniferconifer
By Steve Bremer
By Mike Keeling
By John Flannery
The post What Bugs You? 19 Images of Creepy Crawly Critters by Darlene Hildebrandt appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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EXIF.co is a new service offering photographers paid photo hosting that automatically applies smart watermarks and other protections to images uploaded to the platform. It aims to allow photographers freedom to embed and share their images on the web while limiting the risk of someone re-using their work without attribution – or flat-out stealing it.
EXIF.co enables customers to share their photos using an embed feature or to share it with others directly via a sharing tool. Anyone who tries to download the photo will be blocked, presented with copyright information, and/or a watermark will be automatically applied to the saved photo, depending on the photographer’s preferences.
Users can opt to apply ‘smart watermarks’ that appear when someone tries to download or screenshot an image, add photo credits, block embeds on websites, enable sharing with websites and track the number of online views each photo receives. The service appears simple to use, requiring customers to first upload their images, then add details to them such as credits. The user sets the permissions they want for each image, then saves it to their account.
You can see it in action below:
The service is free to sign up for, and it is priced on a per-thousand views basis. The rate for 10,000 to 99k views is $ 0.30 per 1,000 views, the 100k to 499k rate is $ 0.25 per 1,000 views, the 500K to 999K is $ 0.20 and the 1m or greater rate is $ 0.15. For example, EXIF.co says 10,000 views of a photograph will cost the subscriber $ 3. Individuals who sign up for the beta service will receive 1,000 credits for free.
The company acknowledged in a blog post yesterday that it’s service certainly isn’t foolproof. It stresses that its goal is to ‘add some friction’ to protect against casual theft. Would you find a service like this valuable? Let us know in the comments.
Via: PetaPixel
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
This tutorial will help make it much easier for you to take the photographs needed for focus stacking. This is the best and the easiest way to achieve the results you want. There are a few details along the way, but the bonus is that there are also other photographic situations where you will be able to apply the same technique.
When your camera is really close to the subject, depth of field will be very shallow. For example, if you are using a 100mm lens, at a distance of 50cm (nearly 10 inches from your subject) with an aperture as small as f/16, the area which is acceptably sharp is just 1.9 cm (about 3/4 of an inch). Reduce the distance to subject to only 25cm (less than 5 inches) and the depth of field reduces to only 0.36 cm (1/6th of an inch).
The only way to conquer this issue in order to get a greater depth of acceptable sharpness in a final photograph is with computational photography. That means using software to blend together a number of photographs which have been taken with different points of focus. This computational process is called focus stacking.
The recommendation made in this article is an application of the old computer acronym of GIGO. Garbage In, Garbage Out. If you input rubbish, the output will be rubbish. To achieve the best results with focus stacking, you need to produce the photographs which are technically the most suitable for the focus stacking process.
A while back, I decided that I wanted to make some images that would look good in a home or workplace, which would reflect the Filipino environment. With various adjustments, the five photographs shown in color above were combined to produce the image below (and a lot more like it!).
If you like the idea of producing something like this, with sharp focus through the whole frame, it needs a little attention to start. This soon becomes quite easy, and you may find that it is actually a lot of fun. Find your own subject, then follow along with this method for producing your focus stacking images.
The actual processing of the images is a sequence of steps, and I would be happy to go through my approach for you at another time. Although there are other specialist programs for producing a focus stacked image, you will most likely use Photoshop. Of course, there are tutorials on how to do this here on dPS; A Beginner’s Guide to Focus Stacking.
At this point in most focus stacking tutorials, you will see somebody holding a set of focusing rails. Forget it! No further expense is required here. They might then talk to you about focusing manually. Forget that too! No need for any delicate touch with this method. You do not even need a cable release. This is absolutely all you need.
In the past, I had not even bothered to install Canon’s software offerings. Yes, the surprise news might just be that it is Canon EOS Utility which will serve you best for shooting focus stacking images.
As far as I have been able to determine, Nikon users will find that Nikon Capture includes a Camera Control component. I do not have the facility to put that to the test, but I imagine it works just as well. If you shoot Nikon and give this a try, do tell us how it worked for you in the comments section below.
The magic trick – the secret sauce – the silver bullet, for making images for focus stacking is the Canon EOS Utility program. It allows total remote control of the settings of your camera when shooting tethered to your computer.
Plug and play!
Once you have your shot set up, you can control everything from your computer. If that happens to be an adjacent laptop, that will work the best. However, the photographs which follow below were produced with everything controlled from a computer in another room, fully 10 meters, more than 30 feet away from the set.
This type of photography, which I think of as “constructed photography”, does take a little while to set up. Follow these steps:
You need to make two measurements.
The circle with a line through it indicates the focus plane – this is where your lens focuses the image onto the sensor.
Standard issue.
Manual focus, stabilizer off.
Switch to Manual Mode
Now the magic begins, the bit which makes me smile at how brilliant and easy it is.
Connect your camera to your personal computer using Wi-Fi, a USB or Ethernet cable, whatever works best for your setup. I like cables, so I use a USB cord.
Run the EOS Utility software. Your camera should be discovered quite easily.
The EOS Utility dashboard.
Choose “Remote shooting” and the screen below will appear.
You are in control
From the comfort of your computer, you can release the shutter, the ultimate cable release, and do pretty much whatever else you like. As advised, you can switch off autofocus, and switch to Manual Mode without even touching the camera. In fact, adjustments can be made to all the usual camera settings for shooting. Most importantly for this exercise, you can switch to Live View shooting. Do so, and you will see a screen like this.
The Remote Live View window. This is where the fine focusing happens.
The first thing to do is to fine tune the exposure. Controlling your camera from EOS Utility soon becomes quite easy, and intuitive. You can actually learn a lot about exposure by experimenting with the exposure triangle of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture all from your computer, with the benefit of Live View in grand scale.
One extra benefit of shooting in Live View is that you will have locked the mirror up, and removed any chance of vibrations from that source.
You can click on the screen arrows, even use the scroll wheel on your mouse to make adjustments.
Take a shot and it will soon appear on your screen. This is not an article on ETTR (Exposing To The Right), but there is a good one here; Exposing to the Right. You can now adjust the exposure to try and get as much data onto your sensor as possible (the premise of ETTR). Take your time and take as many shots as you like. Check the histogram, check what you can see on the screen, and get the exposure exactly to your liking.
I do tend to prefer a shorter exposure. In the interests of sharpness, if I can get a compromise between ISO, and aperture which gives me an exposure of less than 1-second, I believe that is a good step in the direction of sharper photographs.
For this particular exercise, there are all sorts of detailed decisions, but the most important part of this screen is the Focus Adjustment and the Zoom View.
Double clicking on the area highlighted, shown towards the bottom of the screen capture of the Remote Zoom View window (shown above), will bring you to this window below.
Zoom View – allow you to easily get the nearest point of the image sharp as possible.
You now have turbocharged, hyper control of your focus. Not until you take the plunge and try this method, and find out that you can focus to the width of a hair, will you realize how brilliant it is. There is even the facility to zoom in further still.
I believe you will find the focus adjustment intuitive. There are three different levels for adjusting focus in either direction, “<<< / << / <” and “> / >> / >>>”. This is very useful in a way that no focus rails or manual adjustment could ever be. The bonus is that you will have no physical contact with the camera whatsoever.
Martin Bailey is a photographer who goes into admirable detail. He is of the opinion that if you start photographing to the rear of the object, and work forward, Photoshop handles the process better. I do not see the evidence so clearly but, experience tells me, he is very likely right.
Another piece of advice would be to shoot a little wider, do not frame as tightly as you might usually. It gives you a little more room for maneuvering if you need to make adjustments.
You now need a Depth of Field (DoF) calculator. There’s a wide choice, there are many that are readily available for your computer, phone, and for use online. I happen to use, Simple DoF (iOS only, see Android options here), as shown in the screenshots. Let’s apply it to a situation.
The depth of field required for this scene is about 20cm (8 inches) To determine what you need, measure from the part of the object nearest the camera to the point furthest away. Divide that by the Depth of Field of 3.39cm (let’s call it 3.4cm), which tells us we will need 5.88 images. That means that we will need to take six evenly spaced images from the back to the front, in order to get every part of the image in focus. Here they are!
Focused at the rear, on the plastic case of the ruler.
Moving forward, picking a point about 3cms (just over an inch) closer each time.
Focused between 6 and 7 inches.
Shot 4.
Coming forward.
Focus closer 3cm, about an 1 inch, each time.
Finally, focused sharply on the front edge of the ruler.
You can go to whatever lengths of precision you like. Experience allows me to trust my judgment of distance, and I am happy to err on the side of taking too many shots. If I reached the front edge of the saucer and found that I had taken eight shots I would be perfectly happy with that. As it happens, it seems that I took seven.
Here is the image produced from all the above by following the focus stacking processing routine in Photoshop.
The final focus stacked image.
You should always be looking for ways to improve. As I have said, better results from less effort is a good thing.
I think that to be certain of producing the highest quality product, the next time I do a project like this, I would refine my technique a little further.
I would actually put a rule next to the object but, unlike this time, do so temporarily. In this specific example, I would decide to take 3cm as my Depth of Field. I would then focus a shot on the 0cm mark of the ruler. I would then use the focus controls in EOS Utility to nudge the focus to 3cm and see how many clicks of the “>”, “>>” or “>>>” buttons it took to move the point of focus 3cm. It might, for example, be three clicks of the “>>>” button. Again, sticking with this example, I would then know that I needed to take seven shots. I would then take a shot focused on the back edge, click “>>>” three times, take another shot, click “>>>” three times again … and so on. As I said at the start, what could be easier?
This leaf was 10cm, that is 4 inches from front to rear. I do not think there is a way to produce this final image without using the technique of focus stacking. What you have read above is the best, and the easiest way to produce the shots.
Waving goodbye?
I am all for spontaneous, shooting on the run, shots. However, if you want to shoot in a more controlled way, I think you might find the control offered by Canon EOS Utility to be a lot of fun. I do!
Once you have been introduced to it and learn some of the power of the software, you may well find yourself using it for other projects. This last week, I have used Canon’s EOS Utility to produce some product shots. The proof is in using it, and I hope you can see that it is something you can try if you want to do focus stacking.
The post How to Photograph the Images Needed For Focus Stacking by Richard Messsenger appeared first on Digital Photography School.
I’ve recently been struggling to shoot creative images and found myself in a rut battling to see things with fresh eyes. As I needed to come up with a topic for my next article (this one!), I decided to take this as an opportunity to experiment and come up with some new ways to shoot abstract images.
Here’s one of the images I took using the kaleidoscope I made. I processed this image in Analog Efex.
I decided to focus on abstract images since they seem to be speaking to me lately. The challenge became to create unique abstracts and have fun at the same time. Well, I happened to come across this video on the web. I was looking for a craft to create with my son, and the idea sprang from there.
Here’s the finished Kaleidoscope. It’s a pretty simple design.
I decided to adapt this idea and create something I could use with my DSLR. I went to my local home renovation store purchased a mirror and had them cut it into three sections. My mirrors are 16cm wide by 31cm long. I chose this size so that my wide angle lens could fit inside the kaleidoscope opening. I didn’t want any of the outer edge included in my images.
Clear packing tape was used to attach the mirrors forming a triangle. I then taped three pieces of cardboard around the outside of the mirrors. This was done to protect my hands from the sharp edges of the glass.
Here’s a top view. You can see that it was a pretty rough tape job.
You could certainly choose to attach more mirrors together if you want. The important thing to remember is that you always want to use an uneven number of mirrors so that the shape is more conducive to creating abstracts. The look of the image you shoot will change with the size and number the mirrors you use. Have fun and experiment.
I used both my Canon 5D with a wide angle lens and my phone. Note that this technique doesn’t work with a telephoto lens.
After constructing my kaleidoscope, it was time to start experimenting. I immediately thought of trying to photograph some flowers. My idea was to place a bright bloom on a black background. I was curious about what types of images I could create.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature wouldn’t cooperate. We had a massive snowstorm, and I was stuck in my house with no chance to purchase some flowers. So it was time to experiment with other items. I found some square pieces of felt sitting around my house and decided to try using them. Here are the results.
Here you can see how I set up the kaleidoscope with some pieces of felt underneath it.
I again took this image into Analog Efex for editing.
As you can see, my kaleidoscope created some rather interesting designs and shapes. It was a lot of fun to see what types of designs could be created. I used several different items in front of the mirrors. I tried fabric, tinfoil, camera lenses and even Lego toys.
After experimenting with so many different materials, it was time to try it with people. My son was willing to have his photo taken. Here are the results. He spent a few minutes giggling at the images. It would be interesting to see what a larger kaleidoscope and mirrors might do to portraits like this.
It’s an interesting effect. My son loved messing around with it.
I then experimented with photos of a good friend. These images were shot through the kaleidoscope from images projected on my computer screen. They were taken from different Facebook photos. It was a lot of fun, and he was certainly entertained by the results as much as I was. I truly appreciate him allowing me to post the results here on the web. Thanks, Ali.
He was hesitant at first to let me post this but we had a lot of fun messing around with the image. There’s a little bit of banding from the computer screen but oh well we were just having fun.
One of the things I noticed as I shot was the very fuzzy and slightly darker reflections. That bothers me. Parts of the image that contained the original piece of fabric were much brighter and sharper than the reflections. I found the effect to be quite displeasing. So, I need to experiment more with the kaleidoscope to try and alleviate that.
Perhaps a light shining from above might change this effect, it is something I will consider for the future. As you can see from this experiment, I used a very rough and simple set up. It was put together quite quickly. In the future, it would be beneficial to try several different methods for positioning the kaleidoscope and my camera. You will note that I used both my DSLR and my cell phone for these shots. I used the Lightroom mobile App as it allowed me to use some pretty specific manual controls.
I used my phone for several of the shots.
This whole activity was very insightful. It was well worth the afternoon I spent creating and shooting. It has sparked my curiosity. As a result, I created a list of questions that can be used to further the project and inspire more creative shooting.
There’s so much more that I can learn from this exercise. It feels like just the surface has been scratched. The use of mirrors for creating interesting abstracts is now on my list of projects. If you’ve experimented with different techniques, tell us about it. Share your experiments good or bad. There’s so much to learn. There’s also a lot of fun to be had during that experimentation. Perhaps as I perfect this technique, I will produce a further article that will contain my lessons learned. But for now, I hope my afternoon of tinkering will inspire you to try new ways of creating images.
This is a shot taken from my computer screen through the kaleidoscope.
I used black velvet and an old lens from my film camera for this shot. I think this one is my favorite images.
There’s so much to learn. There’s also a lot of fun to be had during the experimentation phase. Perhaps as I perfect this technique, I will produce a further article that will contain my lessons learned. But for now, I hope my afternoon of tinkering will inspire you to try new ways of creating images.
The post How to Create a Kaleidoscope and Make Unique Abstract Images by Erin Fitzgibbon appeared first on Digital Photography School.
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If you’re unable to take advantage of free National Park entry this weekend, you can still enjoy the grandeur of some of the US’s best-loved National Parks thanks to National Geographic and NASA. To celebrate National Parks week they’ve published some of their favorite photos of parks – from space.
We were pleased to discover that Grand Prismatic looks just as colorful from space as it does from the ground. Maybe we can keep it that way if we don’t trample all over it, hmm?
Take a look at a few of the images above and see more over at National Geographic Travel.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Image: Pongsatorn Sukhum
Pongsatorn Sukhum was on his way to becoming a professional photographer. A long-time camera enthusiast, he took a year off college while studying in the UK to work in a studio that shot advertising photography. He then moved into editorial photography, shooting for travel magazines and building up a collection of underwater stock images that combined his love of photography with his passion for Scuba diving. In the mid-nineties, his work was shown in a group exhibition in his native Thailand. Today, Pongsatorn runs an engineering business in Bangkok but his continued work in underwater photography, and in particular, his images of World War II wrecks off the coast of Thailand are an example of how talented enthusiasts can keep their professions while maintaining their passion for image-making and even contributing to the preservation of the subjects they love to shoot.
Pongsatorn now produces fine art prints of his photography which he sells through his website. But publications call him whenever they need images to complement their editorials on wrecks in the region and he is still commissioned occasionally for advertising work. If he’s not working on an engineering project, he’ll dive one or two weekends each month and when he’s not on the water, he’ll find time each week to process images and research ships.
Artistry Meets Expertise
That demand for professional imagery from a photographer who only works in the profession part-time continues for a couple of reasons. The quality of Pongsatorn’s photographs is certainly one factor. Pongsatorn may not be a full-time photographer but his images are professional quality. He shoots in black and white to convey the sense of being in an environment in which color has been stripped away by the water, and to convey the mood at the depths where the ships rest.
“I feel that the characteristics of high-speed b/w film faithfully capture the light and ambiance at these great depths,” he told us by email. “I also believe that entering the water loaded with b/w film is a mindset.”
The result is a collection of atmospheric shots in which the fragility and graceful lines of the diver are set against the solidity of a slowly decaying steel hulk placed in front of a backdrop of silty grays.
But the continued demand among buyers for Pongsatorn’s skills can also be put down to his expertise. Underwater photography is demanding. Photographers have to be skilled in diving as well as in image-making. They need to understand their equipment and the environment as well as the subject of the shoot.
“Underwater, we can’t change lenses, add filters, or replace batteries so advanced planning is required,” says Pongsatorn. “Familiarity with the layout of the wreck is crucial to avoid delays associated with orientation.”
Pongsatorn keeps a collection of construction blueprints related to the wreck he’s about to shoot, as well as sketches that he updates regularly. Before the dive, those plans are transferred to a waterproof slate for use underwater so that he’s not trying to communicate a new idea to a co-diver or assistant while they’re swimming. The choice of shots, too, poses a range of different problems. Wide angle images mean keeping other divers and their bubbles away from the scene long enough for Pongsatorn to get his shots. That’s not usually an issue when shooting wrecks that aren’t popular dive sites but for well-known locations, Pongsatorn usually pleads for a ten-minute head start. Before some shoots, he’s even asked the Thai Navy to cordon off a wreck for a day.
While underwater photographers don’t have the same daylight worries as landscape photographers, they do have to cope with other challenges. Weather conditions can restrict accessibility to remote sites to certain times of the year, and sediment raised by the actions of a swimming photographer can reduce visibility.
“This happens frequently as the wrecks are naturally on the sea bed (with the exception of the so-called vertical wreck) where there is a great deal of sediment just waiting to be disturbed,” says Pongsatorn. “Diver buoyancy control and proper finning techniques need to be practiced.”
Learn How to Fin
Often, the constraints of time and the limitations of depth mean that Pongsatorn can only make one or two dives to a low-lying wreck on any given day. Some dive profiles, he says, are so deep that he’ll only be able to stay at the site for as little as five minutes.
“As you can imagine, deep wreck photography is a very low-yield activity. However, these challenges make it exciting and create opportunities for some truly creative work.”
For other photographers looking to specialize in underwater photography, Pongsatorn notes that while no official training is required, there are numerous basic courses and workshops available that will explain how light behaves underwater and how to set up and look after equipment. Photographers who happen to live in tropical areas can start by photographing clown fish, he recommends, as they’re easy to find and tend to stay in one place. Once they’ve mastered finning and have control over their stability, photographers can pick a subject and study its behavior.
Most important though is to respect the environment in which you’re shooting. On his blog, Pongsatorn has highlighted campaigns for shark preservation and attacked dive operators who remove artifacts from the wrecks they visit.
“There are several operators who specifically set out to loot. It’s in their literature. They abuse the legal loopholes and lack of enforcement. It’s sad to see all these artifacts being hauled up day after day. These people need to be educated.”
Similarly, divers who venture into a wreck exhale bubbles which can get trapped below decks and under bulkheads. In time, these air pockets corrode the metal and exert an upward pressure on the metal plates, causing them to collapse, Pongsatorn warns.
It’s that kind of knowledge and that level of concern that combines with creativity and artistry to produce images that are attractive to buyers — both of art prints and for commercial use. Find a subject for which you feel passionate enough to want to study and understand completely, bring to it your photography skills, and you also won’t need to give up the day job to earn money from your photography.
Photopreneur – Make Money Selling Your Photos
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