Scuba Diver Australasia + Ocean Planet
Plunging into Blackwater
The latest craze to hit the diving community has to be blackwater photography. However, blackwater photography is not for everyone. It involves diving at night in the open sea, as well as searching for and photographing alien-like planktonic larvae or pelagic adults of strange sea creatures not commonly encountered in our normal recreational diving activities. These pose extreme challenges not only to the underwater photographer’s buoyancy control, but also his equipment’s ability to get focus accurately on a tiny subject, sometimes transparent and also fast moving.
For the purpose of easier focusing, most photographers resort to using a shorter 60mm macro lens for blackwater photography. But with my
Canon EOS-1D X Mark II and Canon EOS 5D Mark IV bodies, both with super fast and accurate autofocus, I don’t find myself at a disadvantage when using the longer Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM as my lens of choice. In fact, when coupled with appropriate diopters underwater, I get a perfect working distance to shoot even tinier subjects, sometimes down to 2mm in size.
During a blackwater dive, you will be moving in midwater, as will your subject, and the current will also be moving both you and your subject – probably at different speeds due to the significant difference in size. It is extremely helpful to set your camera to AI Servo AF. With this setting, your camera will automatically track and continuously readjust focusing distance when you or your subject moves. When a subject is relatively large, I use Single-point AF, or even single-point Spot AF to accurately set focus on its eye. When a subject is tiny, moves erratically, and is extremely difficult to keep within a single focusing point, I choose AF Point Expansion. This setting consists of nine focusing points “fusing together” to become one large single focusing area, making it easier to keep the subject within the now “larger” focusing zone. “But where exactly is the focusing point?” you may ask. For a subject this tiny, your depth-of-field should be sufficient to keep the entire animal in focus.
Depending on the camera model, I set my shutter to the recommended fastest speed to sync with external strobes.
Contrary to popular belief, professional underwater photographers rarely use apertures of f/22 or smaller when shooting. Without doubt, this
setting would produce images of greater depth of field, keeping everything in focus. But we must also understand that being in focus does not equate to total sharpness.
Since it is impossible to make lenses that are uniformly sharp at every aperture, we need to identify the “sweet spot” in the aperture that will produce the highest quality of sharpness in the lenses you use. Both my Canon EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM and Canon EF100mm f/2.8 Macro USM deliver maximum sharpness when shot between f/8 and f/11. I normally shoot at f/11 to achieve the largest depth of field while staying within the lens sweet spot; pushing the aperture to f/16 when photographing with two stacked diopters or when photographing a larger animal; When shooting around f/11, this optimal sharpness will also allow the delicate textures on your subject to show in your final image.
To obtain the best details in a final image on a tiny subject, try shooting at the minimum focusing distance, as it will require less cropping. As easy as that may sound, it is impossible to keep a constant distance between you and your subject in midwater for any period of time.
Should you and your subject drift towards each other, you might end up shooting at less then the lens’ minimum focusing distance, resulting in a blurry image. However, the animal will usually move away after a shot is fired. Shooting with a continuous burst will ensure you get a focused shot if the animal is too close, since it may move in and out of the minimum focusing range erratically. Cephalopods, especially squids, react dramatically to strobe lights.
We can sometimes record their “surprised” reactions through a series of continuous shots in these bursts.
Last but not least, unless you are a research scientist, do not collect the animals so you may photograph them later in the comfort of your room. Do not cause intentional injury to these animals just to slow them down. Do not “fan”them with your palm to send them tumbling away, causing them to stop momentarily when they have lost their direction, as you may have unknowingly ruptured their delicate body parts.
Be a true nature photographer. Choose to shoot naturally. And I am proud to say, with my Canon setup, I can!