I've been dabbling in Underwater photography again lately (I previously photographed fish and other little creatures in the Oceans when I used to Scuba-dive pre-kids), this time for families.
I've been experimenting with my equipment, first using my Fuji X-100T with a Seafrogs housing and dome (which didn't give me the over-under water shots I wanted due to focusing issues) and an old GoPro Hero 3 that used to be my Mum's. Neither were giving me results I was happy with so for Christmas I asked for a GoPro Hero 8 (thanks to an awesome Black Friday Deal) with a Telesin dome and then just before we left for our trip to Malaysia I bought a Dicapac bag!
I had been umming and ahhing about the Dicapac for a while, some reviews raved about it, others said it was tricky to work with, some said it was good for everything water-related, others warned of issues with leaks destroying their expensive DSLRs. It was a risk and I'm a big believer in "you get what you pay for" when it comes to value for money but at around £50 this was a steal compared to the "proper" DSLR housings I'd also been researching which were going to cost upwards of £1600. (Maybe one day when I'm a famous photographer, haha!)
So, the Dicapac bag. Essentially it is just that, a waterproof zip-lock bag you slide your camera into and hope for the best once rolled up and sealed! I figured it would at least be good for avoiding sand getting into any cracks at the beach and avoiding splashes when I am desperate to hold my big camera over the water at the pool (see here, done without protection, eek!). Of course when it came to it I just couldn't resist having a go at holding it just under the water, which soon became 1-2" down as I gained trust in the bag. I tested it first with nothing inside of course, checked for bubbles and any leaks inside after but all seemed well and I've had a load of fun playing with increased control under the water!
Here are some examples taken with my Nikon D750, Sigma 35mm Art lens and my very patient family in the Yacht Club pool and kiddie's pool here in Port Dickson...
I'm still working on getting skin tones consistent with my underwater edits but I'm SO much happier with these than my previous attempts! You can see my recent GoPro Hero 8 examples here and my previous attempts last summer using my Fuji X-100T here.
Comments