Nice compilation of Patagonia work on Loaded Landscapes: https://loadedlandscapes.com/patagonia-john-collins/
Nice compilation of Patagonia work on Loaded Landscapes: https://loadedlandscapes.com/patagonia-john-collins/
One of the great photographic pioneers of the nineteenth century was Irish born Timothy H. O’Sullivan. Often referred to as America’s forgotten photographer, this private man created a remarkable and varied body of work, from the brutal battlefields of the American Civil War to the arid landscapes of the western wilderness. As such, he was one of the earliest landscape photographers, his technical and artistic achievements establishing a justified reputation as pioneering artist in the new medium of photography.
The remarkable fact that so much of O’Sullivan’s work survives and is held in the Library of Congress and Smithsonian Institute in the United States, contrasts with the sparse details of his short life. A great effort to learn more about him was undertaken when the Smithsonian and Library of Congress joined forces to put together a collection of O’Sullivan’s work on the American west. It seemed that the harder the researchers looked the less they found and the more questions they had.
What is certain is that O’Sullivan was born to Jeremiah and Anne O’Sullivan in 1840 and went to the United States two years later on an emigrant famine ship. The young family settled in Staten Island in New York, where Timothy grew up. As a teenager, he was taken on as an apprentice to Matthew Brady, a fellow Irishman, who had a successful gallery and studio in the emerging art and science of photography. When the American Civil war broke out in 1861, Brady had just expanded his venture to Washington and was perfectly placed to send photographers to document the unfolding events in and around the battlefields of Virginia and Maryland. The 21-year-old O’Sullivan and a Scot named Alexander Gardner loaded their cameras and darkroom on to horse-drawn wagons and headed west. In July of that year, an overconfident Union Army received a bloody baptism of fire at Manassas, Virginia and O’Sullivan recorded the aftermath of a stunning Confederate victory. Years later, he lamented his failure to fully capture the Battle of Bull Run “close up” – a rebel artillery shell, O’Sullivan explained, had blown away one of his cameras.
O’Sullivan and Gardner were to become the first war photographers, bringing the horror of the battlefield to the front pages of a shocked American public. If anything, Timothy O’Sullivan is best known for this work and several of his plates are most iconic images of this grim time in U.S. history. In particular, the image of bodies strewn across a battlefield, titled ‘A Harvest of Death, Gettysburg, July 1863’ remains a stark and grim record of the reality of war. From a photographic perspective, this work was not merely documentary, O’Sullivan demonstrating a rare compositional talent in constructing his images and leading the viewer on a journey. In the above image, both the foreground and background elements are out of focus, concentrating the eye on the uncomfortable reality of the war dead. It was this honesty of vision coupled with technical expertise and an ability to work in extremely challenging environments that would lead to his later work in expeditions to explore the west.
Gardner and O’Sullivan had a falling out with Brady, not for business or money reasons, but because Brady insisted on crediting the work collectively to his studio and not to the photographers individually. Given that they were literally putting their lives on the line, it is understandable this was a reason for them to part company. Gardner set up his own studio and O’Sullivan continued his work on the civil war in the employ of his colleague. Their co-operation yielded a remarkable and now rare book of images, ‘Photographic Sketch Book of the Civil War’, and it is this work that shows the photographers individual images, all of which are individually captioned and credited. O’Sullivan is credited with 44 of the 100 works published in this two volume work.
After the war, where O’Sullivan obviously proved himself in the field, an opportunity to join two survey expeditions to the American west was a welcome reprieve from the horrors of the Civil War. The first of these surveys was undertaken between 1867 and 1869 and was led by Clarence King. The expedition explored a swath of wilderness 100 miles wide, stretching along the 40th Parallel between the Sierra and the Rocky Mountains. The second survey expedition under George Wheeler, covered a vast area of the American Southwest between 1871 and 1874.
It is the landscape images from these expeditions that have endured and are remarkable to view, even today. The collaboration between the Smithsonian and Library of Congress brought together both their individual catalogues to create a remarkable portfolio. This project culminated in an exhibition of the curated work and the publication a book, ‘Framing the West’, in 2010. Given that he was the first photographer to visit most of these wild places and had no previous work to draw from – the resulting catalogue of images are wonderfully crafted and testament to great talent.
O’Sullivan once again shows a superb eye for composition and detail in capturing the deserts and mountains of the American southwest. The images have a haunting reality in capturing the light, land and native people of the largely empty wide open spaces of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. That the work has survived and is in such good condition is something that will pass down the generations as an enduring record and artistic representation of the wild west. It is all the more remarkable to have survived, given that the work was largely forgotten until its rediscovery by the great landscape photographer Ansel Adams in the 1930’s. Adams credits O’Sullivan as one of his earliest and greatest influences, a fine testament indeed from one of the most respected photographic artists of the 20th century.
His personal life is a different story, however. Having survived being a front-line war photographer – including the aforementioned occasion when his camera and wagon were struck by an artillery shell – his life outside of this and the survey expeditions was perilous. This is where so little is known of his life, only that is was unsettled and carried its own tale of tragedy. On leave from the West in 1873, O’Sullivan married Laura Virginia Pywell, the daughter of an English-born livery stable operator in Washington, D.C. Timothy likely met his future wife through her brother William R. Pywell, also a Civil War photographer whose work was also represented in Gardner’s ‘Photographic Sketch Book of the War’. In addition to marrying outside his ethnic background, O’Sullivan was also abandoning whatever bonds remained to his Catholic upbringing – the marriage being officiated by Reverend David Jutten, a Protestant Minister in Washington, D.C.’s East Street Baptist Church.
After his final return from the West, in late 1874, O’Sullivan was employed printing the negatives from his survey work. His brief career at the Treasury Department, from 1880-1881, was abruptly terminated in March 1881 by the onset tuberculosis. While Timothy was convalescing at his parents’ home on Staten Island, his wife Laura succumbed to the same disease on October 18th, 1881 in Washington, D.C. She was 31.
Timothy returned to Washington for the funeral and buried his wife alongside the couple’s only child, a son stillborn in 1876, in the Pywell family plot in Rock Creek Cemetery. In late December, he returned to Staten Island and was placed under a doctor’s care. Timothy died at his parents’ home, aged 42, on January 14th, 1882.
The legacy of Timothy H. O’Sullivan’s work, both of the American civil war and of the wide open landscapes of the southwest is enduring. His body of work and life story were very much on my mind during a trip to photograph the American Southwest in early 2017. Given the iconic work of O’Sullivan and Adams and the many photographers since then, I had longed to see these landscapes for many years. As I set up for a sunrise shot in the Navajo lands after an early hike, my small backpack of equipment a far cry from O’Sullivan’s darkroom wagon, pulled by four mules, 150 years before.
Clare Island – a monochrome study
Ireland's offshore islands have always been deeply inspiring to my photographic eye. Here are a selection of favourite black and white images from a few days on Clare Island, in Clew Bay, Mayo.
Clare Island, Atlantic cliffs at dusk.Panasonic GH5 with Olympus 7-14mmD2.8Pro lens. Silver Efex Pro 2.
Ancient pine, Clare Island.The remains of an ancient marine pine forest have become visible in recent times as levels of bogland have changed. Some are estimated to be 7500 years old.
Summer sea pinks at SandycoveSummer sea pinks at Sandycove
Kinsale Community Hospital is a modern long-stay facility for Kinsale's older residents. The main hospital building has a long history, being over 200 years old but has been continuously developed over recent years and is now a bright, airy residential home to 40 people. During the recent phase of development, the Director of the hospital made contact with a view to incorporating Kinsale images in key areas of the hospital.
The first area we looked at was the main reception hall. The entrance to the hospital had recently been transformed into a modern, glass-walled doorway and this lead to the traditionally used hallway which is crossroads for residents, staff and visitors alike.
Kinsale Community Hospital, entrance.
Kinsale Community Hospital, main hallway.
The theme here was to bring elements of the town to the residents, to retain their sense of place and enjoy seeing Kinsale on a daily basis. After some discussion, we decided that the harbour area is one of the defining visual aspects that everybody relates to. A three piece set going from the inner harbour, marina and outer harbour has worked really well and has become a great talking point. All three images were from film originals in my archive of 30 years, which were scanned to high resolution, then printed and framed.
Kinsale Community Hospital, main entrance hallway.
The next area was the downstairs corridor, which has a nice entrance and foyer – for this we chose a seascape of Sandycove:
Summer sea pinks at Sandycove
Other areas were the main stairway, which had a small, square-shaped wall at the landing. Here, I used a fleeting moment of six swans in the inner harbour on a sunny evening at high tide.
Kinsale Community Hospital, first floor stairway landing.
Kinsale Community Hospital, Six swans in Kinsale harbour.
The staff room, where the hard-working nursing and support staff take their rest breaks has a panoramic canvas:
Harbour panorama, Kinsale
And upstairs, in the long corridor, there is an aerial image of the Old Head of Kinsale, shot from a helicopter in the days before drones..
Old Head of Kinsale, from the air.
It has been a great privilege to work on these images and to hear back how much the residents enjoy them. I deliberately omitted captioning the year or dates that the photographs were made, as it is a great source of conversation to debate among the residents themselves, their families and indeed, the staff. The great thing about film originals is that even I cannot be sure as to the exact dates that these images were made! It was also an enjoyable project for me personally, as I have had a long association with the hospital, having been part-time pharmacist here in the early 1990's. It has been wonderful to see how this valuable resource has been so tastefully developed for the people of Kinsale.
JC July 2017.
As sensor and camera technologies have evolved in recent years, it can be difficult to keep up with progress and to wonder if specific new features are applicable to your style of photography. Those of us who came through the film route to modern photography still marvel at what currently available cameras can do in the field. In my own areas of underwater and landscape photography, moving towards smaller format cameras has been a big attraction in recent years. In this post, I outline recent progress and current systems for my personal photography and give a reasonably detailed look at a compelling recent addition to the digital photography arsenal – the Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II camera.
Sandstone at sunrise, Arizona/Utah border.OLYMPUS OMD E-M1 Mark II, M.Zuiko 8mm F1.8 Pro lens.
Size and form factor are a significant consideration for both landscape and underwater photography. To house a professional sized DSLR for underwater use, and equip it with the required optical domes and lighting, creates a very large underwater photography system. For many years there seemed to be little choice between low quality, small-sensor compact camera systems and large DSLR high quality systems. In recent times, however, some interesting formats other than the established full frame (35mm) and DX-cropped sensor have become available. I first became interested in the Micro 4/3 system, jointly developed by Panasonic and Olympus, in 2009. I bought an Olympus PEN EP2 and two lenses, using this primarily for family and general outdoor and camping photographs. Having a small sized camera with interchangeable lenses was initially exciting but the image quality from the early cameras just could not match that from my DSLR systems. This was an unfair comparison I know, but one that we all inevitably make if we are considering changing an entire system, which will involve lenses that have been built up over many years. Another area which most photographers value highly is the viewfinding system in a camera. This is our compositional sketchpad, the basis on which we refine our compositions. From the early days of digital photography, I found the idea of composing photographs on an LCD screen held at arms length to be completely unnatural and unintuitive. The EP2 camera had an accessory electronic viewfinder, but the technology had some way to go at that time. I enjoyed using this early camera system and hoped that it would evolve to a point of having the features that I would need to create publishable photographs.
Reflection, Checkerboard Mesa, Zion NP, Utah.OLYMPUS OMD E-M1 Mark II
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 7-14mm F2.8 Pro
When Olympus announced the OMD series, beginning with the E-M5 and following with the E-M1 – I thought that this format was reaching maturity, particularly with the rapidly expanding professional-grade lenses that were released to accompany the flagship model. The time was right to make the change when Nauticam introduced an excellent underwater housing for this camera, with full supporting ports for various lenses. I have been using this setup for the past three years and have published to magazine quality, cover and double-page spreads – and made enlargements from files that I would not have thought possible, to 800 x 600mm. For my landscape work however, my workhorse Nikon D810 and 14-24mm wide-angle lens, remained my first choice. I did use the E-M1 alongside this but the large file size and my long established comfort with Nikon systems kept me from moving over to Micro 4/3 for landscape work.
'Corkscrew' tree at dusk, Zion NP, Utah.OLYMPUS OMD E-M1 Mark II
Olympus M.Zuiko 8mm F1.8 Pro
When the mark II version of the E-M1 was announced, I knew that Olympus would have made significant technological progress over the three years since introducing the first flagship model. The question would be, how relevant would these advances be to my style of photography. The emphasis seemed to be on a professional specification with high frame rates, burst speeds and superfast autofocus – areas that would be well suited to photojournalism and sports photography. I was more interested in the fact that the new camera would have a new sensor with a greater dynamic range and low noise. Improvements in the electronic viewfinder would also be welcome as would any abilities in low light. The question in the back of my mind was – could this camera, paired with the Olympus 7-14mmF2 .8 Pro lens, be a viable replacement for the full frame Nikon setup.
Storm light, Canyonlands, Arizona.OLYMPUS OMD E-M1 Mark II
Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 Pro with MC 1.4x.
I was able to put this to the test on a long planned and anticipated trip to the American Southwest. I received the camera in time to assess its dynamic range using a Sekonic L-758 light meter. This would give me a direct comparison to the Nikon D810 – especially for shadow detail, which is often critical in high dynamic range landscape images at dawn or dusk. In these tests, the dynamic range is indeed greater than the original E-M1, but not as broad as the full frame sensor of the Nikon. However, given that the sensor is half the area, Olympus engineers have managed to give the sensor 3.8 stops of shadow detail (versus 4.5 stops Nikon D810). With careful metering to protect sensitive shadow areas – while not over exposing highlights – this was very workable for all but the most challenging high dynamic-range scenes. On a practical level for hiking, the smaller system was a joy to use. I could comfortably carry the camera body with four lenses and a lightweight tripod (RRS TQC14 + BH30) and have all focal lengths from 8mm fisheye to over 400 mm in a lightweight backpack that was absolutely no burden to carry. This made scrambles up steep rock faces a lot more enjoyable, fun even – and as I began to process early work, I could see that the image quality, dynamic range and low noise were all a winning combination.
Milky Way and Joshua tree, Saline Valley, California. OLYMPUS OMD E-M1 Mark II
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 8mm F1.8 Pro, post processed in DXOoptics Pro 11 and Photoshop.
Having processed some work from this trip, I can attest to the superb image quality, depth of colour and dynamic range from the E-M1 Mark II. For some of the more challenging raw files, I used DXO optics pro 11, but for most images, I could extract the detail needed using Adobe Camera Raw or Lightroom. as the days went by, I found myself reaching for the full frame system less and less – having such a neat system, particularly for 'sketching' images handheld was just great. I was surprised how sharp the handheld images were (using image stabilisation), with shutter speeds as low as 1/40 second – and in many cases, I did not bother to reshoot on a tripod. This made me more productive, exploring more compositions then I typically would when working from a tripod all the time.
I was also pleasantly surprised how low the image noise is at higher ISO’s – in this case, for night sky shooting. Typically, I shoot these at ISO 6400, F2 .8 and 15 seconds. Using the Olympus 8mm F1 .8Pro lens, I was able to use ISO 3200 and get really clean images of the night sky and Milky Way. The only downside I found in using this camera for landscape work, was using the camera in very cold weather – the four-way trackpad and button on the rear of the camera was difficult to use with a gloved hand. The improved electronic viewfinder is really excellent and I used this most of the time, although I did find the articulating rear LCD screen also extremely useful for more unusual angles or very low camera positions.
Vermillion Cliffs, Arizona.OLYMPUS OMD E-M1 Mark II
Olympus M.Zuiko ED 40-150mm F2.8 Pro with MC 1.4x.
Overall, I am hugely impressed with this camera system which will become my primary photographic tool for the foreseeable future. It is a truly professional grade camera body, being fully weather-sealed and I was not concerned about using the camera in challenging environments such as rain or blowing sand. The more I use the Micro 4/3 system, the more I like the 4:3 aspect ratio, especially for vertical compositions. For landscape photography, the Olympus OMD E-M Mark II, combined with the Olympus 7-14mmF2 .8 Pro lens is a superb combination. Recently, specialist filter manufacturers have made it possible to use neutral density, polariser or graduated filters on this wide-angle lens. This was the lens that I used most on this trip. For a standard, all-round zoom, the recently introduced Olympus 12-100 mmF4 Pro lens is really good, though a little long and heavy for my liking, on such a small body. However, to have the equivalent range of 24mm to 200 mm (35mm equivalent) and have such serious optical quality and image stabilisation is pretty unbelievable. Another favourite lens for more distant landscapes is the Olympus 40-150 mm F2 .8 Pro, which I also used extensively with the MC 1.4 X teleconverter. The latter really does not reduce the image quality significantly, although I like to stop down an extra stop to be safe. A final consideration would be what “dream” lenses could Olympus develop? I think a super-wide fast prime (e.g. for night sky), perhaps a 12mm F1.4 or F1.2; and a tilt–shift lens would make my Nikon full frame system pretty much unemployed (even though there is keystone correction in the software of the camera, the image delivered is a JPEG and not a RAW file). One or two other thoughts specific to landscape shooting are: the live bulb/time/composite shutter speed setting – this is a really nice idea for long exposures where the image builds on the LCD screen, not unlike a print developing in a darkroom tray, along with a histogram. However, I found this somewhat limited for a night sky work, as the maximum ISO with which this works is 1600. I also found having custom banks (C1-3) really useful, given that these cameras are so customisable. Having a base camp to return to that holds a range of favoured settings, makes it quicker to refine technical considerations quickly in rapidly changing lighting conditions. Finally, another huge improvement over the original E-M1 is battery life. I never had to change a battery during a day’s shooting, although I always kept one spare. As you can gather, mine is a hugely positive overall impression after a week of extensive use, particularly given my lifelong 35mm/full frame and DX camera use and an early E-M1 adopter. The form factor and handling of this camera are simply unbeatable and it delivers unquestionable professional-grade results. The lenses are outstanding and the camera is built to take the elements when outdoors in all weathers that crazy landscape photographers go out in.
Apo island is a small, steep volcanic island surrounded by a narrow band of fringing coral reefs. It is a short distance from Dauin on the large island of Negros and its waters are home to 650 species of fish and 400 species of corals. Like many coastal communities in the islands in the Indo-Pacific, fishing is the major livelihood for over half of the population. Apo Island’s 750 residents rely on the abundant marine life teeming in its waters but have carefully managed this resource for three decades.
Reef protection began informally in 1982 under a marine conservation program initiated by Silliman University in the Philippines. At this time, fish stocks had dwindled and project staff presented an idea of protecting the reefs to address this problem. One of the cornerstones of this proposal was to establish a sanctuary where all fishing was prohibited – a complete ‘no-take’ zone – and this idea was initially met with a lot of resistance. However, agreement was reached to begin the project in a small way and its progress was closely monitored. Within three years, the island community saw a marked improvement in fish catches and this gave the impetus to the island community to formally establish the sanctuary, declaring the waters surrounding the island up to 500m from shore as a marine reserve and critically, a portion of the south-eastern coast to be a totally protected area. Once the community could see the benefits of allowing fish stocks to regenerate, they were fully engaged in managing and defending their marine resources.
Another key initiative from the outset was getting fishermen to abandon destructive and illegal fishing methods such as muroami (reef pounding and netting), cyanide and dynamite fishing. Like many parts of Southeast Asia, these rampant and destructive fishing practices prevailed for a long time. Destructive fishing ceased completely around Apo Island by the mid-1990’s and since then the fringing reefs around the island have flourished. The marine habitat outside of the ‘no-take’ zone, but within the marine reserve, is termed a traditional fishing area where all destructive fishing methods are prohibited but traditional fishing methods such as hook and line and bamboo traps are permitted. The benefits to the local community from this marine reserve are increased fish catchers in less fishing time; larger predatory fish have increased eight fold in the reserve and species diversity has increased dramatically. Both green sea and hawksbill turtles frequent the sanctuary along with bumphead parrotfish, occasional whale sharks and large schools of jacks.
There are also a few rules related to diving and snorkeling – you must register and pay a small fee; gloves are not permitted and there is a limit of 15 divers including three dive guides. Boats must use the fixed moorings where provided and only use anchors in designated areas. Rolling over the side of the dive boat and descending on to these reefs is a joy to behold. It is obvious that the reefs have been protected just by looking at the density, size and variety of both hard and soft corals. Similarly, the variety of fish life is simply too long to list but includes a diversity of both reef dwelling and blue water species, including trevally, dogtooth tuna and schools of fusiliers.
I think the photographs illustrate more than words can describe but it is easy to see why Apo Island has become a model of marine reserve management worldwide, thanks to both the forward thinking and open-mindedness of its community and Silliman University’s centre of excellence in coastal resources management. With a thirty-year record of sustained marine protection existing alongside a fishing community’s needs, this is a living inspiration to other islands in the Philippines and beyond.
Diving the Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago of over 7000 islands set in the blue waters of the Indo Pacific. It forms the northern part of the coral triangle considered to be the centre of marine biodiversity in the tropics. However, its neighbours Indonesia and Papua New Guinea seem to get more attention as diving destinations. This is perhaps due to the destructive fishing practices of years gone by and the perception that the reefs were not what they should be.
I travelled to the Philippines with Dutch operated Worldwide Dive and Sail and dived from their liveaboard boat, Philippine Siren. This was an excellently run diving operation and a very varied eight-day itinerary from Malapasqua at the northern end of Cebu Island to the southern part of the archipelago, known as the Visayas. While the bizarre and wonderful marine life of muck diving is well known in the area south of Dumaguete city, I was both surprised and amazed at some of the scenic reef and wall dives that we experienced – they were truly world class.
The "holy grail" of Philippine diving is Tubbataha reefs, a strictly protected marine area well offshore that is only diveable three months of the year. Both the dive guides onboard and other divers on the trip testified to the pristine nature of these reefs and how it is one to put high on your bucket list.
www.sirenfleet.com
Golden Hours Kinsale
We photographers often refer to the 'Golden Hour' - the hour or so of light just before sunset and sunrise. Long shadows and warm tones are its immediate attraction but as the sun sets or rises, it leaves part of the landscape bathed in cooler light and the juxtaposition of both warm and cold is unique. On a fine autumnal weekend when both the sunrise and sunset are at very civil hours, I set about trying to capture this idea from an evening to a dawn.
Dusk, Castlepark and Charlesfort, from Compass Hill.
Dawn, Long Quay, Kinsale.
First light in the sky, Scilly, Kinsale.
James Fort, picked out by the early morning sun. Kinsale.
A heavy fog lingers above the Duggan Bridge, while Compass Hill and the Pier are lit by the warm morning sun.
Once the sun has risen above the horizon, the warmth of the light dissipates and a bright, crisp Sunday morning is underway. Time for photographer's breakfast!
This article first appeared in SubSea magazine in 2008.
Late Season Favourites
Poor weather at the height of the summer meant a late season for many Irish divers. John Collins reflects on some late season dives on the south coast.
Words and Photographs by John Collins, Kinsale.
Late December is the traditional time to reflect on the year that is about to finish and Met Éireann tell us that despite the washout of a summer, this year has been the warmest on record. This will come as little consolation to those of us that had planned our diving days around mid-summer, when each passing weekend seemed to bring an endless cycle of non-diving conditions. I had started the season with great enthusiasm in April, testing a high-definition video set-up, which showed great promise for a planned home-waters film.
With little more than a few minutes of useful video clips, late August was looming – complete with talk of schoolbooks in our house – and I was beginning to think the entire season was going to be a washout. But the rain clouds eventually gave way to blue skies and settled weather in late August and continued into September and all was not lost. Here, on the south coast, this coincided with the launch of a very promising dive charter boat ‘Oisre’ (pronounced ‘osh-re’ – Irish for Oyster) which opened up the possibility of some late season favorites from Cork harbour to the Old Head of Kinsale, including the marvelous Ling Rocks.
The boat is an Excalibur 880D built by Gael Force Ventures in Cork and is powered by a 260HP inboard diesel engine. She is quick, stable and very comfortable with plenty of room to kit up and stow delicates like camera housings. Even long runs from Oyster Haven to the wreck of the ‘Santo’ east of Cork Harbour passed quickly and wise use of GPS, echo sounder and experience put us spot on the dive sites. The ‘Santo’ or ‘Sante’ is a popular harbour wreck in 25 metres with plenty of recognizable parts of the ship to keep you occupied for a nice nitrox NDL time. It sank in 1900, just after Christmas and according to Tony O’Mahony’s excellent www.corkshipwrecks.net, she was bound for Taiwan on her maiden voyage from the builders yard in Scotland. It was a stern bucket dredger, clearly not designed to take a battering from a winter storm off our south coast and sank with the loss of twelve lives. It is a tidy wreck and is easily navigated as the line of dredging buckets gives visual and directional orientation.
An equally easy dive is the wreck of the ‘Clifton’ in 33 metres, not far from the ‘Aud’ off the Smiths Bank. Visibility is usually better here and this tidy wreck is home to some lovely schools of pouting or bib. She was a 125 ft, 250 ton armed trawler pressed into minesweeping service during World War I and sank rapidly after striking one of the mines she was trying to clear, leaving only a single survivor. The wreck is broken but not flattened, leaving some nice exploring to be done. I filmed this very picturesque wreck over a couple of dives and enjoyed it immensely, getting some nice footage to boot.
We also managed a couple of late season dips on the Ling Rocks, six miles south of Oysterhaven. These rocky peaks, rising to 20 metres from depth, are probably the best scenic dive east of Galley Head. Sheer rock faces are blanketed with plumose and jewel anemones and are surrounded by superb fish life, with large pollack keeping a wary eye on divers while curious cuckoo wrasse bounce off your mask, they are so nosey. As a second dive, or to seek shelter from an easterly sea, the west side of the Old Head of Kinsale is never dull. The wreck of the ‘City of Chicago’ lies in a handy 16 metres and the surrounding rocks and reefs are always lively. An added novelty over recent years has been the addition of hundreds of golf balls from the links course that runs along the cliffs above. You can’t help thinking they need more lessons...
This article first appeared in SubSea magazine in 2007.
Galapagos – Chaos in a Darwinian World
High on every diver’s wish list, the Galapagos Islands in the eastern Pacific have some of the very best diving on the planet. But in 2007, the politics and pelagics of this Ecuadorian possession exposed its fragility as never before. John Collins reports on some extraordinary diving and bizarre bureaucracy in the Galapagos National Park.
Words and Photographs by John Collins, Kinsale.
My dive buddy on a liveaboard trip a few years ago was a German dentist who advised me to go the the Galapagos Islands – ‘the diving is really great but go soon, it is changing’, he told me. Like most advice from dentists, I listened at the time but soon forgot about it. His words came back to me, however, when I read early last year that 2007 would be the last year in which 10-day dive trips to the Galapagos would be allowed by the National Park authorities. It was time to try and get on a trip there.
This proved to be far more difficult than I had anticipated – even ten months ahead all trips were booked out. So, I put my name down on a few cancellation lists and hoped for the best. I was about to give up hope by the time September came around when a single male bunk became available on an October run to the northern islands of Wolf and Darwin, whick was exactly what I had hoped for. I jumped at it, not quite believing my luck because the summer had seen a lot of bureaucratic shenanigans with dozens of dive trips cancelled at the stroke of a government pen.
Diving trips stopped
On July 10, 2007, completely out of the blue, the director the Galapagos National Park ordered that all dive boats immediately stop operations. This was done with complete disregard for those that were in Ecuador, indeed on the islands themselves waiting to start their trips. Why this was done is still unclear, though there are a few theories. Of course, this caused chaos for the dive and tour operators as well as their representatives around the world. Initial pleas for reason fell on deaf ears, the hardline approach being that the boats did not have the correct permits or ‘cupos’ for their itinerarys or their diving activity. After much stress and grief for the dive boat owners, their crews and all of the extended interests in the dive industry, a moratorium on the dive ban was announced on August 23rd. This basically allowed the boats to resume operations until the end of the year, when new arrangements would be announced.
After all this, I could hardly believe my own good fortune of landing a bunk on the ‘Deep Blue’ as she steamed 150 miles north of the airport island of Baltra on my first day. The boat had been chartered two years previously by a group of very experienced divers from New Jersey, who had a nervous few months of uncertainty not knowing whether the trip would ever happen. So, it was with a huge sigh of relief that we slipped into the water in the aptly named Shark bay of Wolf Island for our first dive. Within seconds we were watching scalloped hammerhead sharks cruising just off the rocky wall and we quickly adjusted dive kit, camera housings and eyes to take in this truly extraordinary piece of ocean.
The Diving
The water here is always moving, currents hitting three knots at times – so descents are quick and efficient and dive briefings must be adhered to. The general routine was to descend, find a comfy ledge to hang on to and watch the show. This is chiefly shark action – certaintly the best I have seen – and happens much shallower than on Cocos Island, to which the Galapagos are often compared. On most dives, you rarely have to go deeper than 25 metres and hammerheads can be seen in as little as 5 metres. It’s not just the thrill of seeing the large pelagic animals that makes Wolf, and particularly the arch Darwin island special – it’s the sheer mass of sea life that gathers here that make it unique.
On any single dive you are practically guaranteed seeing hammerhead and galapagos sharks but it is also highly likely that you will see clouds of creole fish, big eye trevally and green sea turtles crusing the blue. That’s before you look around the rocky reef itself and find moray eels, king angelfish, barberfish and schools of Peruvian grunts. If this is not enough to take in, there will be what I call bonus sightings on almost all dives. From April to November the emphasis is on whalesharks which cruise close to the reefs very regularly. The dive routine in this season is to hang out on the reef for half an hour then swim out into the blue and hope for the best. Our odds were amazingly good with whaleshark sightings on eleven out of fifteen dives in the northern islands. Many of these were rare, fully grown pregnant females in the 12-15 metres range – an awe-inspiring sight. Other ‘bonus’ sightings included swim-by’s of dolphins, spotted eagle rays, schooling barracuda and the formula-one fish of the ocean – the mighty yellowfin tuna. And it is this mass of life that also attracts the many fishing interests that would only love to legally fish here.
Overfishing, tourism and population pressures
The fame of the Galapagos has grown steadily since Darwin first visited in 1835. The unique wildlife, different from island to island has continued to fascinate naturalists and tourists alike and the islands are a huge conservation challenge. Given the actions of the park authorities in stopping diving last July, it is fascinating to try to put together the reasons that might be behind it and speculate on the future of the islands.
As long ago as 2004, the nonprofit International Galpagos Tour Operators association (IGTOA) warned in a report, that despite strong tourist numbers, ‘at the peak of their popularity, the Galapagos are in trouble’. Pressures are coming on all fronts – controlling and eradicating invasive plant and animal species takes huge resources, introduced goats being the biggest threat. Government and political wrangling has led to poor management with eight park directors coming and going in one two year period alone. The explosion in population is probably the catalyst that is fuelling the biggest threat to the marine ecosystem however, thousands of fishermen from mainland Ecuador having moved to the islands in the early 1990’s to exploit the sea cucumber fishery. Having decimated the sea cucumber and lobster fisheries in a few short years, the fishermen now want to fish the marine reserve for lucrative and highly profitable shark fins. It has been predicted that if this frontier mentality of ‘grab what you can before it is all gone’, which has done so much damage to the fisheries in the islands, was to be unleashed on the shark populations, there will be no sharks in 10 years time.
These conservation reports from international bodies gradually gathered momentum in recent years and in early 2007 the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa decided that strong measures would have to be taken to protect the archipelago. An emergency decree was signed into law, with the intention of ‘pushing for a series of actions to overcome the huge institutional, environmental and social crisis in the islands’. Shortly afterwards he ordered his government ministers to come up with proposals. This coincided with a United Nations delegation visiting the islands to determine whether the World Heritage site should be declared ‘in danger’. The following few weeks saw greater pace happening at a political level leading to the dive ban in July. There are a few theories as to why diving activities were targeted so directly and I leave it to you to decide which is most likely.
In June 2007, UNESCO designated Galapagos an endangered world heritage site and soon afterwards the director of the national park decided to strictly enforce all rules and regulations. Unfortunately, many of these rules, as well as the permits under which the operators work, date back to the 1970’s and have been changed numerous times making interpretation difficult. The current park director decided that in the absence of specific mention on permits, diving was an ‘illegal activity’. Each boat’s permit also has a basic itinerary listed, though each cruise itinerary must be specifically approved before departure. All of the dive boats, with the exception of two, did not have Wolf and Darwin listed on their basic permit and so were deemed to be at those islands illegally, an aircraft having photographed them there. How the resources to do this aerial photography came about is not clear to me as the islands have a much greater problem with illegal fishing.
This was dramatically highlighted by the Sea Sheperd Conservation Society ship, ‘Farley Mowat’ which had been in the Galapagos throughout June. On July 1st, the crew retrieved 30 miles of longlines with 270 hooks, 10 miles south of Isabela Island and 30 miles inside the park boundaries. Over the previous month they helped confiscate 19,000 illegally caught shark fins with the cooperation of the Ecuadorian Environmental Police. This clearly upset fishermen who had also been lobbying for an interpretation of a 1998 law calling for the specific issue of diving permits, to which they claim they have sole rights. Of course, the fishermen do not have the dive boats nor the technical expertise to run a dive operation but they could lease on their permits to the existing diving operations – ‘money for nothing’ to quote the Dire Straits song. The fishermen had also been lobbying for some time to legalise the sale shark fins, caught ‘accidentally’ in Ecuadorian waters, President Correa capitulating in late July. This left a situation where shark fishing remains illegal but the sale of shark fins to Asian buyers is not. In the absence of a means to determine whether a shark was caught accidentally or intentionally, this move is seen as a green light to fish sharks, to the dismay of conservationists worldwide.
While many of these events do not themselves tell us the full story, they do illustrate the complexities of life in South America where politics and bureaucracy make conclusions difficult. However, it is clear to me that early in the 21st century, the magnificant sharks and sea life of the Galapagos islands need more protection now than at any time in their 4 million year history.
John Collins.
Fitness for divers
Are You Really Fit for Diving?
When RNLI Lifeboats initiate a campaign on diver safety you know they must have good reason. Their stand at the Birmingham Dive Show last October was dominated by graphics and information to do with diver fitness – specifically heart health in the over 50’s.
Most divers consider themselves fit to dive if they have successfully passed their diving medical. CFT divers undergo a medical examination on first joining as a diving member; on reaching the age of 35; three yearly from the age of 35; and annually from the age of 55. The final guideline on the medical form also suggests a diving medical if the diver’s health status has changed since their last medical. However, there is a world of difference between being medically fit for diving and being physically fit and in good health. The purpose of the diving medical is to ensure that a person does not dive using scuba equipment if they have an underlying medical condition that would expose them to risk. More general physical fitness is a personal responsibility that we all have to ourselves.
The Dive Safety campaign came about through research which showed that over half of all diving deaths in the UK in the 2013 incident year were in divers aged 50 and over. British sub Aqua club (BSAC) figures showed that 8 of the 14 diving deaths (57%) that occurred in the UK during this time period were male divers in this age category. In addition, over the past two years, all nine diving fatalities attributed to medical causes were of divers in this same age range. As a result, the RNLI decided to run a campaign to encourage divers aged over 50 to make sure they are fit enough to cope with the rigours of diving.
Nick Fecher, diving safety lead at the RNLI, said: ‘Divers in this age range are likely to be experienced, safety-conscious divers who are aware of the risks involved in diving. However, the greatest risk they face is their health being able to cope with the demands of diving. I would encourage all divers, especially those aged over 50, to carry out a realistic and honest self-assessment of their health. Diving can be a demanding on the body and if you have a medical emergency when you’re mid-dive, the consequences could be fatal. Don't be afraid to say no to a dive if you have any concerns about your health, even if you're just about to enter the water’.
As a diver in this age group, this struck a chord with me and got me thinking not just about my own health, but that of my diving colleagues. I think it is fair to say that many divers over 50 approach the diving medical with a sense of foreboding, hoping that nothing will show up that would prevent them from diving. It's almost a case of keep your mouth shut and hope for the best, breathing a sigh of relief when you see the doctor sign on the dotted line. My personal approach has always been a little different, being a health professional myself as a pharmacist. In any healthcare role, you are always grateful for your own good health in helping others to overcome their health difficulties. As I approached the dreaded 50, I was undergoing regular medicals as a crewmember and helm on Kinsale lifeboat. On the smaller inshore lifeboats, the retirement age is 50, and on my last medical the doctor did flag raised blood pressure and suggested that I make some lifestyle changes to look after my health. I subsequently visited my own GP and got a thorough medical checkup which showed elevated cholesterol, a poor lipid profile and confirmed the raised blood pressure, putting me in a pre-hypertensive category and at risk of cardiovascular disease. At the time, I was also overweight, with a BMI of just under 30. I realised that it was time for a serious change in lifestyle.
My personal journey into better health over the past two years is one that I have really enjoyed and see it pay dividends on many levels every day. I shed the excess kilos and got fit. That improved fitness is a real benefit in diving as you are more nimble on the dive boat and in the water, as well as being stronger in lugging the gear. I found the guidance of a personal trainer invaluable and was most surprised at what I did not know about the importance of nutrition in our health. This has encouraged me to take this further and I am currently studying for a Nutrition Diploma. I would really encourage all of my fellow 50-something’s to take a hard look at your health and bite that bullet of doing something to improve it – you might be pleasantly surprised at how much you will enjoy getting fitter and healthier.
(2005 article & video)
The echo sounder shows blue water and a seabed of jagged red. The engine hums quietly while we follow a fixed search pattern, akin to mowing a lawn. As the minutes pass, we cannot help wondering if the given positions are accurate. We have a set of numbers for the bow and another for the boiler, both of which have been carefully entered into the Global Positioning System (GPS) unit. Suddenly the regular pattern of the rocky seabed spikes and a red rectangular shape builds across the screen, unmistakably man-made – the boiler. A weighted line and buoy, the shot-line, is dropped over the side and rapidly makes its way to the seabed, thirty five metres below.
We don our dry-suits, make final checks to equipment and agree the final details of the dive plan. Our objective is to shoot some Hi-Definition Digital Video of the wreck of the Aud for a forthcoming television series on Cork Harbour. I know from many years of diving the wreck that this may not be easy. Lying just off the Smiths Bank outside the harbour, the wreck is often dark and rarely has clear water. Mostly it is diving in low visibility with powerful underwater lights to pick out details of the ship. But on this August weekend, we are optimistic, having fine weather, a calm sea and a planned low tide to give us maximum bottom time. I put my face-mask in place, signal ok the the skipper and roll easily over the side.
As the bubbles from my splash subside, I notice the clarity of the water here at the surface and smile – it looks great. The camera system is handed down, I power it up, check it and swim to the buoy marking the wreck site. My buddy joins me and we signal to descend, releasing air from our buoyancy jackets to begin the dive. Looking down the line as we swim, the visibility is holding up – it is the clearest I have ever seen here. We arrive on the seabed to see wreck debris, always a relief as this wreck is an easy one to miss. Most of the superstructure has been flattened through repeated depth-charging and wire dragging. I adjust the camera for the lighting conditions and check the monitor only to see a free-swimming conger eel casually approach. These hefty steel-grey residents are numerous on the wreck, but mostly hide under metal structures or in pipes. It is unusual to witness the grace of their movement through the water. We check our compasses briefly and agree the the main wreckage lies to our north.
We soon begin to see more substantial pieces of wreckage and our first bullets on the seabed. No matter how many times you see them, their silent testament to a time gone by is poignant – a snapshot of the 1916 struggle for Irish independence. Swimming on, the pages of history keep turning and as I build images of the wreck to share with others, I think of how difficult it is to communicate just how it feels to be here. Making still or moving images of wreckage that tell something of the story is always a challenge, despite the clear conditions. Suddenly, I notice my dive buddy discover a small box of bullets, the cardboard long since rotted away. The sea has fused them together to become a single time-capsule. This image of a diver’s discovery and connection with another time is a powerful one in my mind and I visualise it on film. I signal, and my dive buddy holds station where she hovers over the wreckage. I frame a sequence of this tactile connection to the brave men and women who gave so much of themselves for our freedom and think, yes, this few seconds of film will tell much of the story of Roger Casment, Karl Spindler and the crew of the SMS Libau, – alias, The Aud.
Marine Protection in Scottish seas
(This article first appeared in SubSea Magazine, Spring 2016)
John Collins reports on recently granted Marine Protected status for the Sound of Mull.
Marine Protected Areas are a hot topic throughout the European Union. All countries are obliged to protect some areas of their waters under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive or face substantial fines. On a recent trip to dive the Sound of Mull – a longtime favourite among divers, the announcement that the waters most popular for diving had just been granted protection, was great news for divers and dive centres alike. This prompted the question as to what possible areas in Ireland might be protected in the future and how this might affect popular dive sites.
I had joined a group of friends from Dalkey Scuba Divers for a long weekend’s diving from Ballycastle, taking in Rathlin Island and the Scottish Isles, with Richard Lafferty of Aquaholics. Frequently billed as the “best diving weekend ever!”, this group has been doing the trip since 2008. Conditions do vary of course each year, but the diving in the Sound of Mull and the neighbouring islands is always something special. This year, the water was unseasonably cold for mid June – a chilly 9°C – and the visibility was down on previous years but that did not dampen enthusiasm. There are some really nice scenic dives but the highlight of diving in this area are the shipwrecks.
After the 60 mile crossing from Ballycastle to Oban, the first available wreck is that of the ‘Breda’, a short distance from the town. This is quite often a ‘green’ dive as the area does not get a significant wash of tide each day but, being intact and upright, it is an easily navigated and enjoyable dive. The same cannot be said for the wrecks in the Sound of Mull itself – really strong tidal streams restrict diving on most of the wrecks to slack water. This does make them biologically high energy sites and all the of the wrecks have wonderful encrusting marine life.
The human stories behind the wrecks are always intriguing and some of the shipping losses have occurred in comparatively recent times. One of the most dramatic wreck dives is on that of the ‘Rondo’. Built towards the end of World War I, she had started life as the ‘War Wonder I’, but as the fit out was not complete until September 1918, she did not see any war action and was renamed ‘Lithopolis’. She was renamed twice more with ownership changes, firstly to ‘Laurie’ in 1930, and then to ‘Rondo’ by its Norwegian owners in 1934. In January of the following year, she was making her way from Glasgow to Dunstan in ballast to pick up a cargo destined for Oslo. Sailing north into the Sound of Mull, a savage winter storm forced her to take shelter from a blinding snowstorm in Aros Bay near Tobermory. Unfortunately, the anchor chain parted and she was soon drifting helplessly eastwards down the Sound by gale force winds and strong tides, until being swept on to the point on Dearg Sgeir, narrowly missing the small lighthouse. By dawn, the Captain and 22 crew realised that they were high and dry astride a rock. Attempts at repair and salvage failed and the ship eventually broke up and slipped into deep water. Today, the ‘Rondo’ lies almost vertically in the water, with the bow at 50 metres, while the stern and rudder post are just a few metres from the surface. This dramatic incline makes it a cracking visual tour, criss-crossing the decks from your chosen depth up to the shallows and your safety stop.
There are enough wrecks in the area to keep a diver occupied for several days, including the ‘Hispania’ and the ‘Shuna’. However, it is even better to venture outside the Sound to the nearby island of Coll, as the visibility increases dramatically in the open water. Weather does not always favour diving the wreck of the ‘Tapti’ and it is quite a long boat journey offshore, but it is a rare treat to dive a wonderfully varied wreck with beautiful marine life in easy depth. It is the most recent of the wrecks in the area, having been lost in 1951. This 6600 ton cargo vessel was also in ballast, making its way from the Mersey to the Tyne to pick up a cargo bound for India, when she was caught in a violent storm and was driven up on the rocks at Soa Island on the south end of Coll. As well as being a fantastic dive in its own right, the area is known for its abundance of both seals and basking sharks.
There was one final wreck that everybody was looking forward to diving back in the Sound itself – the 1887 Belfast built ‘Thesis’. Details of the loss of this ship in October 1889 are vague but it is known that she did strike a reef towards the southern end of the Sound. All eleven crew managed to make it safely ashore but the ship sank in deep water within a few hours. The wreck lies on a steeply sloped shingle seabed between 20 and 35 metres depth. It has always been enjoyable as the decks and iron plating have fallen away over the years and all that remains is the hull. Visibility is often excellent and as the light penetrates, the many openings along the hull create a visually stunning wreck-scape. This is how we recalled this dive from previous years but heard locally in Tobermory that a scallop dredger had damaged the wreck last winter.
As we descended the shot line, we were greeted with an unrecognisable wreck that had been badly damaged. This was only my second Scottish Isles trip with Richard – I had done just one dive on the ‘Thesis’ on which I shot video – but I could not recognise this as being the same wreck at all. Back on the boat, everyone agreed that the wreck had been hugely damaged which opened the conversation as to what type of fishing equipment had caused such destruction. Later, we went ashore for a lunchtime surface interval and asked the staff at Lochaline Dive Centre about the damage to the ‘Thesis’. The answer was a mixture of disappointment and disbelief but allied to the recently announced Marine Protected Area for the Sound of Mull – there was an air of optimism that the marine life and shipwrecks in the area would at least get a break from now on.
We also chatted about one of the scenic wall dives that we had done near Tobermory, as a few divers noticed a lot of damage to the seabed just off the wall. It is hard not to conclude that bottom trawling and scallop dredging in particular are seriously destructive. Stopping these alone would be a good thing for the marine environment. I have asked many people since then about Marine Protected Areas and Special Areas of Conservation and it is both a complex and contentious area. Fishing communities will rarely agree to changes that restrict long held practices but, without buy-in from locals, any imposed restrictions seem doomed to failure. A case in point is Lyme Bay in Dorset where a decision to close off 60 square nautical miles of the bay to scallop dredging and bottom-trawling in 2008, had been a complete failure, as it resulted in the doubling of other fishing techniques. In 2012, a collaborative approach was taken by the British Blue Marine Foundation who sought to engage with the local community and have successfully got fishermen from four ports to sign up to a voluntary code to restrict the amount of gear used by any one boat to 250 crab and lobster pots, 500 whelk pots and individual nets of a maximum 600m. The partnership, which is more “low impact” than “no-take”, aims to “boost tourism and the local economy”.
It did make me wonder about protecting some of our popular diving areas, and how this might affect the marine life in years to come. One of the longest established Marine Reserves in Europe is Lough Hyne in Co. Cork. Established under the 1976 Wildlife Act, its protected status dates back 1981 we in Ireland have much to protect around our coastline since then, in establishing Special Areas of Conservation (SAC’s) and Special Protection Areas (SPA’s). These go some way towards meeting our commitments under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive but the hard work of establishing fully protected marine areas is only beginning. Getting agreement from fishing communities is going to be difficult however, judging by just one example in west Cork. Efforts to draft a management plan for Roaringwater Bay – deemed a site of exceptional conservation importance, supporting diverse marine and terrestrial habitats – have not reached agreement after prolonged discussions.
It is difficult to be optimistic after reading about and discussing these topics with Marine Scientists. Perhaps the only viable protected areas will be those where a boost to tourism would outweigh fishing revenues and where communities would take a longer term view. The recent designation of 30 new Marine Protected Areas in Scottish seas, increasing the level of MPA’s and marine conservation zones to over 20% of Scottish waters, is estimated to have a “scenario-based” value of between £6.3 billion and £10 billion, boosting fish stocks, biological diversity and tourism revenues whilst generating employment for coastal communities in sustainable employment programmes. And while it is too late for the previously wonderful wreck of the ‘Thesis’, at least the Sound of Mull and other Marine Protected Areas may preserve the marine environment for future generations of divers to enjoy.
One of the great joys of scuba diving and exploring our undersea world is the colour that is revealed by our dive lights. Marine life in both temperate and coral seas has a startling variety of colours that are remarkable to witness. But in general, the wider view and experience of being underwater is that of a monochrome setting – primarily of a green hue in temperate latitudes and of a blue hue in the tropics. The latter has often struck me as being similar to traditionally printed black and white images that are then selenium toned – a favourite way of working for me back in the chemical darkroom days.
Seeing in this way is akin to paring back an image to its most graphic simplicity and one that I enjoy exploring. The line and curve of light are of a different nature when colour does not distract. Here are some black and white underwater moments to ponder...
Late spring and early summer brings oceanic visitors to temperate shores. Here in Ireland, we have recently enjoyed some great early summer weather and the calm seas and plentiful plankton have allowed numerous encounters with Basking Sharks. These are the second largest fish in the sea – only the tropical water Whale shark is larger. Despite their large size (6-8 metres), they feed only on plankton and small fish, and it is this pursuit of food that brings them close to Irish and British coasts. Every year is different, so there is always an element of surprise and wonder when we are given an opportunity of a close encounter.
Along the Cork coast here in Ireland, there have been reports of hundreds of sharks seen by fishermen, sailors and divers. On hearing that there were several sharks visible from shore in Baltimore, I took a drive down and arrived late in the day to meet with fellow underwater photographers who had great luck in snorkelling with these gentle giants.
The sharks were clearly visible from the beacon in Baltimore, so I donned freediving gear and headed out, hoping for the best. They seems quite leisurely late in the day, no doubt with full bellies of plankton soup, but are still a challenge to get near and keep up. Despite the short encounters, you are left in awe of their size and grace in the water, and savour such a special moment in the sea.
Panoramic photography has an enduring appeal that goes right back to earliest days of photography. Once images of outdoor scenes could be made with consistency, there was a desire to capture the widest vista possible by combining images in print. Some of these are remarkable to look back on - there is an amazing collection in the USA Library of Congress.
This remarkable image of Lusitania arriving in New York harbour in 1907 exemplifies the panoramic format and was made from just two plates. The eye has so much exploring to do and it is this visual journey that sets the panoramic format apart.
Kinsale harbour at dusk: Stiched panorama made from seven individual images.
Inon Japan have just announced a series of filters to compliment their excellent GoPro lenses. This really gives us superb options to make the best underwater footage an photos from these amazing action cameras.
I like to compile a few notes for workshop participants after a photography workshop while the locations and topics covered are fresh in everybody’s mind. Well done to the recent group that joined me for a wonderful few days on our north coast – for working hard, both physically and creatively – we actually walked over 10 km on Sunday! You were a great group and as well as getting on with our photography, we had a laugh over the weekend.
The Great Pollet Arch, Fanad, Donegal, at dawn.
When we first met on Friday afternoon, I mentioned that there are three areas that are important in your photography: I would summarise these as being:
Vision, Field craft and Processing.
From our first shoot at the Forest Park and waterfall, I encouraged you to explore a scene and look for compositions before taking out your tripod and camera. Using a simple frame or an optical viewfinder, it gives us the freedom to explore more angles, heights, perspectives and encourages compositions other than that from the full height of your tripod. Some compositions are just harder to visualise than others, particularly with extreme wide-angle lenses or for panoramas for example.
Camera or Field Craft
Being outside in nice locations and with nice light is the core element that has attracted us all to photography. We just like to savour this sense of place, moment and light and to capture how that feels to us in our photographs. In refining our skills in the field, or main job is to capture the best raw file possible and I enjoyed seeing everybody grasp that concept really well. Our light meters, especially in low light, or with strong neutral density filters, only give us a starting point. As we make our exposures, we assess our histograms, not just the main luminance but all three colour channels, to ensure that we do not lose any data in our capture. This often means that the raw file looks underexposed but as we saw this gives us the best starting point for our processing later.
This is an excerpt from the full pdf of notes from the workshop. Check the workshop pages for upcoming dates..
The 'Dark Hedges' at Dusk.
Underwater Photography Workshop
Oonasdivers – Sharks Bay Umbi Village, Red Sea – September 2015
John Collins
The following notes are a summary of those given to workshop participants by John Collins at the end of the week’s workshop at Sharks Bay Umbi Village, Red Sea, September 2015 .
Having arrived to searing heat and realising that we were in the midst of a sandstorm, the surface conditions for diving were going to prove challenging. This was indeed the case as we did almost three days of shore diving on the house reef in Sharks Bay, before the boat jetties along the coast were reopened for diving. This gave us an opportunity to work on various techniques on a familiar, easy dive site and was actually a great way to start the week.
At the outset of the workshop, I described to everyone what I consider the three pillars of good photography – Vision, Craft and Finishing. Because underwater photography is so difficult and complex, the craft element tends to dominate proceedings. Core diving skills need to be second nature before you can give your attention to your photography. Good buoyancy control, finning technique and taking care on delicate reef areas are important skills to master, before we become immersed in our camera work. In turn, underwater photography has two distinct genres: close-up or macro photography; and wide-angle scenic photography. The approach, mindset and technique differs substantially between the two. The three golden rules that I mentioned at our first presentation were: Get Close, Shoot upwards, and Take Control. These hold true even when you come to very advanced underwater photographic technique.
On equipment, we discussed fundamental maintenance and protecting our equipment. We noted that not all O-rings or O-ring grease are the same; the older hard rubber type O-rings use a stronger grease, whereas the modern fluorosilicone (soft) O-rings use a lighter grease. Having a routine of assembly and check for each stage of building and assessing your rig is a good workflow, so that you don’t omit a step. The core things to check are: focus, exposure controls (aperture and shutter speed), flash synchronisation and the final housing integrity check after everything has been set up.
Reviewing Fundamental camera controls
Much of modern photography, particularly underwater, involves “taming” the camera. Camera systems are so complex, with so many choices and options, and increasing automation, that it makes them difficult to simplify for use underwater. Knowing your individual camera, its lens or lenses and understanding all of its menus, settings and custom controls is really fundamental.
We mentioned that the two things that change regularly when we are shooting in a housed camera system are focus and exposure. With modern autofocus systems being so reliable we can use them to our advantage underwater. However, we must know and understand all of the autofocus modes settings and controls so that we can use the focus system in a way that suits on water shooting. We did not dwell on camera basics e.g. aperture, shutter speed and so on, because all of you have a very strong fundamental knowledge of how cameras work on land. For our purposes in making photographs and see, use fully manual controls over exposure with a single exception of using Aperture priority when shooting macro. The latter works because we do not have to consider ambient light when shooting small marine life – the lighting comes exclusively from our strobe strobes. For wide-angle, we set the exposure for the ambient light to give a correct tonal representation of the water background and we use subtle fill in lighting for our foreground. I have found that centre -weighted metering for this purpose works best.
A basic workflow underwater
As a basic approach and workflow, we work by deciding on what lens aperture to use first, to give us the depth of field that we would like. We then begin by setting the lowest usable ISO and using the light meter in the camera, we set the shutter speed to render a pleasing porn to the water background, generally pointing the light meter towards the upper third of the frame, but not including strong highlights from the sun overhead. Finally, we adjust the power output and position of our strobes to give the most pleasing foreground lighting. If you want to go about this methodically, have a workflow where you meet and set the ambient light exposure and take a frame, reviewing the histograms – before you power up your strobes. Then turn on each strobe in turn, making an exposure and adjusting the power until you get nicely balanced light.
Lighting techniques
You will recall the lighting presentation, as most people find it really helpful on these workshops. When we bring a full camera system strobes underwater, we are effectively bringing studio lighting and using it to photograph seascapes and marine life. The same principles that apply in the studio apply to us when we are driving.
And just as a photographer in his or her studio would soften studio lighting using umbrellas or soft boxes, we control our lighting with the use of diffusers and by varying the power between two flashes (when we are using to). In the studio, we would have a 2:1 ratio between the main light and the fill light and this principle can also help us underwater.
Avoiding lighting particulate matter in the water, which is what causes backscatter, is also a key consideration for us. The main thing to watch out for is stirring up the seabed with our fins and creating particles that our lights can pick up; in other words, don’t make your own backscatter! The technique that we use to avoid backscatter is to not light the area between the port of the camera housing and the subject with direct lighting from our strobe(s). When we apply this principle to twin flash lighting, we position the lights so that the edges just meet in the centre of our frame and do not light a triangular area inside the beams between the subject and camera housing.
Similarly, it is important to remember to move your strobes closer to your housing as you move closer to your subject. If you do not risk leaving dark area in the centre of the frame because your lights are too far apart.
Other lighting techniques we discussed, were raising the lights higher into what is called “rabbit ears” position; and inward or diagonal lighting to create more texture and contrast. These are really worthwhile techniques to explore, so that your photographs do not always have the same lighting.
Advanced techniques
As the week progressed and we became more proficient, we introduced some more advanced techniques with close focus wide-angle and macro/super macro. In our Close Focus Wide Angle Masterclass, we reviewed the origin of this technique going back to National Geographic photographer Jerry Greenberg. This technique uses extreme wide-angle and fisheye lenses to create an image with a dominant foreground subject and a subtle far subject. The two elements need to link in a visual, creative or storytelling sense. We are now working very very close to a dominant subject – in the range of 10 to 20 cm and both the equipment required and the technique in capturing images requires consideration. Small domes, typically 4 inches/10 cm work best.
Visualising these images can be tricky and you will need to train your eye to recognise suitable combinations of a near and far subject combination. This can be difficult without using the lens and its super wide view to “sketch” the image. When you see a potential setup, try to critically examine whether the image has a feeling of depth from foreground to distance and a three-dimensional feel as a result. To make this close focus technique work, we need suitable water conditions – calm water, clear visibility and good ambient light. We are also shooting at a considerable upwards angle, generally greater than 45°. This is where an angled enhanced viewfinder comes into its own.
To create the balanced lighting that we discussed with Cousteau’s “kiss of flash” – we work as follows: consider the ambient light first, its direction and quality; next decide on your aperture/shutter speed/ISO and make a quick exposure to assess the exposure of the ambient light. Next, switch on your flash or flashes and working from their lowest power and closest positioning to your housing, make some test exposures to give suitable foreground lighting. The power and position of your strobes are key to creating really compelling images.
With macro and super macro photography, remember that lighting comes exclusively from our strobes or flashes. Aperture is our primary consideration – we want as much depth of field as possible. Shutter speed is set and fixed between 1/60 and 1/250 second – and our strobe power and position determines our exposure and lighting. With supermacro, where we are adding a dedicated underwater dioptre, typically between +5 and +15 power. Our depth of field becomes extremely limited with these supplementary lenses, so “paralleling the subject” by having the front of your macro port in alignment with the plane of focus of your subject will help to retain as much depth of field as possible.
I do hope that you have enjoyed the week and I know that I have seen improvements in everybody’s skills, creativity and technique. Please feel free to contact me with any questions that come to mind as you review your images again when you get home and thank you all so much for coming along on this workshop.
Continued success in your underwater photographic adventures,
John C.
Most 'serious' underwater photographers aspire to using a large sensor camera like a modern DSLR or Mirrorless interchangeable lens (MILC). The image quality and lens choices are significantly better than with a small sensor compact camera. If you have built up dedicated underwater compact system, however, there is one significant advantage with a compact – you can change lenses underwater.
The recent introduction of a high quality wet wide angle lens from housing manufacturer Nauticam opens this versatility to systems other than compacts. This is seriously compelling for mirrorless users, so I decided to put it to the test on a recent trip to Lanzarote. I bought adapters and port fittings for my existing Inon wet lenses that I use on a compact Canon S110 outfit. The images in this blog post were all shot on a single dive with Safari Diving Lanzarote and show that the versatility of being able to change lenses during a dive opens up a world of possibilities...
This image, taken off the south coast of France, has inspired me to read up about the man whose bust lies on the seabed a short distance offshore. Looking out from the port of Golfe Juan on the French Riviera, towards Île Saint-Marguerite, you will see a small striped lighthouse, La Pierre Fourmigue. The rock on which the lighthouse is built has several popular dive sites but one has a rather special link to diving history. Le Sec de Miro (Le Grotte de Miro) holds the bust of Commandant Yves Le Prieur, who was an officer in the French Navy.
It seems Monsieur Le Prieur had many talents as he was the first Frenchman to earn a black belt in judo, and invented many things including a rocket launcher to take down observation balloons and the first self-contained underwater breathing apparatus – or scuba, as the world knows it today.
Commandant Yves Le Prier's 1934 French patent for scuba apparatus
The concrete bust of Le Prieur was created by an artist called Amaryllis, is 80cm high and weighs 100kg. It was submerged at this location in 1985.