Underwater photography is becoming more popular as technology progresses. The use of an underwater housing dates back to the mid-1800s when William Thompson was utilizing a watertight box over his camera to photograph seaweed near Weymouth, England. Since then, underwater photographs have become an incredible way to explore and understand the life under the surface.
It takes a brave soul to be a cave diver. It's a dangerous extreme sport, but the hidden beauty it uncovers is almost otherworldly. This gorgeous video, shot in Yucatan, showcases all that beauty.
Nearly 300 years ago, the infamous Pirate Blackbeard's flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge (QAR), sank off the coast of North Carolina near Beaufort Inlet. A private salvage firm, Intersal, found a cluster of cannons and other artifacts in late 1996 on the seabed near the inlet. State archeologists later confirmed it was the wreckage of the QAR. What appears to be an unprecedented legal battle over who owns the copyright to a treasure trove of video footage and photographs documenting the recovery of the QAR over nearly 20 years is underway.
Underwater housings are infamous for being just about as expensive as the body they’re meant to house. They do an important job — that is, they keep your camera from complete ruin in the water, and they do it reliably (what other way is there when it comes to oceanic saltwater?). Nevertheless, those wanting an option that stings the wallet a bit less will be happy to hear about the Aquatech Base Underwater Sport housing. What better place to test this new, low-cost alternative than in Hawaii?
Before the digital accessibility of today's water resistant action cameras, there was the 35mm format wonder, The Nikonos Calypso. Many are familiar with this analog, water photography staple. Generations of photographers grew up cutting their teeth for surf photography wielding these water tight beauties. The cult following of the fantastically simple camera has produced catalogs of breathtaking imagery, iconic of an era. The Nikonos Project has been a driving force in maintaining the modern revival. The young project encourages incredibly talented surf photographers to hang up the digital gear in favor of a less forgiving, more rewarding form of capture.
Photography, at face value, is already a difficult combination of capturing a scene as it unfolds and manipulating a tedious balance of exposure, aperture, and ISO to illuminate an image that does true life justice. When you add any additional element to the equation, the entire process can be thrown off. I often find this challenge in photography to be resting on the surface of the ocean in surf photography. Here are six tips I’ve learned that can help your surf photography.
"We all have the ability to be creators of hope," notes Conservation Photographer Thomas Peschak. Take ten minutes to explore the world of a man whose work embodies that every day.
Those of us who have looked into underwater photography have all experienced the same sticker shock when it comes to underwater housings. Often well above $1,000, these housings can be more expensive than the cameras we're putting into them. Plus, for the most part, we have to get a new housing if we get a new camera. AquaTech's latest $995 Base Sport models bring relative affordability for which we can be grateful.
The Oscars are coming up this Sunday, February 28th. There are two categories that we photographers care about most: Visual Effects and Cinematography. Do you know which films are nominated and have you watched all eight of them? Don't worry; I've got you covered.
Warning: treacherous waters are ahead. A dark, cold place where only the brave dare to explore. Recent video projects by photographer and cinematographer Sven Dreesbach create a feeling of icy-cold tension, contrasted by a sense of meditative pleasure. It's a vibe that is best soaked in rather than pontificated upon by some internet writer. Oh, and he did it all on iPhones.
About two years ago, in the spirit of adventure and creativity, I decided I was going to try and photograph the ocean with artificial lighting. I had an image in my head of all the things I’ve seen in daylight hours, with the stark contrast of an illuminated wave against a dark backdrop. A run-of-the-mill day down at the beach certainly wasn’t going to do either. We were going to go straight to the top and shoot the biggest and meanest waves we could find.
World-renowned photographer and visual engineer Benjamin Von Wong has done it again. His breathtaking, inspiring photography has taken yet another step and this time for a great cause. According to Von Wong, this is the hardest shoot he has ever pulled off, and one he hopes has the biggest impact.
Dave Sandford is a professional sports photographer from Ontario, whose roots in photography keep him coming back to bodies of water, capturing images that move him personally. What he found close to home in the shallow water of Lake Erie turned out to be some of the most dramatic waves he’d ever seen, and Dave came away with an incredible series of images to share.
If you've ever used a GoPro in the water, you know that just about as soon as you get in, the lens can start to fog up. This is because the air inside the GoPro is relatively warm and gets warmer when using the camera; thus, as soon as you combine this with a colder outside environment, such as water, the camera is cooled and water droplets begin to condense on the inside of the housing. While GoPro makes anti-fog inserts, they aren't exactly cheap at $15 per pack. In this video, Ho Stevie! shows you how to use a simple roll of paper towel to make anti fog inserts for your GoPro.
Leroy Bellet is a 16-year-old freelance surf photographer from Australia who has recently been featured in several major surf publications because of his experimentation with artificial lighting in the water. Using a flash in the water allows the subject to still be illuminated while taking advantage of times when the natural light is most unique, like early morning, sunset, and night. We recently got the chance to talk to Leroy and learn a little bit about him and his technique.
Keith Ellenbogen is an underwater photographer whose work centers on marine conservation, while Allan Adams is a theoretical physicist whose work revolves around fluid dynamics inside black holes. When they met at a party in 2013, they realized they could combine their talents to produce gorgeous video of some of nature's most interesting marine life.
A simple Google search will turn up millions of results on what photographers should do/not do when working with models. However, nine times out of ten, these articles are written from a photographer’s perspective, and the model’s voice is rarely heard. Well, today is your lucky day! I have jumped in to give you the model perspective! Whether you are shooting underwater, commercial, fashion, conceptual, etc., some of the same rules of etiquette apply across the board.
When people think of visiting the Everglades, wading around neck deep, alligator infested waters isn't exactly what most folks have in mind. For Florida-born photographer Mac Stone, this is what he calls his office. Stone has been steadily developing his work in conservation, particularly of wetlands. He recently gave a compelling speech at a TedTalks event, discussing not only his evocative work but importance of the wild areas he works in.
Freelance videomaker and visual artist Julianna Thomas did something unique recently: she shot an entire series of black and white subjects, but in color. As a response to one of her greatest pet peeves, Thomas created "Black & White In Color" as a "personal response to treating black and white as an editing afterthought."
It's a photo so ubiquitous that if you type "iceberg photo" into Google, it's the first two image results. And the sixth. And the tenth. Ralph Clevenger's iconic photo of an iceberg's tip peeking out from the water while the substantial body of it remains below has graced countless publications, from full-page magazine advertisements commissioned by major corporations to the ever-famous "Imagination" motivational poster. It's a photo that is so famous that it's been copied, stolen, manipulated, parodied, and imitated an innumerable number of times over its nearly twenty-year existence. It's even made rounds on the internet as a hoax that Snopes picked up.
Earlier in the week, we shared Michael Dyrlands, HAZMAT Surfing photo series. To recap, HAZMAT Surfing is a photo series that gives a futuristic look at what surfing could be like twenty to twenty-five years down the road and spreads awareness of our oceans contamination. Dyrland came up with the idea after he was unable to enter the water on a trip to LA because of ten billion gallons of run off that had polluted the ocean after an evening of heavy rain. Dyrland has now released a video version of HAZMAT Surfing, which continues to spread awareness of the contamination of our oceans.
When I first looked at placing my camera into the water I noticed that there was a lot of different options. The most practical and safe method was the big and very expensive dive housings that are used for scuba diving. The cheapest, most dangerous option was the little plastic zip lock bag-type housings that can be found on eBay for $100. I wanted something that would not break the bank, but would also be safe enough that I could put in an expensive DSLR plus a lens, and trust it would be safe. These stipulations are what brought me to the Outex underwater housing.
Just last week, GoPro announced a new a camera in their ever-expanding lineup of action-POV cameras. The new camera is called the HERO4 Session, and as Doug Sonders posted last week, it's smaller and lighter than the previous series of HERO cameras. In this video review, WIRED's Brent Rose takes the Session out on several different adventures, comparing it to the HERO4 Silver along the way.
Rob Hammer knows all about stories, adventure, and experience. He is a San Diego-based commercial shooter. He has worked for many clients such as Nike, Adidas, Foot Locker, and Under Armour. If you have a chance to follow his Instagram feed, you'll probably find images of him backpacking in a foreign country, photographing old barbershops in the Midwest, or hiking up a mountain with his friends enjoying a cold beer. He lives the life that he photographs. I believe that shooting what you love will ensure you to always have a steady stream of good clients. But when you are photographing your own lifestyle, the possibilities are endless.
Yesterday was World Oceans Day (it's okay if you missed it; you can make up for it today) and to celebrate, Google released an amazing new feature powered by its popular Street View technology: Street View Oceans. Working with a number of scientists and researchers, Google mapped well over 50 unique experiences around the world with GPS data to give the public access to the amazing life under the sea as well as to help track its growth and/or recession for scientific study.
I baby my external hard drives. I always wrap them in bubble wrap when taking them from home to the coffee shop, and I even have a little mini-pelican case for longer trips. I couldn't imagine how bad it would be if it happened to get even a quick salt water splash, let alone get stuck in the sand. In this video, watch what happens when this G-Tech hard drive is thrown right into the surf of the ocean.
As if you didn't already have enough competition as a photographer it now seems the animal kingdom is trying to get a piece of our pie. In New Zealand there is an Octopus named Rambo, trained and equipped by Sony, to do your job. World, meet the first Octographer.
Ray Collins lives in the Australian town of Bulli, a sleepy, drab mining town south of Sydney. The punishing work a mile underground left Collins with a broken body and busted knees, so it was time for a career change. Purchasing a camera with his severance, Collins decided to tackle a new perspective to underwater photography. The cleansing salt water which had originally washed off the dust of a long day in the mine was now his new office. In a short seven years, Collins made the change from "subterranean" to "submariner" and hasn't looked back. His story is perhaps testament in chasing your passion no matter how seemingly absurd it may be.
Morgan Maassen is a blossoming surf photographer with many notable photography achievements under his belt at the ripe and youthful age of 24 years old. Already nailing covers for some of the industry's most recognizable magazines, Maassen has made a name for himself and his unique photographic style in the surfing world. Maassen's work often borders the line between an ethereal, dreamlike universe and a sharp contrasted reality of life on the water. Fstoppers had an opportunity to sit down with Maassen and ask him a few questions about how he got to where he is, what inspires him, and how he approaches underwater photography on a daily basis.
