"I
am particularly pleased to be the joint winner, with Sam,
of the Best of British Portfolio as it means I am currently
the holder of all of BSoUP's Portfolio trophies (not including
the Beginners
Portfolio, for which I am ineligible). Sam's portfolio is
all warm colours and macro and mine is all all cool colours
and wide angle - I think together they give a real taste of
the variety of underwater
photography that is possible in the UK.
"All
of my photos were taken while snorkelling in Dorset on a couple
of mornings in August. The images feature my friends Jo and
Anna who were modelling for me. All the pictures were all
taken in ambient
light only, using a Nikon D2x in a Subal housing with a Nikon
10.5mm fisheye lens.
1)
Nikon D2x + 10.5mm. 1/125th @ f7.1. This shot was taken in the
lee of the rocks that encircle Man-O-War Bay, where I knew the
water would be calm enough to create a good split level shot.
Then I hunted around to find a light coloured rock for the foreground
to get a more balanced exposure above and below the surface.
2)
Nikon D2x + 10.5mm. 1/750th @ f8. This second image was taken
to demonstrate how well digital cameras can do with sunbursts.
To create the angelic look - I wanted a more monochrome images
and so I desaturated the colours by about 80% so it looks almost
black and white. I also asked the model to take off her weight
belt so that you could see the shape of her hips, which I think
really helps this
silhouette. This image was also taken in the calm waters of
Man-O-War Bay.
3)
Nikon D2x + 10.5mm. 1/40th @ f7.1. For this shot of the girls
exploring the rocks around Durdle Door, I selected a downward
camera angle to ensure that the availble light produced an even
illumination on the scene.
4)
Nikon D2x + 10.5mm. 1/1500th @ f5.6. This image came about through
necessity rather than planning. The Viz in Kimmerage was less
than 5ft (in fact when we got in I could not see then end of
my arm). The only way I could get any images at all was to shoot
the most contrasty scene I could find - a simple silhouette
of the girls in front of the sun.
5)
Nikon D2x + 10.5mm. 1/30th @ f8. This shot is a simple one of
a snorkeller exploring the seaweeds in Man-O-War Bay. To ensure
even illumination I positioned myself with the sun behind me
so it
illuminated the scene. Given that the BSoUP audience only gets
to view each portfolio for about 10 seconds simple images are
well suited to portfolios.
6)
Nikon D2x + 10.5mm. 1/350th @ f5.6. The final image, of the
snorkeller surfacing beneath Durdle Door, was one I had in
my mind, but did not think I would be able to execute. This
was the last shot
taken in this series as we had waited (getting colder and
colder in our wetsuits) until later in the day to ensure that
the sun was shining directly on the arch. I took about 40
shots of this set-up to
get this final result - with most attempts ruined by the open
sea slopping to wrong position on my domeport to create a
pleasing split shot.
