Crushed dreams

As I Browse through one of the latest issues of a Dive magazine, My heart wrenches, Then drops. Scrolling through the page I realize the last "man eater" in the ocean has been demystified.

The article is on one photographer going outside the cage with great whites. While I know this isn't anything new it's still a shock to see in a mainstream magazine. Now a days everyone has a digital camera, Dslr are a dime a dozen and underwater gear is cheaper then ever. I seem to have a nack for learning and "blending " with animals behavior. I was really hoping that large predators will/would be my nitch..... But now I'm not to sure its going to be available by the time I am finished with photography school.

For the professionals on here.

How did you find your nitch?

But more importantly. In a world with only so many possibilities, how do you keep it?

As I Browse through one of the latest issues of a Dive magazine, My heart wrenches, Then drops. Scrolling through the page I realize the last "man eater" in the ocean has been demystified.

The article is on one photographer going outside the cage with great whites. While I know this isn't anything new it's still a shock to see in a mainstream magazine. Now a days everyone has a digital camera, Dslr are a dime a dozen and underwater gear is cheaper then ever. I seem to have a nack for learning and "blending " with animals behavior. I was really hoping that large predators will/would be my nitch..... But now I'm not to sure its going to be available by the time I am finished with photography school.

 

 

For the professionals on here.

 

How did you find your nitch?

But more importantly. In a world with only so many possibilities, how do you keep it?

I looked closer to home (my home UK and inland not Ocean). People seem to overlook the 'obvious' so do plenty of research. Also I chose to frequent waters with sometimes zero viz with temps dropping to 3oc to find my niche ... There are still some critters out there that haven't been 'done to death' it's just finding them.

Dive safe

DeanB

How did you find your nitch?

But more importantly. In a world with only so many possibilities, how do you keep it?

At no time in the history of the world has photography been in the hands of so many. No matter.

Broadly speaking, two approaches work well:-

1. Common subject, done to death by others, now photographed in a completely new and different way. Alex M is very good at this - the clownfish/fisheye/teleconverter is a good example.

2. Photographing the unknown or rarely done. Finding the unknown is challenging - sometimes you just don't know what you don't know (no pun intended!) - but there is an entire planet out there just begging for a fresh pair of eyes.

There is a whiteboard on my office wall, covered with ideas, concepts and theories that are all worthy of coverage. Not all (very few) have been pitched at editors but thats only because I don't have the time to do everything and need to concentrate on those where the risk/reward combination is in my favour. At the rate I'm going, there is 10 years of work on that board. Some time-sensitive ideas are planned years from now, but I keep them all fresh in my mind.

Dean is right. There is a lot of potential in crap vis.......its not an easy place to work, but as an example, consider this image:-

Taken in HMNB Clyde, home of the UK nuclear submarine fleet, RN divers fix submarines below the waterline and between the inner pressure hull and outer skin. These chaps are walking across the seabed, going to work. The vis is less than ideal.....but the image tells a story. Security issues aside, few would normally bother diving in the harbour and even less would bother carrying a camera but places like this offer much potential.

Good luck!

Hi Derek,

Great post and great food for thought!! Agree with all the answers entirely.

Not a pro myself..... but from a v. amateur perspective...and what I see here on this forum...

Photography has INFINITE possibilities- the trick is in developing the 'individual eye' for a stunning composition-and that's only limited by our equipment and our imagination* (*which in itself is limitless). Methinks the potential to develope a nitch is in every photographer- it's just the 'getting there' takes alot of time, effort, trial, error, and perseverance- particularly for the underwater images.

One great clue- read Alex M's chapter in Martin Edge's 'Underwater Photographer 4th Ed.'- he gives a really nice insight into developing an individual style- which I'm sure would also give you inspiration!

Also the old axiom rings through- learn the rules- then break them!!

I'm still very much trying to learn those rules.

The best of well wishes with your endeavours.

Looking forward to seeing your images on this forum in the years to come....big predators..... or otherwise.....

ps. However, IMHO I don't agree that underwater photo gear is getting cheaper- I dont think it ever was cheap!! Cheap is a point of view- defined by how big your wallet is!!!

I am constantly being asked for 'advice' regarding getting into natural history photography by many who see the underwater photographic world s being a 'dream' job (little do they know!).

I always say the same - know your subject and don't photograph it because you want to photograph it, photograph it because you are interested in the subject and want to photograph it.

After nearly 30 years taking underwater photographs I am still as enthused by the marine life as ever. Vis. is irrelevant as long as I can take pix, somehow. But what is extremely important is to research your subject matter and understand it - the problem being that if you are like me and question everything then you will find yourself asking questions to which no-one has answers, and you then find yourself shooting subject matter which may help provide the answer. At the moment I am working on small temperate fishes. Most are described in existing books from dead specimens and many look nothing like their dead counterparts when alive. So I, with others are having to slowly re-figure out identities and features in small, wild, live fish. Eventually there will no doubt be articles and other spin-offs but from a natural history photograph sales point of view what this does mean is that my material is as well identified as is possible - very important to many image users (not so sure about some diving magazines though!!!).

To comment on the last post, photographing the unknown is challenging - sometimes because you just don't know what you don't know - and we often know a great deal less than we think!