Black-water video shooting techniques?

[bghazzal]

Hello all,

I've been shooting mostly macro video over the past few months and increasingly interested in juvenile / larval forms, and find "black-water" subjects quite fascinating.

I personally haven't had the chance to try actual pelagic black-water diving yet, but have encountered interesting juvenile/larval critters in the water column on a standard shallow night dive, and fumbled to get shots -- While this is not true black-water diving, night-time critter migrations can be quite interesting in some locales, if the topography is right.

 

I thought I'd open up a thread on the subject for people to share technical tips and ressources on how to get good video footage in a black-water shooting scenario,

 

One aspect I'm particularly interested is video light positioning.

A lot of the info for black-water still-shooting and strobe/light position can be transfered to video, but I'm sure there are also some specificities for video and constant-light shooting.
 

There's an interesting article on the subject published by Mike Johnson in (now Waterpixels sponsor) X-Ray mag here:  https://xray-mag.com/content/shooting-video-black-water-diving

It has the following recommendations for video light positioning:

"Regardless of how many lights you choose to shoot with, they should be angled from the side, top or bottom and set to fill the area where your macro lens is focusing on. I used two Light & Motion Sola 2000 Video lights, with one positioned at 9 o’clock and the second at roughly 1 o’clock. The light at 9 o’clock I set at 1000 lumen output, and the light at 1 o’clock I set at 500 lumen output. This did a really nice job of illuminating any translucent bodies, yet was still not too bright to overpower most of the bioluminescence."

 

Rig buoyancy must be quite tricky as well - even though we are dealing with macro subjects, since most of the action takes place in the water column, the rig would need to be as neutral as possible to allow for short stable sequences, which is a world away from  usually very tripod-dependent macro video...
The difficulty of getting stable hand-held video footage of small critters moving freely in the water column would probably mean having to slow down footage at some point, not so much for actual slow-motion/stabilisation but rather to extend the length of a useable, in-focus sequence - meaning 60fps is probably required.

I'm guessing this really depends on the critters, but I was wondering if using some kind of fixed highly directional light beam (thinking of a snoot beam, pointed up) might be an option to get planktonic critters  closer to the rig, and other critters interested in these, functioning as a kind of critter-aggregating-device...
This is just an idea, which would not be possible in a typical black-water with other photographers and divers hanging on a line - but I'm not sure how the constant-light requirements of black-water video shooting would combine with black-water still-shooting anyway.

Looking forward to reading about your black-water video shooting experiments!

cheers
ben

 

Edited January 5 by bghazzal

[Davide DB]

Interesting thread Ben!

 

While it is easy to see lots of blackwater photos, it is difficult to see good videos and almost impossible to get information on the techniques used.

The most beautiful blackwater video is this one shot on the island of Ponza a few years ago by Alexander Semenov for his Aquatilis project. IIRC his footage was also used by the BBC. If you look on his channel there are several videos taken at the same location.
He used a Panasonic S1 and a GH5 with lenses that are anything but macro (the animals filmed are large). 
I've always been intrigued by the 'strange' technique used to stabilize the camera: a plastic basket that increases the volume of the kit and makes everything more stable. This reminds us that no matter how powerful, our cameras do not have the ideal ergonomics for shooting video.

 

Technique aside, I would like to add one more consideration: it is usually thought that blackwater requires abysmal depths in which major migrations of plankton and larval-stage animals down the water column take place...
This video proves otherwise. I am familiar with the island of Ponza and you can clearly see that they are on a small shoal almost outcropping not far from the harbour. It is true, however, that the island is very far from the coast. Evidently, in this case, more seasonal factors (spring) and currents count.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bghazzal]

Wow - amazing footage indeed!! I'll be going for a deep dive in the Aquatilis project, thanks so much for this.
Amazing critters as well, really fascinating.

The simplicity of the stabilisation device is mind-blowing - I can totally see the logic, bulkier means more damping of handling movements. He's also not really using that many floats, but I think this is due to the large dome port, which must be quite posistive.

Light positionning seems pretty straightforward, just angled-in a little for closeups - overall a really simple kit but seems to work great.

 

To rebound on depth required, I totally agree - when I was on Hachijo Island in Japan, planktonic / larval were really special (I remember spending time try to shoot a larval mahi-mahi, which was pretty great), even though we were in a shallow harbour. Granted, it was quite deep and exposed to the Kuroshio current just a couple of miles out, but there was a lot going on in the shallows.
 

Same thing in east-Bali - there is some depth closeby (the fishermen setup their fish-aggregating devices in a spot about 1500m deep...) and really powerful Indonesian through-flow current pumping through the Lombok straight, and there's a lot going on even in the shallows...

I've become really lazy with night diving logistics, but seeing footage like this is really motivating and reminds me of what I'm missing out on....

Edited January 6 by bghazzal

[Davide DB]

1 hour ago, bghazzal said:

The simplicity of the stabilisation device is mind-blowing - I can totally see the logic

 

Imagine being caught with your DIY readers and the camera mounted on a laundry basket... at night!

Not a pretty sight 🤣

 

[bghazzal]

1 hour ago, Davide DB said:

 

Imagine being caught with your DIY readers and the camera mounted on a laundry basket... at night!

Not a pretty sight 🤣

 

Indeed... not even sure that kind of thing is entirely legal in these parts 🤣🤣🤣

Edited January 6 by bghazzal

[TimG]

2 hours ago, Davide DB said:

Imagine being caught with your DIY readers and the camera mounted on a laundry basket... at night!

 

 

Wearing a rubber hood......

[Davide DB]

15 minutes ago, TimG said:

 

Wearing a rubber hood......

 

and a knife on the calf...
 

[TimG]

Just now, Davide DB said:

and a knife on the calf...

 

Most important dive purchase. Bond has a lot to answer for.

[bghazzal]

Guilty for the (neoprene) hood - knifeless calves, but nicely wrapped in black leggings under the shorts, my standard underwater guise when not wearing a wetsuit ...  Wait, is this what they call oversharing? 😅

[Davide DB]

And this thread has also been derailed.... 🤣

 

Joking aside, it would be interesting to get some reports from someone who has shot video in blackwater. Also photos at this point... 😇

 

Speaking of technique. In blackwaters, are divers always tethered?

Regardless of video or photos I'm interested in learning more about the logistics. Years ago some guys organised one among friends which turned out to be a failure.

They hung the line with lights from the boat and leftathe boat in the current. Unfortunately the wind was pushing the boat faster than the divers who spent the whole time chasing the boat.

Game over.

 

[TimG]

35 minutes ago, Davide DB said:

They hung the line with lights from the boat and leftathe boat in the current. Unfortunately the wind was pushing the boat faster than the divers who spent the whole time chasing the boat.

Wow, that is a really interesting point. How is that done for black water diving? No lights, and presumably a boat drifting and not on a mooring?

[Davide DB]

I don't know how exactly they do it in places where blackwater is a business. I've read several reports but devil is in the details.

 

If I were to do one with friends, I would hang the line with lights from a large, well-marked floating buoy and leave the boat free to follow the buoy.

 

Or if I wanted to hang the lighted line from the boat, I would have to use a floating anchor that would hold it to travel with the current.

 

[RichN]

8 minutes ago, Davide DB said:

 

 I would hang the line with lights from a large, well-marked floating buoy and leave the boat free to follow the buoy.

 

 

This is how I have done it, They had large buoy big light free floating, small light every 10' or 20'  hanging from the line. boat free to follow the Buoy and divers drift. 

 

 

[Davide DB]

Were you tethered?

[RichN]

nope

[RichN]

i think i would not want to be, especially with a light every 10 feet on the line. work away from the line keep eye over your shoulder haha. 

 

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I've done it two ways, either the line hanging from the boat if there is a small or no current, or like @RichN mentioned with the light line attached to a large freediving float, and the boat follows along. This was in Indonesia and the Philippines.

 

In neither case were any divers tethered. Just don't get out of site of the lights chasing a cool subject ^_^

[bghazzal]

Yes, very interested in logistical details as well - what kind of lights were used for the lures on the line, and how were they positionned?
And was anyone shooting video on those dives? How did this work out with photgraphers?

From what I read so far on basic black-water dive logistics, critters are attracted to the lure lights on the line then photographers focus on them and shoot away, eventually moving away from the line to some extent.

But for video's constant lighting, I guess this would leave the option of either staying away from the lure lights with lights off, and turning on the lights when required or using one's one lighting as a lure light (which seems to be what is going on with Aquatilis), but this would probably be more of a solo option.

Given the amount of critters we have even in shallow water here, my plan for "shallow black-water" tests is simply to tie a lure light to a deeper mooring rope at 10m and hang in the area, see what shows up (hopefully not just lionfish...)
Current is usually mild enough to hang around, so if conditions are ok it would just be a question of following the critter a little, then returning to the line.

I know some ops in Tulamben organise proper black-water from boats (not sure how far out they go), but I'd rather practice shooting video in similar conditions first, to try to figure out what works.

I shot this tiny little critter yesterday at midday (lost it before I was setup for hand-held shooting, so no useable footage, unfortunately...) - no clue what this is, but if oddities like this can be spotted during the day, there's reason to hope l̶u̶r̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ hanging around in the dark (with DIY readers, hood and leggings - laundry basked optional 😁) might bring about some interesting encounters....

Edited January 7 by bghazzal

[RichN]

yes, work away from the light or use the light to your advantage.. they may have called it the christmas tree. here is a pic from the dive boat.. if you zoom the photo you can sorta see there setup from the briefing. 

 

[Whiskeyjack]

The lines we used were Keldan lights (maybe 18k? Very bright) spaced out 5-8meters on the line, with the deepest at 27m/90ft.

 

My partner shoots video on a Panasonic GH5. She kept her (much dimmer) macro-focused video lights on the whole dive and swam in circles around the line just like me and the other photographer did until there was an interesting subject to film.

 

The photographers also generally have a constant focus light on, and additionally I have a narrow beam torch I hold in my hand to spot subjects as it cuts through the black much better than my wide-beam focus light mounted on my housing.

Edited January 8 by Whiskeyjack
spelling

[bghazzal]

Thanks - 18K is a lot of power!   i imagine the lights were positionned downwards?

 

 

[Whiskeyjack]

3 hours ago, bghazzal said:

Thanks - 18K is a lot of power!   i imagine the lights were positionned downwards?

 

 

Yep, they were pointed down and a bit outward.

[Davide DB]

5 hours ago, Whiskeyjack said:

My partner shoots video on a Panasonic GH5. She kept her (much dimmer) macro-focused video lights on the whole dive and swam in circles around the line just like me and the other photographer did until there was an interesting subject to film.

 

Looking forward to see some video from your partner.

 

Judging by social media, it seems that blackwater has become a real fashion. By now, photographs are everywhere.

Given the number of people practising them around the world, their contribution to science by identifying new species or unknown larval forms should not be overlooked.

 

 

 

[bghazzal]

Here is are some blackwater diving video shooting tips from DPG:
 

 

 

 

 

from the original article available here:

https://www.divephotoguide.com/underwater-photography-special-features/article/quick-tips-black-water-video-macro

 

 

Otherwise here is a Q&A with Simon Buxton with some video-focused tips in there:
 

Finally here is a little playlist I compiled of some actual blackwater / "Bonfire" videos available on Youtube:

 

 

Edited January 10 by bghazzal

[Davide DB]

Wow terrific tutorials!

 

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You want to arrive prepared for your blackwater. You're a guy who does his homework  😄