As usual, Scott was well-prepared and organized. He knew what he wanted to get across, and he had a nice (but not overly busy) Powerpoint presentation to help illustrate it. We spent the morning on the theory of strobes and how they interface with aperture, shutter speed and ISO in the camera to shape the photograph. Then we went diving, and spent a half hour taking macro photographs of the same two or three subjects, varying one thing at a time, to see how the photos would change. Scott had encouraged us to move the strobes around and play with lighting angle and source, and to try to be creative. I played around with trying to use my HID to balance my single strobe, and some of the photos showed promise.
We would have stayed longer, but the dive was snake bitten, with one housing flooded, one dry suit flooded, and one camera defaulting to error messages. I was very proud, after recent mishaps, that I had checked out my camera equipment well enough that it all functioned as requested through the entire day. My learning curve is shallow but not entirely flat.
Out of the water, to talk about the results and eat altogether too much rich, spicy Marination food for lunch. I am here to tell you that the Kimchi sausages taste wonderful, the first time you eat them. After that, not so much . . .
The second lecture session was on wide-angle photography. This fascinated me, because I haven't tried much of it. I have thought of WA as being something for tropical water, and for the occasional 70 foot viz day here, but Scott showed us that, although you need a fairly good day, WA is quite possible in Puget Sound. He talked about strategies for balancing exposure and for composing WA shots, and after the talk, the two of us who remained whole and sound got back in the water with Scott, who was diving a soaking wet undergarment (talk about a dedicated instructor) to see what we could do with wide angle at Cove 2, after all the classes were done, and the sun was getting low in the sky.
I was truly amazed at what we did. All three of us shot, taking turns taking pictures and posing. At the debrief, it was fascinating to see how each of us saw the same structures and animals and models differently, and how we used the equipment we had to record them. My kit lens and flat port and single strobe gave me some frustrating limitations, but even with those, I got some photos I'm not ashamed of -- and best of all, I know how to make them better.
Again, it was just an absolutely fun way to spend a day in and out of the water. From the coconut muffin for breakfast, through the theory and the dives and the debriefs, I was learning and practicing in a fabulously playful and productive way. Thank you to Michael Thomas and to Keith Boll for being my buddies, and to Scott, for staying the course and doing a cold, wet dive with us to finish off the afternoon.
A couple of photos -- they aren't perfect; they weren't expected to be. We were learning.
Playing with the HID versus the strobe. Metridiums fascinate me, and I have yet to get a photo of one with which I am satisfied.
Trying a diver photo with the ochre stars as a colorful foreground.
Our dedicated instructor, shivering as subtly as possible, as I insist on taking a few last photos against the mint-green "sky".
Edited to add that these photographs are minimally processed -- cropped, and the blacks heightened a little, and a little sharpening.
