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Alex
Mustard kicked off the New Year by christening the new BSoUP
digital projector and BSoUP's first digital evening with an
overview discussing the digital camera equipment available
to underwater photographers. Tackling the digital vs film
debate, Alex spoke mainly about how the two approaches differ
when shooting in the water. He went on to highlight the comparisons
between shooting macro, portrait, fish and wide-angle and
included the problems (or not) and considerations in lighting
digital and film images. Finally Alex tried to persuade the
audience to "think digitally" - to understand the
capabilities of digital cameras, particularly where they exceed
those of film cameras - and to exploit these to create types
of underwater images that have never been possible before.
Canada
by John De Boeck
I'd
never really considered Vancouver as a dive destination. But
as I sat and listened to John be Boeck and his anecdotes of
incredible diving in some of the high-energy sites surrounding
his 'Browning Pass Hideaway', my ignorance of the location
and the diving potential was shamefully evident. John is passionate
about his business and its attractions. Indeed, the venue
boasts 'the best diving in the known Universe'. I don't know
who makes such a claim but it certainly has some substance.
The Gordon Islands of Queen Charlotte Strait clock up 13,000
miles of beautiful coastline and beneath the waves it trumpets
'outstanding examples of rich underwater and inter tidal life',
including plumose anemones, soft corals, nudibranch, and wolf
eel to name a few - all of monumental size. The macro opportunities
are many with an abundance of yellows, reds and oranges. And
if you're wondering about wide-angle, you could be graced
by the presence of one of the frequent visitors - orcas; Humpback,
Minke and Grey whale, Dall's porpoise; Pacific white-sided
dolphins; Stellar sea lions and harbour seals!
If
this little plug hasn't yet wet your appetite, consider your
time above water wandering through an idyllic landscape, fitting
enough to feature in a Mark Twain novel with gorgeous rocky
coast fringed with lush pine forest where bald eagle soar
and dolphins and porpoise breach out in the Strait Consider
too, after a hard days diving and wildlife watching, sitting
before a hearty meal (a speciality of the Hideaway), supping
fine wine and drinking in the scenery - ancient forest, incredible
bird Iife and the occasional whale surfacing at the end of
the jetty, just as dusk falls and slumber sets in! If you
don't make the trip in reality, visit it virtually. You'll
be glad you did! www.clavella.com
or email info@clavella.com.
Focus
on Abstracts
The
'focus on' competition enticed 30 entrants out of their post?Christmas
moods with a large variety of images. The topic was 'Abstract',
and the competition was held in 35mm slide format but digital
will be coming soon to a BSoUP meeting near you (or maybe
not that near, but when it is digital you can easily enter
remotely).
Most,
but by no means all of the shots were macro, close focus and
filling the frame. The results were a runaway success for
our Treasurer Martha Tressler and no, it was not a fix!! Results
as follows:
1st
Martha Tressler - 84 points
2nd Robert Kemp - 40 points
3rd Bob Allen - 33 points
4th Jane Morgan - 24 points
5th Jane Morgan - 21 points
6th= Bob Allen - 19 points
6th=Len beeley - 19 points
A
successful year in Digital Photography by Alan James
Alan
James is an extremely enthusiastic convert to digital photography
after successfully shooting with conventional film. Last year,
he bagged more than 20,000 images underwater.
'When I used film, for example Kodak 64, I used to post it
off, wait a week to 10 days until it was returned to me. Then,
when I did get it back, many shots went straight into the
bin! This does not happen now I am on digital. I have access
to immediate review as soon as I have pressed the shutter.
I would have killed for this facility over the last 20 years!
I just carry on until I get the exact shot I was aiming for,
it has cost me nothing to do so and I can move on to the next
shot knowing I have the one I want in the bag. For lighting,
I use 2 x 90DX f lash guns with 12 power settings. I don't
really need TTL because if I take a shot that is not quite
right I can immediately review it, change the output flash
setting accordingly and snap again, and again, until I am
happy. I am delighted at my successes in both national and
international events using digital over the last year, I have
netted 11 gold, silver and bronze medals & trophies and
my basking shark shot is in the Dive Magazine year planner,
Diver Magazine and a BBC book. Also at the Image 2003 festival
digital versus film came out very well indeed'.
Alan
runs an underwater camera shop in Bristol. Before he purchased
his Nikon D100 and digital housing in 2002 he did not stock
one digital camera in the whole shop. Now, he does not have
a single new film camera to sell! In 'clearing the clutter',
he counted 69 film cameras with various problems from which
he could have made 1 or 2 functioning units. He threw them
alI away.
The strongest message Alan conveyed to express his complete
conviction about the future of digital is the absolute belief
that since using digital, his work and images have improved
at least 50% after 20 years of working on film.
Digital
photography by Charles Hood
I remember Charles Hood telling me some time ago, 'conventional
photography in photojournalism is dead, I understood the proclamation
but what I didn't realise was just how quickly and how dramatically
digital photography would take hold and with such huge success.
It's so user friendly and the reality of any drawbacks are
likely only to be apparent in the printing! The benefits of
digital are all too apparent, the versatility of such an incredible
tool all too obvious. Nonetheless, what is clear (to me at
least) is that you shouldn't be intimidated by digital. If
anything, your life will be made a whole deal easier, after
initial outlay a good bit cheaper, and once you've got to
grips with it your success rate will increase at an incredible
rate!
It's
common sense: research the market for your particular camera
and carefully explore the options; experiment with your purchase,
learn the particulars and shoot, shoot, shoot! But don't expect
superb results instantly. Be prepared for I milky or flat
mages, but play around with the white balance and you're on
the road to achieving outstanding images. Consider too that
you'll need the help of Photoshop. You'll need to learn this
programme for maximum results. Charles will tell you,'take
your photo and then your work starts'(talk to Alan James and
he'll tell you otherwise!) However you approach digital, the
rewards will be great - as will your time spent bouncing around
Photoshop. It's all there, all you have to do is learn it
and understand how it can best enhance your work.
But
before you make the jump, and whatever the reason for it,
consider this - I once heard David Doubilet (a man using conventional
photography) speak on the subject of digital - 'We can't shoot
digital at National Geographic'. How do you know what the
truth is? How indeed!!
Reproduced
from in focus 78 (Spring
2004)
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