Pool shots - D200, Ikelite 6812 and 1x DS160 strobe

Guys

I have on order an Ikelite 6812 housing and a single DS160 strobe (at the moment)... although the housing is currently on back order due to ship around 9th April which is most annoying

Most of my land shots are portrait work taken with longer lenses like my 80-200 AF-S but I am embarking on underwater shooting as I have an 11month old little girl who is just starting to swim and go under the surface.

At the moment the only lens I have that is even remotely wide is my kit lens 18-70mm which may 'do' (with a +4 diopter that is) but I'm sure something wider and probably fisheye (like the well respected Tokina 10-17mm) may be a better option, if maybe a bit limited above water. Would a rectilinear alternative be that much different for this kind of shot? Note that for the moment I'm looking at the 6" dome ports rather than the 8" modular ones, but this may be something to jump to in the future.

The pool is indoor and only 4-5ft deep and I plan to take my shots from close to the bottom facing to the surface to give a nice surface mirror background and more or less 2/3-3/4 filling the shot with my daughter. I guess distance from dome to daughter will be about 12-18" to maximise IQ

Any suggestions and pointers would be much appreciated. Before everyone suggests I don't do it and just to get a pro u/w tog in, this is something I really want to achieve myself, maybe it's a dad thing LOL.

Thanks

Way to go! I have photographed my 20 month old in the pool too - it's fun.

I recommend starting w/ your 18-70 and one strobe. Use it on a low power setting or on TTL with -2 or -3 stops compensation. Have mommy pass the baby to you underwater to you while clicking. Then try some shots where mommy passes the baby to someone else above your head. GOod luck and have fun!

James

Way to go! I have photographed my 20 month old in the pool too - it's fun.

 

I recommend starting w/ your 18-70 and one strobe. Use it on a low power setting or on TTL with -2 or -3 stops compensation. Have mommy pass the baby to you underwater to you while clicking. Then try some shots where mommy passes the baby to someone else above your head. GOod luck and have fun!

 

James

Thank you James

Yes I'm really looking forward to it.

I've got my eye on the Tokina 10-17 if I find the 18mm a bit too long, but then it might be a bit too wide a FOV... maybe a 12-14 we'll see. Anyone else any experience of this sort of thing?

I don't know. A pool is a very bright setting. I might us a 60mm and back up and open up using the strobe (on ttl) just to highlight the baby's face. Possibly the strobe in front of the camera. The 18/70 Nikon is a less than ideal underwater lens.

Thanks everyone

I managed to get some nice results with the 18-70 behind an 8" dome. This is an indoor pool so light was an issue. It took two Profoto heads sync'd topside (at total of 1200 w/s) and fill from my DS160, but I like the results.

Very cool!!! It looks like you hit him with a lot of light lol. How did you trigger the Profoto heads outside the pool? Also - how did you rig them up so that they didn't fall into the pool?

Cheers

James

Very cool!!! It looks like you hit him with a lot of light lol. How did you trigger the Profoto heads outside the pool? Also - how did you rig them up so that they didn't fall into the pool?

 

Cheers

James

Thank you James.

I wish I could give you a fancy answer but nothing so grand really... just a dual sync cord with the secondary extended to about 20' long with a 1/4" jack on the end. The Profoto heads were on sturdy Bowens tripods set back about 5-6' from the poolside and weighted for extra stability. The pool has no windows so plenty of light was needed to lift the image and supply some surface ripples onto the pool side/bottom.

nice photo

Thanks everyone

 

I managed to get some nice results with the 18-70 behind an 8" dome. This is an indoor pool so light was an issue. It took two Profoto heads sync'd topside (at total of 1200 w/s) and fill from my DS160, but I like the results.

 

 

Thank you