Suggestions for a newbie...for underwater salmon photos in Alaska

I am new here, and new to the world of underwater photography. I shoot with a Canon 30D. I am a fly fishing guide in Alaska during the summer and will be returning in June. Here is what I need help with...

I want to take pictures of the salmon run in the river I guide on. Ideally, I would like to use a wireless remote so that I could set up the camera on the bottom of the river. This would allow the fish to swim undisturbed, resulting in a better photo. If anyone has experience in this type of underwater photography, or has the knowledge about it, could you suggest some equipment I might need, also some methods?? Thank you very much!!!!

H Matt I will move your post into the DSLR section where it might get some more action. Sorry, i don't know anything about remotes and such but there are some folks around who do.

You can do a wired remote underwater with some housings. Ryan at Reef Photo in Ft. Lauderdale (reefphoto.com) has modified housings for some photographers to use a wired remote release. Contact him to see what your options are for what housings this can be done with.

I have a wired remote for my d200/ Seacam housing, I'm not sure of other brands, but should be possible.

Hi and welcome to Wetpixel.

Tom Kline - a member here - makes underwater salmon photos in Alaska. They are awesome!

I don't think you'll be able to do wireless underwater as the signal doesn't travel through water. There are quite a few wired remote options though.

Good luck!

James

Thank you James. Welcome aboard mattj06. I often used a wired system to shoot salmon remotely. I also use the trigger that is on the housing. The attached photos speak volumes - you can see that underwater visibility is the main challenge just like in diving. There is plenty in fresh water to lead to backscatter. I shoot both with and without strobes. When it is cloudy, a frequent occurrence in the Alaskan summer, strobes can add a bit of punch to the shots. Later in the season there may be no other choice. In the example I am using the on-housing strobes to trigger by slave the larger Ikelite 400s on light strands.

I am using Seacam housings, some of the newer ones like my D2 housing have a provision for a third socket that can be fitted with a remote (see wire trailing off from bottom of housing right side). For my older Seacam D1 housing I am using a cannibalized flash synch cord that is wired on the inside to a Nikon remote cord accessory (available from Nikon) extended on the outside using telephone wire (not too waterproof) which you can see in one of the shots. You will note that I have added a bracket and scuba weights to keep the housings from floating or flipping over. I am not familiar with Canon but if there is a facility for remote control by closing an electric signal you are in business. The salmon don't seem to mind the cameras either!

Tom

And watch out for the bears!

Tom

love the bear pic...

I use a pocket wizard in a fantasea housing, if the pocket wizard is above the water line you should be getting a range of about 15 to 20 feet depending of your surrounding or you can go hard wire. if you using one of our housing, then all you will require is the remote grip and the small internal remote cord, you connect the internal remote cord to the secondary strobe connector and plug the external remote switch to a Standard Ikelite cord (and a 15 foot extension if you require more distance), that would be a more economical solution than the Pocket wizard, that is unless you have them wizard already.

I got the fantasea housing originally for putting the pocket wizard in and triggering my Speedotron Studio flashes when doing Pool studio work, but found out that if you flip the connection then you can trigger the camera also, quite simple actually.

I too would worry about bear, might be a good argument for wireless, you can continue triggerring even from the tree you ran up to save your sorry tush

And of course Seacam now have the remote monitor that can be used so that you can wait till the salmon or the bear is smiling into the lens before you trip the shutter.