Water/Surf Photography
Gear, my experience, Suggestions
Topics covered:
Water housing gear and setting up.
How to avoid droplets and blur on lens port.
Best trick to avoid fog/condense forming into the housing.
My go to settings and how to adapts to action.
Gear
So let’s leave the camera gear for last in this list. It’s really important to feel comfortable and safe in the water first, as boring as it may sound, especially if you’re going to be holding to a heavy camera in more challenging condition (cold weather, waves, etc..)
A good leash is very important, and attach it with a safe knot. I’ve experienced my leash breaking and its not a nice feeling at all. So sort out a safe and comfortable system. This is what I’m using right now:
Depending on the season and weather put your hands on some good neoprene accessories.
Comfortable fins are also very important. In waves best solution are short fins like these:
CAMERA
I currently using a Fuji XT3 for all my work.
Main reasons I like using this camera in the water:
4K -10bit video so I can also grab great frames from video.
1080p 120fps super slowmo.
Film Simulations are great to stay inspired and motivated cause photos already look great while shooting, I also use black and white straight in camera a lot, helps me to keep things clean and minimal so I can focus on exposure and composition.
Many direct dials so I can avoid starring in the camera menu while in the water.
Things I don’t like like:
Batteries don’t last long, not the best especially when you have your camera locked in the housing in the water. I try to keep it off when I’m not using it and be aware that 4K video drains if pretty fast.
All the dials on the camera can sometimes bring some disadvantages cause I can’t access certain settings that don’t have any dials connections on the waterhousing.
LENSES
I’m personally a big fan of prime lenses. Up to this day I’ve been shooting in the water with a variety of lenses: 16-50mm kit, 30mm f1.4, 12mm f2, 16mm 1.4, 23mm f.14. Right now I’m really enjoying the 23mm 1.4, it’s just so versatile while still maintaining a lot of character. It’s wide but not too wide, very fast and I can just be sure that if I get in the water with that I’ll feel pretty confident. From daylight to sunset, close ups or establishing shots it just feels right to me. Obviously it needs some effort on your side, but I’m optimist in the reward. That’s key for me. Like all prime lenses it makes you move around a little but its worth it, at least that’s my opinion. Love this focal length, it would definitely be my “desert island” lens. I usually set it to 2.8 and keep it there. If I feel stupid enough I’ll set it around f2, just cause I like when lenses are open. It’s not about making it faster but more about brining out that character in the lens that usually really pops up lowering the aperture. I sometimes shoot between f5.6 and f8 if I can’t afford fucking up the focus for some high action kitesurfing, maybe a rider flying above me, but that would be the only case I would play if safer.
It’s a very personal choice and everybody goes though changes so try out what you think can be interesting to you but prime lenses are real teachers and the 23mm definitely has some great lessons to teach.
WATERHOUSING
I’ve always been using Sea Frogs products so I really can’t compare to other brands but my experience up to now is great. They’re a little lighter then many competitors due to the plastic construction but this doesn’t make them feel cheap and from what I can see online Sea Frogs housings, compared to other brands, always give a lot of control with dials on your camera without the need to spend thousands of euro/dollars. On the other side this could obviously be a weak spot for leaks but there are definitely many advantages. I’ve also reached out to them via email a few times and they replied with all the info I needed and more very rapidly.
WAtCH Setting up video
Main steps:
Setting up you camera in the housing. Patience is key, you’re probably stoked and can’t wait to get in the water especially when waves are firing, but that’s exactly when you can't afford getting in and out of the water to correct mistakes loosing precious time and energy.
It’s definitely like a sport so energy is very important, conditions are often challenging and easy days are also a little tiring spending many hours in the sea. So take your time, double check everything, but most importantly you won’t need to double check and be slow in the setup process if you find a good system and stick to that.
Before getting in the water, and I mean once you put your first foot in the sea check again, try shooting random shots, test autofocus and main dials.
Here’s my procedure, maybe it can be a good starting point for you.
1) Before I even think about my wetsuit or stuff I stay comfortable in my clothes while setting up the camera in the housing. I just insert the camera in the slot and close the housing for now.
2) Put my wetsuit on and sort out my clothes and stuff so then I can focus on the water housing again before locking the car and heading to the sea.
3) So I go back to the housing and do the candle wax thing on the front port and then the car AC (I’ll talk about these techniques in a moment) and lock it up again.
4) While I walk to the sea I check stuff on the camera and keep checking until the very last moment. For checking I just mean take a few shots, try the autofocus, set up exposure so I’m also testing my main dials at the same time. And remember to format the SD card !!!!!
Candel Wax to avoid droplets and blur
*This technique applies to flat ports, dome ports require a different procedure.
Always keep some cheap plain white candles in your bag. So before applying the candle I highly reccomend to always clean the inside and outside of the port, mostly the outiside. Use a soft cloth for sunglasses or something like that to really clean the glass, really work on that outside part before every session. I always make it completely clean. Now you’ll just need another soft cloth or towel ( make sure its not sandy or not soft enough for wiping the port, I always use fresh one). Apply some candles wax like I do in the video and then softly wipe so it will spread evenly and almost be invisible. Done, you’re good to go. Say goodbye to droplets sticking to your glass.
Really important:
Always clean the front port really well before applying candle wax and use a fresh and super clean soft cloth/towel to spread it on the port. If you don’t have a clean one just avoid this procedure cause you’ll make a mess and have droplets sticking everywhere in the water. Just clean the front port as much as you can, that will be good starting point anyway.
Dry air from car air conditioning to avoid fog/condense
This is the final solution for fog. Game changing for sure. Something could still go wrong due to so many natural factors but I’ve had a really high success rate with this technique.
Prepare your camera in the housing, wax the front port and get all dressed. Just before heading to the water lock your self in the car, preferably no air from outside getting in the car and turn on engine, open AC ( I use cold air ) and boost it at maximum speed. Wait a minute more or less so the overall car environment starts to dry out, now open the housing and face it directly so the air will get into it. Keep it for 60 seconds at least. Close the housing, Turn everything off and you’re now ready for your session. If something happens and you have to open up the housing again, maybe you remember about a setting you need to change ( happens to me very often ), just repeat the procedure before closing again.
What could go wrong and other tips.
well its also important to keep the waterhousing clean inside and also clean the sealing often so sand or dust could make some sort of humidity get into the housing. Keep camera dry and just try to understand that humidity and dust at this point is the only other thing you can control. I would also suggest to avoid keeping the housing facing straight towards the sun when in the water, especially when there’s a big temperature difference between the water and the air. So overall also try avoiding temperature changes.
So after all these layed out and organized information remember. It’s not easy, I often mess up or get confused. Surroundings change, weather conditions change and new gear can mess you up. There are so many factors in this game, so first of all calm down, don’t overload yourself with expectations. This is only a bunch of text that you can digest and hopefully use to your advantage but reality is pretty damn different. Don’t think about this article while doing your thing. There’s a moment for new info and creating a framework for your to act in and then there must be a moment be intuitive without thinking and judging yourself to much.
Cheers !!!
Contact me directly for any questions, more then happy to get in touch. Cheers !!