Come and Learn About Underwater Camera Equipment And Winning Underwater Photography Techniques
Mike’s Dive Store is the only official INON UK Underwater Photography Academy and INON
UK underwater camera retailer in London. Mike’s Dive Store already
has two experienced underwater photographers on the staff. Christian
Deakin is an INON UK Level One underwater photography instructor and Joe T
Bourne is also an accomplished underwater image-maker. Mike’s
has long specialised in underwater camera equipment. In the run up to Christmas
Mike’s Dive Store will have a special open day where you can learn from INON UK
experts about choosing and using underwater cameras and accessories to help you
get batter pictures you can be proud of.
On Saturday December 7th Mike’s will have in - store presentations from INON UK’s founders
Lisa Collins and Steve Warren. There will also be lots of INON underwater camera equipment to
look at from strobes to video lights to lenses and stacks of accessories. Along
with specialist one to one advice across the counters from Lisa and Steve and
some very special promotional deals, there are also talks to help explain the
ins and outs of choosing underwater camera equipment that will be especially
helpful if you are new to underwater photography.
The
three talks are about selecting underwater strobes and video lights, choosing
lenses and winning composition skills.
Selecting Underwater Strobes and Video Lights
For
many types of underwater photography using additional lighting is a must. It’s
used to light up subjects at night, in caverns and wrecks or under overhangs.
It is used creatively to emphasise textures or add points of interest. And,
most of all, it is used to put vibrant colours back into your underwater
pictures. But there are so many underwater strobes to choose from with lots of
often confusing features, making a choice can seem very complicated. Which
features and benefits are going to be important to you? Would you be better off
with a video light instead? How do you even aim it properly to prevent
backscatter? Do you actually need two lights?
Steve
Warren is both a stills photographer and sometime professional cameraman. Just
back from lighting a complicated night sequence for TV, he can explain the
desirable features to look for in strobes and video lights and give you the
knowledge to make informed choices about which lighting is best for you.
Choosing Lenses
The
wealth of subjects we see underwater range from the largest whales to the
tiniest crustaceans. Visibility may stretch to over 60m, but can be barely
centimetres. It is asking a lot – too much in fact – for any camera
to capture all that we experience on our dives and would wish to share with
others. The solution is to choose accessory lenses that best match our subjects
and likely visibility. Compact camera users and some mirrorless camera owners
enjoy the huge benefits of being able to use wet lenses – like INON’s range –
which can be changed underwater. This lets you react to whatever you see and be
opportunistic and provides the flexibility to photograph a wreck vista one
moment and a frame filling photograph of a tiny nudibranch on its deck seconds later.
In
this talk, Steve will explain the roles different lenses play for different
types of subjects. He’ll also cut through some of the jargon and misinformation
that surrounds this subject and leads people to make expensive buying mistakes,
which lead to disappointing images.
Winning Compositions
Owning
the best equipment and diving the best photo destinations won’t help you make
great pictures if you don’t follow a few simple rules of composition. Learning
to see a picture is a skill anyone can acquire. But, for underwater
photographers, this is the subject many underwater photography instructors
avoid! So it is hard to learn this essential skills set from others. For Lisa
Collins, shooting winning compositions is all part of her job. As a photo –
journalist shooting main features for Diver Magazine she has to be
able to arrive at a destination she’s never been to before and shoot images
that not only reveal the signature species and locations of that location, but
look great to.
Come along on Sat the 7th of Dec to answer all those questions you have been accumulating over the years! And maybe even to buy something either for your buddy or perhaps an early Christmas present for yourself!!
