My winning Open Portfolio 2003
by Charles Hood
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![Colin Doeg (right) presents the Open Portfolio Trophy to Charles Hood [Photo: Pete Ladell]](../../Portraits/CharlieHood2003.jpg)
Colin Doeg (right) presents the Open Portfolio
Trophy to Charles Hood [Photo: Pete Ladell]
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Born in 1960 I got the underwater photography bug
in the mid seventies while living and diving in the Middle East. I
started using a 110 film Minolta Weathermatic camera borrowed from my
mother. I then progressed to a Kodak Instamatic 126 in a home made
housing. I think it was only totally waterproof on one dive. When I
returned to the UK in 1979 I finally got qualified with the BSAC at
London University. While working at the Diving shop Ocean Leisure and
Ocean Optics in London I bought a second hand Nikonos III and joined
BSoUP.
Much of the eighties saw me leading expeditions to
far flung places of the world.
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I fondly remember well diving Sipadan when
the maximum the whole Island could take was a mere 12 divers. I then
went on to lead expeditions to the Southern Red Sea (this was when
Hurghada had two diver operators), Galapagos, Maldives, and
California.
The last fifteen years I have concentrated
more on underwater photography winning several domestic and
international competitions. The most recent of which before this
competition was DIVE magazine underwater photographer of the year
2001. Today I work for DIVE magazine and as a freelance journalist
and underwater photographer. I have also just published my first book
- 100 Best Dives in Cornwall.
Two years ago I switched from film to digital
first buying a Nikon Coolpix 5000 in a Subal housing and then a Nikon
D100 in a Sea and Sea housing. As a photojournalist digital is by far
the best medium for underwater photography. You get instant results.
Furthermore the exposure latitude is at least 3 stops. I normally
work in manual exposure mode so having this range takes the risk out
of not getting the shot. Technically I am self taught, apart maybe
from Peter Rowlands' golden rule - f8 at 1/60th second! I have an
affinity for taking images not found in the text books. I even
sometimes deliberately straighten diagonal shots and usually break
the rule of thirds. This often results in getting an image no one
else has. This doesn't always work. I got laughed at, at one BSoUP
meeting when I showed an image of me feeding a fish which included my
finger and the bait in the frame. But the next month I was astounded
when Mike Valentine praised me for a shot of a shrimp sitting on my
strobe. If I have one message for anyone taking underwater pictures,
break the rules, think for yourself and constantly
experiment.
I currently live in Wimbledon with my
warm-water diving wife Sandra, pool-diving 8yr old daughter Samantha
and aspiring camera technician 6yr old son William.
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No 1. Mako Shark - St. John's reef in the
southern Red Sea. This was a pregnant 3m female who we found
illegally caught on a line. We cut her free and tried to revive her
but unfortunately she died. Nikon F100, 16mm full frame fish-eye,
twin YS 60 strobes, manual mode f22 1/15s Fuji Provia.
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No 2. Diver with red sea urchin. Sandra my
wife was handed this urchin by a guide in Hawaii - they definitely
don't have a 'no touch' policy over there. Nikon D100, 16mm full
frame fish-eye, twin YS 60 strobes at 1/2 power, manual mode f11 at
1/60s
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No 3. Hawksbill turtle - southern Red Sea.
This was taken in just 4 metres of water while decompressing. I'm
convinced it thought the dome of my housing was a jellyfish as it
kept trying to bite it. Nikon F100, 16mm full frame fish-eye, twin YS
60 strobes, manual mode f11 1/30s, Fuji Provia.
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No 4. Squirrelfish southern Red Sea. To get
close to these fish you need a long lens. The beauty about a standard
35mm film lens on a digital camera is that the effective focal length is increased. So a 105mm acts like a
158mm this allows you to get close without disturbing the subject.
Nikon D100, 105mm (158mm equivalent) micro, twin YS 60 strobes at
full power, manual mode f11 at 1/125s
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No 5. Cuttlefish in kelp forest. This is in
fact two images, the kelp was taken in California and the cuttlefish
in Cornwall. Kelp - Nikonos 111, 15mm lens natural light f5.6 1/8s
Fuji Provia. Cuttlefish - Nikon D100, 28mm (42mm equivalent), twin YS
60 strobes at full power, manual mode f22 at 1/125s
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No 6. Coral Grouper southern Red Sea. This
grouper was hiding under an over hang and with the long lens I could
capture this close-up without having to get too close. Nikon D100,
105mm (158mm equivalent) micro, twin YS 60 strobes at full power,
manual mode f11 at 1/125s
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BSoUP Open Portfolio
Competition
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