HID lighting vs strobe lighting

I am interested in knowing if any folks are having success using HID lighting instead of strobes.

It does not work well. The problem with a continuous light is that it requires very long exposures to have an effect -> you get motion blur. With a strobe you got more light in a shorter time so use fast shutter speeds.

Acroporas' got a point. In a distant past, I had reasonable results shooting macro subjects with HID lights, but they don't cast enough light for wide-angle, as the light-fall-off is very abrupt.

This being said, you can get great artistic results using fixed lights such as powerful HMI lights. These are used for shooting movies underwater and cost several times the cost of strobes, though

Mat

Color temp of strobes seems a lot better. Better CRI as well.

Cheers

James

I have pictures of both from my fuji F810 on my website below in the digital section, go to Hood Canal; those were shot with a hand held HID (DiveRite canister light). Most of the rest of it is shot with a DS-50.

Difficult to control the light, you can't shoot at fast shutter speeds. Color temp was actually pretty good, but color saturation was poor. Light is very soft.

Here's some examples. First (with the sponge) was shot with an HID, second with a strobe.

Jack

Jack,

Your photos very clearly illustrate the point you're trying to make. Thanks!

At what dive site in Hood Canal were these photos taken? Also, where in Hood Canal do you find your best photo opportunities?

I've taken my camera on tropical dive trips, but have yet to take it with me when diving locally in cold water in Puget Sound.

I live in Portland and may be going up next month to a dive site in West Seattle (near Alki Beach). May try to do my first u/w photography in cold water!

Ellen

At what dive site in Hood Canal were these photos taken?  Also, where in Hood Canal do you find your best photo opportunities? 

 

I've taken my camera on tropical dive trips, but have yet to take it with me when diving locally in cold water in Puget Sound. 

 

I live in Portland and may be going up next month to a dive site in West Seattle (near Alki Beach).  May try to do my first u/w photography in cold water! 

 

Ellen

Sund Rock is where a lot of Oregon divers go, because it's fairly close. But I think the south part of Hood Canal has been suffering from low O2 the last couple of years. I like to go on Pacific Adventures "Down Time" in central Hood Canal. The Pinnacle is the best site, a lot of the others are pretty silty.

Pacific Adventures

You're probably going to Seacrest, where we dive frequently in West Seattle. A bit silty, but if yu shoot up in the pilings and so forth you may have good luck. A good camera dive in calm conditions is the Alki Pipeline also. Be careful not to task-load with diving a drysuit and camera, be sure you are comfortable in the water first.

Jack

I have dived at Sund Rock before by taking a kayak to the beach. But most of my dives in Hood Canal have been at Octopus Hole.

Seacrest is where I did my PADI Drysuit Class dives.

But this time we're going to Alki Pipeline. Underwater Works outside of Portland is my LDS and I'm going up with one of their employees for a mid-week dive.

I've head great things about Pacific Adventures, I'd like to dive with them sometime.

My first dive will not be with a camera. I'm going to get comfortable first trying out my BP/Wings with my drysuit, then add the camera after that.

Maybe I'll run into you one of these days in Puget Sound,

Ellen

Maybe I'll run into you one of these days in Puget Sound,

 

Ellen

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Sure, send me a PM when you're coming up. I dive all the time here or up in the San Juans.

Also check out my dive club:

The Marker Buoy Dive Club

For local charters, dive sites and our own trips and dives.

Jack