Strobes positionning for sharks ?

Hello everybody,

I would like to spend a couple of days in the bahamas and dive with hammerhead sharks.

In my last dives, i uses only one strobe but i just bought a second one. So, i twill be my first dive with 2 strobes.

The sharks can come very close and i don’t want to « waste » this dive by changing 10 times the strobes position. So, I would like to stay with 2 positions :

1. First part of the dive -> I think this should be a all around position but it would work better if the shark is at about 1m/1m50 (3 to 5 feet)

Flash

Flash

Flash

Flash

Flash

Flash

I think your strobe positioning looks good, but I would loose the Diffusers and switch your strobes to Manual (start with 50%) power rather than TTL. In my experience TTL is not effective for wide angle, you end up with a full dump that accentuates backscatter. Compensate with a higher ISO as needed. The diffusers just reduce the output of your strobes further. Your shutter speed should be metered and adjusted to achieve the background color you are looking for.

I agree with the higher strobe placement, in fact for both setups. If i understand correctly, this is a dive on a white sandy bottom? If you have the strobes too close to the 9 oclock and 3 oclock position you will end up with bright sand in the foreground. By getting the strobes up higher, with both the further away position and the close up position, you will reduce lighting up the sand. Say 11 and 1 sort of thing

Hello.

Thank you very much davehicks and MikeVeitch for your advices.

Yes it is a white sandy bottom dive but the hammerheads can be very close to the bottom.

I have two shorter arms : do you think that it is relevant to add them (mainly for the further away position)?

Thanks again

I agree with the higher strobe placement, in fact for both setups. If i understand correctly, this is a dive on a white sandy bottom? If you have the strobes too close to the 9 oclock and 3 oclock position you will end up with bright sand in the foreground. By getting the strobes up higher, with both the further away position and the close up position, you will reduce lighting up the sand. Say 11 and 1 sort of thing

Yes a higher strobe placement makes sense. Also remember that the human eye is used to light from above/top. This may not work if you want to take a head on shot and want to concentrate on getting the teeth highlighted.

Cheers

Thank you Diggy. You are right. In this case, i would lower the strobes on each side (3 and 9 o clock) and put the housing a little bit upwards : is that correct ?

Thank you Diggy. You are right. In this case, i would lower the strobes on each side (3 and 9 o clock) and put the housing a little bit upwards : is that correct ?

Correct

In his book "The Underwater Photographer" Martin Edge recommends to use Shutter priority ( if avoiding motion blur is important) or Aperture priority (if high depth of filed is important) in a situation you describe - you will probably shoot at different angles, with the sun, with side lighting and against the sun. He says that with fully manual camera settings there is a chance that you miss the one or other shot because you fiddle with your camera.

Just a thought.

Jock