MARIA MUNN'S COLUMN: Capturing the Bigger Picture

Firstly, many, many apologies to anyone who was hoping to catch me at the Scubapro Day in Cornwall this past weekend; vehicles breakdown sometimes at the worst possible moment and then my phone all at the same time. Many thanks to Neil Stead for helping to rescue me on the M606! If you have any questions then please give me a call or drop me an email - I’ll be heading back there in the next week or so, so if you’d like to meet and go for a dive then just get in touch.

So, this week we are going to look at capturing those moments when you really need to get everything in front of you in the frame. What I’ve always loved about compact cameras is the ability to change lenses underwater by using what is called a ‘wet lens’. The really important thing - which I’ve said before, and please forgive me for saying it again - is to make sure that you can fit a wide angle lens on the front of your camera’s housing at the time you purchase a new set-up and make sure that the field-of-view is wide enough to capture your favourite subjects. If your passion is wrecks, caves, whale sharks or reef scenes, then a wide angle lens is a must.

Raja Ampat cave scene taken using a fisheye lens

Some lenses simply increase your own camera’s field-of-view, giving you somewhere between 60-80 degrees. This is really helpful for taking pictures of your buddy underwater and keeping both their legs and arms in the frame! Also by being much closer to your subject, you will have far less water between your camera and the subject, and therefore your subject will also be much sharper. Sealife, Sea & Sea, Fuji and Intova have their own lenses which simply push onto the front of your camera’s housing. Just pop along to your local dive shop and have a look and get some extra advice.

INON make two different mount bases, either bayonet or screw thread ones which will fit the majority of other compact camera housings such as Sony, Panasonic, Ikelite, Canon or Olympus. These give about 100 degrees and with the newer lenses, a dome can be fitted on top to give 150 degrees. Older style cameras which are 35mm at their widest can take INON’s Fisheye Lens, the ultimate compact camera wide angle lens offering a whopping 165 degrees. Many guests ask if they really need such a wide field of view, but to capture those ultimate reef scene shots with divers, supersized shoaling fish shots or simply getting creative, the answer is a definite ‘yes’ to give your underwater photograph that wow factor.

There are however, times when I’ve found a fisheye can be quite wide and certainly for my Basking Shark and Humpback Whale shots, I’ve found that a standard wide angle lens giving between 80 to 100 degrees worked very well too.

Using a wider angle lens can really help to enhance shots taken using natural light. In the above shot of the cave scene, I was shooting with a fisheye lens to help capture these dramatic light rays. Schooling fish also look far more dramatic when using one. Brian Woolterton took the below shot of an Emperor Angelfish with a Canon Ixus 75, wide angle lens and Epoque 230-DS strobe on his first dive using this set-up. It really is an incredible photograph considering that the camera has very limited control. I’d been chasing this shot all week and couldn’t get anywhere as close as Brian.

Emperor Angelfish taken with Canon Ixus 75, wide angle lens and Epoque 230-DS strobe

Golden Rules: Patience and Get Close are every wide angle photographer’s mantra. More techniques on both wide angle and fisheye lens will be coming soon!

Have a lovely weekend and let’s hope that the sunshine continues. Hope to see you soon and don’t forget to drop me a line at maria@oceanvisions.co.uk if there is something specific that you need help with.

For more information on compact cameras and techniques, don’t forget to grab a copy of Maria’s award-winning book “Underwater Photography for Compact Camera Users”, join her on one of her free demo days in London and Leeds, or treat your compact to a fabulous day of learning in a fun and relaxed style in tropical 32 degree indoor pools. Visit www.oceanvisions.co.uk for more information.

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