Mentoring New Photographers | Sea of Hope: America's Underwater Treasures

So, is lighting the whole secret down there? Yeah, I think one of the best things, um, to do underwater is to sort of meter for the background, the ambient, and then maybe underexpose that just a little bit. It kind of creates a nice, richly saturated backdrop, and then you use your strobes just as a little bit of fill flash. You don't want it to look overly lit; you want it to sort of just fill in the shadows and add some color and detail.

But, um, you know, we'll just kind of see how the first few frames look, and then we can make adjustments as we go. I think we might have had a little, um, equipment malfunction, huh, with the strobes there not firing? Well, I mean, that's what it's all about, right? It's overcoming challenges and figuring out what you need to do to try to come back with something.

Yeah, I did two things. I started my work with some terrestrial work with leatherback sea turtles at night, and you see the stars in the sky. I did a long exposure where the ocean glows with this green luminescence. Yeah, this was a very long exposure, and she was relatively still for that time.

FR, but you know, it's like a primordial scene. This is an animal whose lineage dates back a hundred million years; they're older than dinosaurs. You know, there was a time in their ancestry where they crawled out on the beaches and saw T-Rex running by. And today, in some places, they crawl out and see condominiums.

But here's this kid running by. See kids running by? Nice! Oh, it's a nter Brank! Wow, beautiful! Looks like a zebra! That is beautiful! Wow, you found must about that big, really tiny! Yeah, maybe 15 mm lens taking macro, breaking the rules. That's okay! View of this! Oh, right, the puffer! Look at that! That talk about personality! Yeah, look at his lips! You see that? That's great!

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