8th April
Tenby & District Camera Club took a dive into the deep with Cate Barrow’s “Underwater Photography from around the World” Cate is a director of an Environmental consultancy and lives near Cardiff. She has enjoyed Scuba Diving for 20 years and has specialised in underwater photography.
Starting with all the challenges faced by this genre of photography Cate explained how the approach is different to land photography. Safety both from diving and the wildlife is paramount .
There are so many things to be considered from dive depths, currents, buoyancy control, light and the care of the environment, Information on her Nikon equipment with the protective housing and all the gadgets required to sustain a photoshoot. Not possible to change a lens or card in the depths ! Fish enjoy feeding around active water with fast currents but that makes photography more difficult and tests the diving skills .
The effects of camera settings and artificial lighting were shown, giving the impression of a night time shot. Strobe lights bring the colours to life and there were certainly some amazing colours. Then there is trying to get as close to the subject as possible without any personal danger or to disturb the subject. Natural light is possible in shallower waters where the suns rays delve into the water with lovely effects.
Cate admitted the diving in the UK is very good, albeit with cold and sometimes rough waters, with poor visibility . The coasts in Pembrokeshire, especially around Skomer, Devon & Cornwall all having good diving locations.
Cate showed the large amount of equipment needed when going diving abroad, your luggage allowance certainly is maxed out. There were other problems too, like sea sickness, sunburn and cramped boat space. This becomes unimportant once the undersea world is encountered .
Cate took us around the world to see some of the best diving sites for wildlife. Over 200 images of a huge diversity of sea life enthralled us. Beginning with Fiji , there were bull sharks and pipe fish then to New Zealand’s Poor Knight’s Islands with cold water diving, wonderful cave systems and Captain Cook’s Scorpion Fish. Moving swiftly into Australia with several areas visited, the creatures impressed us with their adaption to their environment. The Leafy Sea Dragon blending into the plant life so cleverly . Cute Sea Horses and the highly venomous Blue ringed Octopus, frog fish and Nurse Sharks all captured beautifully for us to marvel at . Indonesia was next with turtles and Pygmy Seahorses moving to The Maldives and it’s astounding range of life . Moray eels, Guitar Shark ( yes really! ), shoals of sweet lips and long finned bat fish . Shoals are difficult to photograph but Cate has acquired the technique of swimming backward so the fish are facing her, managing to get a pleasing composition . Raja Ampat, Papua New Guinea, is one of the holy grail diving sites pure and seemingly untouched. We then experienced Cate’s encounters with Great White Sharks in Guadalupe off the Mexican Coast. Fed with tuna these imposing sharks were stunningly caught in camera . The Bahamas gave us even more sharks, hammerhead, lemon and tiger . All imposing and dramatic.
Through her Photography Cate took us on a captivating and vivid journey, viewing wildlife tiny and gigantic in the vast undersea world. A breathtaking opportunity to see a hidden world for the majority of us. An excellent & knowledgeable speaker
Thank you Cate for an entertaining evening, Charlie Kidd for hosting Zoom, John Whitehurst for the zoom links and to Ali Rees for organising the evening .
Next week, on the 15th April, it is the judging of the 3rd Open Competition and also the hand in for the Creative Competition .
Starting with all the challenges faced by this genre of photography Cate explained how the approach is different to land photography. Safety both from diving and the wildlife is paramount .
There are so many things to be considered from dive depths, currents, buoyancy control, light and the care of the environment, Information on her Nikon equipment with the protective housing and all the gadgets required to sustain a photoshoot. Not possible to change a lens or card in the depths ! Fish enjoy feeding around active water with fast currents but that makes photography more difficult and tests the diving skills .
The effects of camera settings and artificial lighting were shown, giving the impression of a night time shot. Strobe lights bring the colours to life and there were certainly some amazing colours. Then there is trying to get as close to the subject as possible without any personal danger or to disturb the subject. Natural light is possible in shallower waters where the suns rays delve into the water with lovely effects.
Cate admitted the diving in the UK is very good, albeit with cold and sometimes rough waters, with poor visibility . The coasts in Pembrokeshire, especially around Skomer, Devon & Cornwall all having good diving locations.
Cate showed the large amount of equipment needed when going diving abroad, your luggage allowance certainly is maxed out. There were other problems too, like sea sickness, sunburn and cramped boat space. This becomes unimportant once the undersea world is encountered .
Cate took us around the world to see some of the best diving sites for wildlife. Over 200 images of a huge diversity of sea life enthralled us. Beginning with Fiji , there were bull sharks and pipe fish then to New Zealand’s Poor Knight’s Islands with cold water diving, wonderful cave systems and Captain Cook’s Scorpion Fish. Moving swiftly into Australia with several areas visited, the creatures impressed us with their adaption to their environment. The Leafy Sea Dragon blending into the plant life so cleverly . Cute Sea Horses and the highly venomous Blue ringed Octopus, frog fish and Nurse Sharks all captured beautifully for us to marvel at . Indonesia was next with turtles and Pygmy Seahorses moving to The Maldives and it’s astounding range of life . Moray eels, Guitar Shark ( yes really! ), shoals of sweet lips and long finned bat fish . Shoals are difficult to photograph but Cate has acquired the technique of swimming backward so the fish are facing her, managing to get a pleasing composition . Raja Ampat, Papua New Guinea, is one of the holy grail diving sites pure and seemingly untouched. We then experienced Cate’s encounters with Great White Sharks in Guadalupe off the Mexican Coast. Fed with tuna these imposing sharks were stunningly caught in camera . The Bahamas gave us even more sharks, hammerhead, lemon and tiger . All imposing and dramatic.
Through her Photography Cate took us on a captivating and vivid journey, viewing wildlife tiny and gigantic in the vast undersea world. A breathtaking opportunity to see a hidden world for the majority of us. An excellent & knowledgeable speaker
Thank you Cate for an entertaining evening, Charlie Kidd for hosting Zoom, John Whitehurst for the zoom links and to Ali Rees for organising the evening .
Next week, on the 15th April, it is the judging of the 3rd Open Competition and also the hand in for the Creative Competition .