Lighting for underwater action

Just been looking at the thread on the Sardine Run in the video section and got to thinking about options for lighting for underwater action stuff like the Sardine Run, Sailfish, snorkeling with whales, dolphins etc.

Most of the stuff recently that I've seen is available light, and high ISO cameras are useful. In the images seen here, clearly strobes are used in a kind of hit an miss fashion.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiengrouill...57621820496358/

Sometimes when the strobes are wide enough or focused on the right area the images work, other times they miss. Adding strobes does allow some creative options I think.

I'd like to hear what experienced guys like Drew think about lighting options for this type of stuff. Strobes, no strobes, balanced lighting. Other issues are the added bulk and resistance of a strobe rigged setup in action situations.

Just been looking at the thread on the Sardine Run in the video section and got to thinking about options for lighting for underwater action stuff like the Sardine Run, Sailfish, snorkeling with whales, dolphins etc.

 

Most of the stuff recently that I've seen is available light, and high ISO cameras are useful. In the images seen here, clearly strobes are used in a kind of hit an miss fashion. http://www.flickr.com/photos/damiengrouill...57621820496358/

 

Sometimes when the strobes are wide enough or focused on the right area the images work, other times they miss. Adding strobes does allow some creative options I think.

 

I'd like to hear what experienced guys like Drew think about lighting options for this type of stuff. Strobes, no strobes, balanced lighting. Other issues are the added bulk and resistance of a strobe rigged setup in action situations.

Jeff: Your link appears broken.

OK sorry; seems to work now.

Check out the link that Eric posted last year of the 1DmkIII and Ikelite DS125's firing at 10 frames per second Jeff - it's badass.

That looks like it would work well if you posted your flashes out and aimed them straight/slightly outward.

For my recent dolphin trip, I used one small strobe on a short arm for fill light - and was very satisfied with the results.

Cheers

James

Hi Jeff.

Damien has some interesting shots. It looks to me like a few different lighting setups. I can see both single and dual strobes being used. It's easy to see how with all that action going on one would "miss" a few.

Just a general comment on the fast action setup, with dolphins zooming around last summer I found I had the most luck shooting in the AI servo AF mode on the Canon and composing the shot through the viewfinder. It was recommended to me to just set the camera up in Hi speed continuos and hold the shutter down blasting away at 8 frames a sec while holding the rig out in front of me. The machine gun approach. I tried this for a day and got basicly nothing useful. Tons of "almost" good shots. Composition is too important to just hope. I was much better off shooting single shot and firing as fast as I wanted to hit the shutter, more like 2 or 3 frames a sec during a pass.

In the clear water off the Bahamas I found I could trade the strobes for more speed in the water and still get reasonable images. Every situation is probably different.

Cheers,

Steve