Kona Manta dive - white balance / lighting help

Hi all,

We're heading to Hawaii in a few weeks, and have a manta dive scheduled. We've done it three times before and had mantas every time, so hopefully our luck will hold.

This is my first time doing it with the HC3, however (L&M bluefin housing, halogen lights). And since I'm still learning (ie, 'terrible at') manual white balance, I thought I'd solicit some advice before going after hi-def mantas.

It's a tricky lighting situation down there. The halogens are nice for when mantas get close, but for wider shots of all the action, there are always tons of people down there with much bluer (and brighter) HIDs. So if you balance for closeups, wides look blue; if you balance for wides, the manta that comes zooming right at you winds up red.

Does anyone have advice for finding a happy middle ground?

Or is the best bet to spend a chunk of time shooting farther shots (perhaps leave it on auto-WB for the first half of the dive, since it would be hard to MWB for blue lights when mine aren't), and then switch to manual white balance using my own lighting for closer shots?

And then there's always the fallback - fix it in post-production! I really need to shell out for Color one of these days...

Thanks for any tips!

I don't think ther is a happy middle ground. Somewhere in the middle will produce pink closeups and blue wides - you might as well get one of them perfect. I would recommend getting the close shots right because red or pink looks bad to anyones eyes, while blue may niot be perfect, but at least it is natural.

I don't know how practical it will be to try shoot all wides, then all closeups - is it that easy to know when the mantas will come close to you? If you can do that, then that is the ideal situation but set your manual white balance for both situations. Dont rely on MWB for the wide stuff - with a bit of practice you can do a better job than your camera. If you can't get it right, use a preset like outdoor - it will be easier to fix in post than Auto.

For the wide shots - if you turn your lights off, you should be able to balance on the other peoples lights by aiming at them as you would a slate. You may have to zoom into them a bit and you will have to maintain the same distance away from them but that is what i would try.

Good luck.

Anastasia who are you diving with out here? I have a company that does the filming of the mantas here in Kona, we film for Kona Honu Divers. Im out there about five nights a week and use a Canon HV20 and Sony Z1U. I have found that you will get the best results with a manual white balance on a white slate once you get to the campfire and have the ambient light mixed with your own lights. Shoot wide all the time and set manual focus on your fin or a diver about 3ft away, dont zoom and pray for better weather! at the moment we have a big swell and the vis is crap. Will get better soon thats the beauty of Hawaii. Let me know if you need more info.

enjoy!

-Scott

Anastasia who are you diving with out here? I have a company that does the filming of the mantas here in Kona, we film for Kona Honu Divers. Im out there about five nights a week and use a Canon HV20 and Sony Z1U. I have found that you will get the best results with a manual white balance on a white slate once you get to the campfire and have the ambient light mixed with your own lights. Shoot wide all the time and set manual focus on your fin or a diver about 3ft away, dont zoom and pray for better weather! at the moment we have a big swell and the vis is crap. Will get better soon thats the beauty of Hawaii. Let me know if you need more info.

 

enjoy!

-Scott

Thanks for all the tips - that helps a lot.

We're doing the manta dive with Torpedo Tours, and diving with Jack's Saturday and Sunday. Maybe I'll see you out there!

By the way, Hawaii's big swell and crappy vis is still better than what I'm used to around here - I'm sure no matter what, we'll have a blast!

Anastasia

Auto WB is a sure way to ensure you WILL have to do some post. I can't remember how bright the campfire is off my head but if you have that many lights, why turn on yours? The campfire should provide the main light and the other video lights your 'special lighting' effects. Mixing halogen and HID will give you headaches in post. Use the other people's lights and use daylight setting on WB. When you do turn on your own lights, MWB to a manta at the distance you think your next shot will be at. You can easily correct the color in FCP(you don't need Color, which is a color grading software and beyond the needs of many.) It is however, very cool to use.

I was just there 2 weeks ago. The viz was great, except for the krill, which is what brings them in. There are so many lights of so many types that you cannot WB for all of them. I used auto with my HC-7, and it turned out great.

Hal

Actually, that's a good point about the ambient light being enough. The last few times I've done the dive, it was during the Kona Classic (guaranteeing large numbers of photogs), but it sounds like it's pretty well-lit even on a normal day.

And the krill, ugh - a good reason to leave my lights off sometimes. (And to wear a beanie - otherwise I just can't stop thinking about critters in my ears!)

Did I mention I can't wait? Been nine months since work took me there last - I'm having serious withdrawal!