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BSoUP's Theme Portfolio Competition 2006
Fifth - Annette Price
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1st
Alex Mustard
2nd Jane Morgan
3rd Anthony Holley
4th Pedro Vieyra
5th Annette Price
6th Martha Tressler |
Commercial
divers by Annette Price
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Commercial
diving course at Fort William in Scotland
by
Annette Price
Having
worked as a freelance photographer for a number of years,
specialising in top-side marine environments, I decided it
was time to take my photography underwater and learned to
dive with a local BSAC club. My application for a Scholarship
from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust was successful
and I did an HSE Scuba (part 4) course at Fort William in
Scotland. This qualification is a legal requirement for anyone
working underwater using scuba. Attending the HSE course was
inspired by photographer Chris Morris during his BSoUP talk
in October 2004.
The
photographs in this portfolio were taken during the HSE course
in August 2005 using a Nikons V film camera, 20mm lens and
an SB 105 flash. |
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1.
After completing the course I was invited to do a couple of
surface supplied dives and was kitted up in a Kirby Morgan 17
helmet and surface supplied equipment. On land the KM 17 helmet
seemed to weigh a tonne, but once underwater it was very comfortable.
Student diver Conrad Wesley and myself walked over to the welding
station and using ultrathermic cutting equipment, Conrad cut
a slice from a chunk of metal in a shower of bright sparks.
The cutting tool is fed with pure oxygen and burns at 10,000°
F This photograph was taken with natural light at 1/30th second
at f/3.5 |
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2.
During the course we learned how to use lifting bags. Here we
were moving a large ladder down a hill from six to twenty meters
and back up the hill again. This was the most difficult picture
to get in this portfolio because the visibility so very poor,
silt being kicked up by three divers walking along the bottom,
moving the ladder. At times the ladder was five or six feet
off the ground and I had to be very careful not to get underneath
it in case it fell and I got squashed, looking through a 20
mm wide angle lens it was very easy to get tempted into getting
too close.
I had a flash with me but used natural light as I wanted to
capture to
atmosphere created by the available light. 1/30th second at
f/3.5 |
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3.
This is 'Junior' the youngest member on the course at a depth
of thirty meters climbing into the diving bell. This shot
was lit by flash approx f/8 at 1/60th second. On the left
the silvery underside of an air pocket in the diving bell
can be seen.
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4.
Returning from a 30 meter dive to the diving bell, which was
still on the sea bed, John Williamson holds onto one of the
bell's winch lines for a three minute safety stop at ten feet.
The shackle was used as a lazy shot and was raised slowly to
the surface for us to follow at the end of the dive. I set the
camera manually to ensure that colour would be recorded in the
background and used flash to light John. 1/30 @ f/5.6 |
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5.
This is the diving bell at 30 meters. We had descended through
a moon pool in a barge and followed the winch lines down to
the bell. Here we sawed through scaffolding poles and tied knots
in short pieces of rope to show that we could work effectively
under pressure. Visibility was very poor. I held the flash in
one hand and the camera in the other, which made climbing down
the side of the bell quite difficult and at one point I fell
off and landed in the silt on my back. Once I had regained my
composure I held the flash above my head and took this photograph
of the bell. 1/60 @ f3.5 |
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6.
Another shot of Conrad Wesley cutting through metal. I moved
around Conrad shooting from different directions trying to
get close to the action, sometimes using flash and other times
just available light. I felt that the available light images
best conveyed the atmosphere and drama of the scene. We were
at a depth of only six meters so there was plenty of natural
light as well as that created by the burning oxygen. 1/30
@ f3.5
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| BSoUP
THEME PORTFOLIO COMPETITION |
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