Skill versus equipment

Of course all the other threads on here are incredibly helpful, but this thread is closer to relating to me and my u/w photo goals. This thread touches much more on inspiring us all to push and think out of the underwater box. Something I hope to be doing when I get my gear all worked out and get in the water. Soon. Very soon.

My personal belief is that there is one thing that seperates great creative from all the rest: great creative makes people look at something in a new way. No matter the medium.

So, while duplicating shots of turtles and dolphins and nudis that already exist can be exciting at first. That's actually more about feeling like, "Hey, I can actually do it!"

And we should not confuse this with adding anything new to the world of u/w photoraphy or art.

I teach a few classes on creative methodology and it's the same with all my new students. They're so excited to do that they don't ever consider what they're actually doing. As a result they rarely do anything fresh. And they're alway surprised to hear that what's standing between themselves and great creative is actually their rushing into executing or in this case pushing the shutter button without any thinking.

My personal process has been to pick out the best u/w photos I can find. (Some from people here. Thank you.) And break them down.

What exactly do I like about them?

Why are they good?

What do the images I like say about my own creative voice?

I've complied a list of things that the good images do structurally, i.e. make me see something in a new way, tell a new story...

I then take these things and begin exploring images with some of these "structural things" I've found in images I like. I try to plan shots that make people look at the things I'm shooting in a new way. I try to find interesting new stories. (Okay, mostly shooting at the aquarium until my setup is rigged up.)

I told someone about my approach once and they said they thought this would make my photos formulaic. But the fact is the opposite. I'm thinking about where I can make changes and do new things. (Not that I'm technically capable of it yet.) Whereas the person who said this to me is, from looking at his work, formulaic, but doesn't even realize it. Because he doesn't break his work down and disect it or other great work.

Well, those are some of my thoughts. I read a lot on here but I never speak up. But I found this thread very inspiring. And I'd appreciate hearing even more about other people's creative methodology applied to u/w photography.

Although not about UW photography, there is a good book titled...Right brain left brain photography...by Kathryn Marx. An AMPHOTO book.

It is about how photographers are so concerned about gear and technique that they ignore their intuition... They are allowing their analytical left brains to overwhelm the creative right brain. The book is not only a study of the methodology of the creative process, but also has lessons and exercises, as well as interviews with some of the best photographers out there.

Luck...favors the prepared and open mind.

Splash,

Don Kincaid

I've found that it took me about 2 years to get really comfortable using my camera underwater so that I can make it "do what I want" without having to think about it too much.

It would have been nice if I could have had this preprogrammed into my brain like Neo then just jumped in the water and taken all the kinds of shots I wanted. But that's not really possible.

Maybe if my camera housing only had one button...:-)

Cheers

James

I'm firmly convinced we screw up more of your own pictures by adding too many variables....Last weekend I had 7 new digital photographers with mostly point and shoot type systems.

First thing I always do is make them create a 3" X 5" card (stored in your housing) with set up details like removing filters (18-55mm Canon "kit" lens to avoid scratching the inside of my port!), preset ISO, white balance (these folks are shooting JPEG) and any other parameters.

If their camera can shoot in M mode I advise picking a shutter speed first, one power setting on the strobe which then narrows all this down to one main variable, APERTURE, based on strobe to subject distance.

NOW, we can get down to thinking creatively such as how we want to light our subject, frame our subject, etc.

I posted once before about exploring the "scene"modes on digital cameras, too. (Kind of got blown off as not serious...Have any of you even TRIED these modes if you have them? At least on the surface?) I intend to do this with my Digital Rebel in the Bahamas the end of the month. Like sports mode for the zoom-zoom dolphins....

I'm all for turning on that creative side of the brain Too much techno-babble just mucks it all up.

David Haas

Canon 'scene' modes are really pretty easy to replicate using manual controls, to the point where it's generally just as easy to set what you want in one of the program modes. This of course MAY not apply to the Drebel which has a frustrating lack of user controlability (eg focus modes).

See, there I go talking about gear again...mus try to use right side of brain tomorrow.

David: While I shoot mainly AV priority, I use the Canon portrait mode occasionally on a 10D. Works fine

David: While I shoot mainly AV priority, I use the Canon portrait mode occasionally on a 10D. Works fine

The funnist thing I hear from folks is they never even consider the "scene" modes.....

Buried deep in the pages of your camera manual are descriptions of what setting these modes default to.....Can you duplicate some of these by choosing shutter priority, aperture priority, etc. Sure.........But if one dial twist automates this and doesn't shift into ISO800 or something you really don't want why wouldn't you try it? It's not like we're spending $$$$$$ every time we click the shutter as in the film days.

I think mainly folks won't try them because it's not "professional".....

I'm gonna' try some of these underwater next month and see what I get The bottom line is are you happy with your images......

David Haas

P.S. - The lack of focus priority and even metering choice on the Digital Rebel some folks lament sure hasn't hampered my shooting style....If you read the manual and know what the camera will and won't do in particular modes it's not really a problem IMHO.

David,

 

That doesn't mean I'd pick a camera with shutter lag over one with no shutter lag though...:-)

 

Cheers

James

Chicken!

I've found that it took me about 2 years to get really comfortable using my camera underwater so that I can make it "do what I want" without having to think about it too much.

 

It would have been nice if I could have had this preprogrammed into my brain like Neo then just jumped in the water and taken all the kinds of shots I wanted.  But that's not really possible.

 

Maybe if my camera housing only had one button...:-)

 

Cheers

James

I do have to agree with James. Until we don't learn to use our camera equipment as if it's second-nature, it becomes very difficult to allow the creative side to run wild while still producing quality images.

While I will not argue the skill vs equipment debate, I think we would be blind to not see that better equipment allows us to reach or expand on our creative skills. For example.. If I could have captured (what James calls my new fetish) split shots with the regular lens of my Olympus as easily or as good as I do with my new Inon dome, I would have probably not invested in this extra expense. Personally, I sometimes think we over do it and find ourselves shooting with two strobes before mastering one or looking through a 500mm macro lens before trying out a 50mm.

As far as whether one camera system can capture an image better than another (aka. prosumer vs dSLR).. Having recently been introduced to the dark side (aka. dSLR), I think they both have the capabilities (with their pros and cons) of allowing 'the photographer' to capture a stunning photograph. Now the issue becomes more of what you're going to do from a creative standpoint to make that black damselfish photo capture the same wow factor of a close-focus, wide-angle, panoramic shot of a whale shark, reef, divers and mating nudibranchs in clear Cozumel waters.

Hmmm!! Close focus, wide-angle, panoramic shot.. Damn, an epiphany!

Hi!

It's enough work to find out the nodal point (where to rotate the camera) for a certain lens (and focal length). How does a dome influence this? Especially with objects close to the camera, this might get important. I think it was hard enogh to shoot the panoramic the guy did in the contest (topic: wrecks) recently. Doing close focus WA panoramic could *really* be a challenge ;-)

Helge ;-)=)