Commercial Photographer first UW housing

[jar546]

OK I have to admit that I started developing film in a darkroom in 1981 and work as a professional photographer that has a commercial studio doing all sorts of photography and has tons of necessary gear.

With that being said, I have dabbled in some UW photography with a little SeaLife but have not done it it a while. I forgot to mention that I still work PT as a scuba instructor too.

Anyway, I could only afford Ikelite and got my first setup as a "keyman" and I am a bit overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I have to put together. I did not want to use my main camera so I opted to buy a housing and accessories for my Nikon D610 that I use a a backup body. I only bought one light, a DS161 but see that I will probably need to buy a 2nd. I have a ton of professional studio equipment in which the costs dwarf the cost of this setup but for some reason I am a little intimidated. I have been unwilling to take my pro bodies in the water for fear of flooding but recently caved after I had to pass on some commercial jobs due to a lack of ability to shoot UW with pro gear.

I am hoping that after a late night tonight going through the manuals and setting up that I will be able to get this into a pool tomorrow for a test run. I have no shortage of models willing to pose in dresses, I just need to practice with this thing. I will have to see how the light works UW compared to my studio strobes and speed lights that I use on occasion.

Just thought I would post this info. Thanks and constructive advice appreciated. I am by no means a novice with the camera and lighting, both natural, ambient and flash, just this particular housing and strobe equipment. I feel like a novice, however.

 

[bvanant]

Think of underwater shooting as shooting in a big wet studio You need cameras and lenses (and a housing/port system to keep them dry) and you need lighting. Most studio guys wouldn't light a portrait with a single light, you would use hair lights, rim lights etc. Underwater it is the same except your light stands are very short and attached to your camera.
Bill

 

[timz]

Torch = assist focus
Strobe 1 = fill in the color
Strobe 2 = fill in the shadow

Simple?

 

[Adan Clinton]

Think of underwater shooting as shooting in a big wet studio You need cameras and lenses (and a housing/port system to keep them dry) and you need lighting. Most studio guys wouldn't light a portrait with a single light, you would use hair lights, rim lights etc. Underwater it is the same except your light stands are very short and attached to your camera.
Bill

+1 Yes ,Bvanant said just what I want to say .Underwater is the same theory,just one point ,you needn't to be nervous.

 

[DavidFL]

I started developing film in 1964; did my first underwater photography with a Nikonos (and a Rollei strobe in an Ikelite strobe housing!) in the early 70s; have never been a pro photographer under or above water though; I'm close to where you are at present...I have a Canon in an Ikelite housing with 2 DS-161s. The same advice you've heard over and over applies here: do your homework (especially about care and feeding of housings) but mostly take lots of underwater shots and try to learn from every one of them. I worry a lot about taking my gear underwater in housings too, but both the housings and my own routines have benefited from improvements and attention. Your OP seems right on track....put it together; test it as much as you can in the pool; particularly figure out which of the Ike housing controls you can actually use while underwater in a horizontal neutral bouyancy position with hands on the tray handles and a finger lightly moving the lever for the shutter.... Somewhere in another thread I can't put my hands on right at the moment someone posted a pie chart of the importance of various gear and other factors to the quality of underwater images....the general consensus which I support is that bouyancy control and comfort in that gear configuration is more than half of the U/W photo quality personal system.