Did you see a shark? - underwater photography

Beverly Schultz

Did You See a Shark?

For many years I have enjoyed photography both as a hobby and as a profession; but nothing has given me more pleasure than adding underwater photography to my life.

When my late husband gave me a Nikonos II underwater camera, the first thing I did was to take it to the beach. With all the old taboos of a photographic lifetime clutching at me (don't get your camera wet; watch out for the sand) I waded out into the surf. You would have laughed to see me holding my camera high above my head as I walked in waist deep.

Although the resulting pictures were fun to look at, I knew the pictures I really wanted were far beneath the surface. I enrolled in a scuba class at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond and stuck it out to the very end.

My next step was to enroll in an underwater photography course given by Jim and Cathy Church in Grand Cayman Island, British West Indies. One week turned into two weeks because I had Discovered another world, one which continues to call me.

Jim introduced us to the workings of the Nikonos II camera. He showed us how to grease and replace the O rings which form the tight seal around the camera body and the lens. The O rings prevent flooding. There's that dread word. We talked about flooding. Can you imagine opening the back of your camera to find it all wet inside? Water is no better for the insides of an underwater camera than it is for a topside camera.

We learned with prompt attention and first aid, consisting of pouring alcohol into a flooded camera and then drying it completely, most of the time the camera could be saved. Of course it should then be sent to the repair shop. today, with the advent of the automatic electronic camera, such as the Nikonos IV and V, flooding could be disastrous. At the same time we were working with non-electronic cameras, the Nikonos II, and III. After checking the O rings we also checked the shutter speed, lens focus, light meter accuracy and strobe output.

One of the points stressed the most in underwater diving is safety. For that reason, from the very first day of scuba training, we were assigned a buddy when we went diving. This buddy is a classmate who learns all the procedures at the same time you do. Your buddy can help you if you get entangled in a fishing line, as I have, or can help you with your camera and help you find subjects to photograph. Most importantly your buddy can save your life.

Let's say you are diving and your air regulator stops working, you can't breathe, what do you do? It is situations like this that a buddy is most important. We learned the "buddy breathing" method, meaning only one regulator can be used and you must share the regulator. You take two or three breaths, then pass the regulator to your buddy and they take two or three breaths. This is a very important technique to learn and could save your life.

Our day began at 7 a.m. with critiques of the previous day's shooting, our film having been developed for us the previous night. to see the results of our shooting so quickly,along with Cathy's helpful comments, resulted in a more satisfying experience and some good photos as well. Cathy made suggestions for better composition, exposure, posing our buddy and strobe placement. After breakfast we met at the dive shack to assemble gear and board the dive boat for our destination. The first thing that amused me was the sight of all those underwater photographers wading out to the boat holding their cameras high to protect them from the water.

During the quick ride to the dive site, we busied ourselves suiting up. I thought it strange they had suggested wearing long pants and long sleeves underwater (or a light wet suit) when the water was so warm. But the clothing is necessary to protect the body not only from abrasion from the coral, but also to prevent the loss of body heat. It may seem strange to non-divers to wear a suit underwater, especially when the Caribbean is so warm. But I have never been so chilled as the time I spent an hour and a half at only 10 to 15 feet depth.

I purposely made a bright yellow full body suit of bathing suit material, first to keep warm, second so my buddy and anyone else would see me. The color yellow isn't completely absorbed until a depth of about 60 feet, after that it looks like a blue-green ink washed over it. However, some semblance of color does remain and everyone knew me.

My equipment consisted of my Nikonos and a strobe unit attached to a bracket making it possible to hold the entire unit in one hand. The complete unit was negatively buoyant (meaning it would sink if dropped) so it would not go floating away from me. One time my view-finder came losse, and before I could grab it, it was up, up and away. When you ae down to 80 feet or so, you do not go dashing to the surface for an errant piece of equipment. You must always keep in mind where you are, and must remember the laws of the deep are unforgiving.

At the Church's suggestion, all dangling straps were removed from the camera; a strap around one's neck could become a hazard, and since safety is the first law of diving, neck straps were left behind.

The photographer has two choices for underwater lighting; natural or artificial. Natural light produces a monochromatic bluegreen effect (enchanced by the use of Ektachrome films) because of the absorption of the warmer colors at depth. The result can be, and was, from my experience, quite stunning. The use of a strobe bringsout the true colors of the deep sea life which aren't visible to the naked eye. Strobe light also may be combined with natural light by placing a subject close to the camera to show the vibrant colors in the foreground, allowing the ambient light to render a blue background.

Jim and Cathy recommended Ektachrome film, ASA 64 for close ups and ASA 200 or 400 for distance shots. Of course, Ektachrome (E6 process) could be developed in their darkroom. After seeing the results, I quite agree with the selection of Ektachrome because of the intense blue background it affords.

To say my firsy real dive was an experience is an understatement. A year had elapsed since my certification, and although I had kept up by attending classes and retesting, I was still a novice and had not dived in open water other than during my open water test. The dive mistress looked upon me as somewhat of a novelty; as a result, I did receive a lot of help.

Splash! I found myself in the blue Caribbean, feeling heavy. "Good grief, I'm snking!" The dive mistress went down the anchor line with me until I regained my composure; then suddenly I was in a new world. It is almost impossible to describe this fluid, blue-green world with mere words.

Everything was in gentle motion, including sea fans waving slowly at me as I swam by. I discovered the rocks with whcih I sometimes supported myself were not rocks, but coral, living creatures, with many little mouths open ready to take in any food that happened by. I also learned that coral could cut and sting. Because I refused to wear gloves, I had sore, swollen fingers for several weeks after my dive vacation.

We learned to become acute observers so we could make close-ups of the very small marine life, and we poked our noses into more than one crevice. Inside might be any one of several creatures, such as the banded coral shrimp, the sea urchin with its barbed self-defense, a hermit crab nestled in its shell or an eel ensconced firmly in its lair.

During our very first lecture, before we did any diving at all, Cathy discussed how to control our buoyancy so we would not stir up the sand from the ocean floor. Once the sand and sediment are in suspension, one may as well abandon trying to take any pictures in that area. Jim and Cathy, much to our amusement and disbelief, graphically (with slides and body movements) showed us what we probably would and eventually did look like the first few times underwater.

I did have some difficulty establishing my buoyancy, and more than once sank to the sandy bottom only to take off again in a cloud of dust (sand). Dubbing me "the Lone Ranger," Cathy crossed her fingers at me as I bobbed away. On a serious note, I need to say the coral reefs are living creatures and very fragile. I learned very quickly we divers must be very careful not to harm the reef by hitting it or sitting on them.

An object underwater appears to be about one-fourth closer and about one-third larger than it actually is. We had to learn to calculate "three apparent feet," which was actually four feet. Luckily, the camera lens (because it is behind a glass port) is also affected by this phenomenon. We are affected by this phenomenon because our eyes are also behind a glass port, our masks. We spent the first few dives shooting at "three apparent feet" with either a 35mm or 28mm lens.

The visibility and brightness at depth in the Caribbean is well-known; nevertheless, it surprised me. I found exposures usually ran about f8 or f11. Using the underwater 35mm lens at f11 focused at three feet allows no more than a foot miscalculation. We had to keep in mind the Nikonos is not a reflex camera, and all distance measurements are done by guesstimate.

The names at our dive locations were descriptive of what we would find there. At Sponge Point, we could expect to see large sponges of many shapes--barrel shaped, tube shaped, to suggest two. The Wall was just that, a steep drop-off which bottomed out at 6,000 feet. Large Gorgonians, (huge sea fans with sturdy trunks up to several inches thick) graced the edge of the Wall, and made marvelous shilhouettes against the blue sea.

It was here, at the Wall, I had my first flirtation with nitrogen narcosis. A grand feeling comes over you; you are floating free...mysteriously held up...you have an overview of a fluid blue-green world. This euphoric feeling tempts you to stay, and to explore even deeper. Nitrogen narcosis is not completely understood. However, the effects can be compared to alcoholic intoxication. There are differences but the effects of nitrogen narcosis and drunkenness have much in common. The relationship to alcohol has been expressed in what might be called Martini's Law. The mental effects of each additional 50 feet of depth, breathing air from your tank, are approximately equivalent to those of one dry Martini, assuming your stomach is empty. I enjoyed this feeling, but decided not to find out what it looks like at 6,000 feet.

Our dive mistress cultivated the friendship of many creatures by taking pieces of cut-up conch to attract them. A conch is the animal that lives in the horn like shaped sea shell. A French angel fish took pieces from her mouth (she removed her regulator); a golden tail moray came out of his lair and responded to pats on the head, of course the food helped.

We were treated to a night dive for our last dive experience of the week. My buddy and I weren't quite sure it was a treat, however, as we clutched each other tightly in the darkness, dive light not withstanding. In fact, my second night dive experience during my second week wasn't any more reassuring. Although I saw an octopus and some other interesting night creatures, I had my first (and hopefully last) experience of running out of air! With very little air in my tank I broke the surface, happy to have my head above water.

Following each afternoon dive, Cathy discussed other facets of underwater photography, such as using supplementary light as opposed to available light, how to approach fish for photographs and how to meter correctly. Probably the one lesson driven home most emphatically was bracket, bracket, bracket which one learns to do quickly after experiencing an under-exposed "perfect" picture once too often. The second week she concentrated more on marine life and how and where to locate them.

Every evening after dinner, Jim and Cathy either presented one of their many sound-sync slide shows, or discussed any of the problems we would like resolved. Our days were full and long, and we went to bed dreaming of exotic sea creatures we hoped to photograph the next day. Our last class consisted of viewing the best slides we students had made, then receiving a "Certificate of Survival."

As a final note, I was told everyone would want to know if I had seen a shark. I couldn't believe it, but since the advent of the movie Jaws, sharks seem to be on everyone's mind. So what was the first questions my friends who met me in Miami asked?

No, I didn't see a shark.

COPYRIGHT 1990 Photographic Society of America, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group