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Photography on the water, part I: equipment
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Finding beautiful photo subjects is one of the most fun aspects of water sports.
After a great day on the water, taking home a special photo or two is a prize like no other. Trips come back to life from photos hung on your walls. With the quality of today's cameras, anyone can get great shots of their backyard and their major excursions.
Protecting your camera: Adding a waterproof housing to your gear will allow you to shoot anywhere, including underwater. No, a ziplock bag will not do the trick.
Aquapac makes small, economical, easy-to-use bags for most point-and-shoot cameras that can be ordered from many sources online. You might even forget the camera is strapped to your wrist. This is great for all water sports, even surfing. Your Examiner's experience with this company's customer service department has been exceptionally good.
For DSLR's, Ewa-Marine makes a variety of (much pricier) housings that will fit long lenses and flashes. They use optical glass (instead of plastic) in front of the camera lens in order to allow for the best quality photos. Their customer service is also stellar. Your Examiner got one by special order from Hunt's in Providence. Kayakers, divers and snorkelers can enjoy serious photography this way.
Obviously, water is your camera's enemy. When using a housing be sure to follow all of the instructions and use common sense. Store housings carefully (including inside vacation luggage) to avoid any kind of pressure, puncture or friction. Test the housing before each use by submerging it in a sink and looking carefully for any signs of leaks. While swimming with it continue to watch for leaks. If the smallest drop is seen inside, get it out of the water immediately! Gravity will keep water at the bottom of the housing - the camera could still be undamaged if quick action is taken. Housings seem indestructible and Ewa-marine has a very good warrenty but that won't give you a new camera for the rest of of your vacation if the worst-case scenario happens.
The other side of this coin is to prevent condensation from forming inside the housing. A pack of silica dessicant gel is included and should be used in the housing every time. Packs can be re-activated by a few seconds in the microwave. Your Examiner also saves every pack she gets with new shoes or whatever for use in her housings. The most condensation danger happens when taking a camera from an air-conditioned hotel room out in the hot sun and then into the cold ocean, and back to the hotel again. Condensation can even form inside the camera itself and damage the electronics. To prevent this, keep the camera wrapped up in a dry towel while in transit so its temperature changes gradually. This is the same reason why professional photographers will leave the camera in its canvas bag for a few hours to warm up slowly after coming home from a winter shooting session. The waterproof housing should also not be left in direct sun (say, on a beach chair) with the camera inside. Ewa-marine housings include a yellow canvas bag that reflects (instead of trapping) heat for this purpose.
When searching for a new camera, watersports enthusiasts may want to go waterproof instead of using a housing. A few of the best cameras of recent years are Pentax Optio WP, Olympus Stylus 720 or 1030 and Ricoh G600. These can be submerged at will and easily shrug off splashy kayak trips. The most rugged is the new Olympus Stylus 1030 SW. It can be dropped from 6 feet, submerged to 30 feet, frozen, stepped on or whatever. Waterproof cameras now have all the features we've come to expect - lots of megapixels, action burst, anti-shake, auto-focus etc. Prices have started to drop as well. This allows shooting in any wet situation without ever having to worry about putting the housing on, did I forget it, is it sealed up correctly, now there's splashes on the lens...
NEXT TIME - Technique.
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