Underwater Photography with Vintage Lenses: Tips, Bokeh & Techniques

Alex Mustard focuses (‘scuse the pun) on classic lenses

Photographs courtesy of Alex Mustard

“When I started, it was an achievement to get the flash gun to fire and finish the dive with an unflooded camera,” wrote celebrated veteran shark photographer Jeremy Stafford-Deitsch. Of course, his phrases have been meant in jest, however there isn’t a denying that underwater pictures was very tough certainly.

The gear was a problem to make use of and keep, however the greatest drawback was movie. Partly it was the restrict of simply 36 clicks per dive, however primarily it was as a result of it didn’t give the moment suggestions of a digital digicam.

While photographers noticed nice topics and strived laborious with the compositions, there was all the time a component of conservatism within the photographic method.

Wide angle was usually uncovered in out there gentle with only a tickle of flash to keep away from backscatter, whereas macro was shot with plenty of depth of subject to make sure the topic didn’t slip out of focus.

In quick, excellence was measured in producing footage that have been in focus, nicely framed and had some color.

Technology marches on and as we speak photographers get their photos to come back out inside their first couple of dives with a digicam. Beyond that, the purpose is to get their photos to face out.

This is very true within the realm of macro pictures, the place each single critter has been photographed regularly earlier than. Even species which might be but to be described by scientists often can have received a number of contests earlier than they get their Latin title!

As a consequence, macro pictures during the last decade or so has been dominated by a quest for various photos. Popular methods have been tremendous macro, using synthetic backgrounds, using different-coloured gentle supply and, the main focus of this month’s column, utilizing classic lenses.

The key attraction for utilizing classic lenses lies within the Japanese phrase bokeh (pronounced to rhyme with ‘okay’) that describes the character of how a specific lens renders the out of focus components of an image.

There is nice bokeh, dangerous bokeh and far debate over which lenses have which! But earlier than we go any additional, you will need to say that lens designers haven’t been sitting round during the last 100 years, and usually all classic lenses are much less sharp than trendy lenses – we select to make use of them not for the way they document the topic, however for the way they will rework every little thing else within the image.

Since the lure of those lenses is solely aesthetic, and sweetness is certainly within the eye of the photographer, there aren’t any strict guidelines on what lenses to strive.

Some lenses you may wish to examine are the TTArtisan 100mm, Helios 44M, Trioplan 100mm and 50mm, Pentacon 50mm, Revuenon 55mm, Primoplan 58mm, Diaplan 80mm and Petzval 85mm.

A number of years in the past all these lenses have been out there for pocket cash, however their second-hand worth tends to fluctuate relying on which is trendy on the time. Most of us are not sure of which to decide on, so foolishly select the favored ones, driving the costs larger!

My recommendation is to go for a wider possibility than you suppose, since you need the bokeh to star in your photographs. So when you often shoot macro with the 60mm, then take a look at focal size now not than 60mm, and so forth.

Most of those classic lenses require adaptors to make use of them on trendy cameras and since they’re fully mechanical, they’re each guide focus and glued aperture.

We often select to shoot them totally open (with the aperture on f/2.8 or related) to maximise the bokeh and focus by rocking out and in.

None are out and out macro lenses, so they don’t focus shut sufficient for underwater use with out assist, so profit from both an extension tube (10-12mm is nice) or an in depth up dioptre lens.

If you’re feeling that this model of pictures is prone to enchantment to you, then I’d look into getting a customized focus gear made, however solely do that when you’ve selected whether or not you’ll be utilizing an extension tube, to be able to get it accurately positioned.

Vintage lenses will be fairly tough to focus and it’s best to start out with sluggish or non-moving topics. Mirrorless cameras undoubtedly make focusing a lot simpler as a result of Focus Peaking (a viewfinder mode that exhibits what’s in focus) works brilliantly with these lenses. Shooting the lens broad open implies that depth of subject is razor skinny.

Fortunately, the open aperture additionally implies that we don’t want a lot flash energy, so I are likely to set my digicam on steady taking pictures for shifting topics and blast off a collection of frames in fast succession, selecting the sharpest one after taking pictures.

It sounds a bit spray and pray, however since we’re now not restricted to 36, I put this right down to benefiting from know-how!

The different consequence of taking pictures with an open aperture is having an excessive amount of gentle, particularly on brilliant, shallow dives. Even utilizing the bottom ISO setting, after we shoot at f/2.8, the ambient gentle will usually be far too brilliant on the most shutterspeed we are able to use with strobes.

There are two options. First, we are able to use a 3 cease impartial density filter in these circumstances to carry issues again into vary. This darkens the entire picture, however shouldn’t be too darkish to look via, though it does make focusing even tricker.

The second answer is to make use of flashes with HSS or High Speed Synch functionality. This is a comparatively new function in underwater flashes and never all fashions at the moment have it, however as a result of it permits us to easily enhance the shutterspeed to quell the sunshine, it’s ultimate and doesn’t affect focusing. The classic and the fashionable working in excellent concord.

Finally, we have to search out subject material that may give a good looking bokeh after which discover a topic in the correct place to pictures towards it. Open water received’t blur in an attention-grabbing method, we’d like an in depth background that’s the proper distance behind the topic to be out of focus.

We ought to search a background with brilliant highlights, which is able to present up within the bokeh. These must be a bit brighter than the principle topic as a result of when they’re defocused their gentle is unfold out, so its brightness diminishes.

Since the background is so necessary, I usually seek for this primary. If the background will probably be illuminated with out there gentle, then I are likely to search for laborious corals or seafans, backlit by the solar. If the background will probably be lit with my strobe, then I search for subject material with brilliant flecks of color (crinoids are a favorite). Then lastly I look ahead to a topic to swim in entrance.

Many photographers carry synthetic backgrounds to generate their bokeh, and whereas that is nice for studying, however it is best to problem your self to seek out that magnificence in nature.

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