Shooting Freedivers
Most days when I scuba dive I photograph corals, fishes and invertebrates, but in recent years I have also had the chance to photograph freedivers underwater. The art of diving without any scuba gear is of course much older than actual scuba diving with modern equipment, and in recent years freediving has experienced somewhat of a renaissance, with the vibe of meditation and calmness underwater attracting many thoughtful and reflective ocean-lovers to the sport.
While a scuba diver with all his gear will always look a bit clumsy and awkward underwater, a freedivers will have these Silver Surferesque aesthetics to themselves. So, it’s a good creative challenge to photograph them.
Recently I spent some time photographing my friends from Dumagat Freedive in Dauin/Philippines:
The keys to good freediving photography in my opinion are:
- a very good wide-angle or fish-eye lens. I mostly used the Tokina 10-17 mm lens on my aged but still awesome Canon 5DII.
- Good viz
- Playfulness on all sides, and a willingness to experiment.
Over-under shots work well with freedivers:
Little tricks like blowing bubbles can look quite nice with freedivers:
When photographing nature I’m very cautious with digital imaging, but with freedivers it can enhance the otherworldly – outer space feel the images give off. A freediver in mid-water is already reminiscent of an astronaut in mid-space. Some color adjustment and some extra image manipulation can psychedelic the shots up quite a bit. This is in essence a matter of taste, but I like how it turned out in the shot below:
I also shot my freediving friends on video, while they were walking underneath a boat. I then turned the video around and added a comedic story to the clip:
This is of course inspired by the Monty Python classic:
Happy Fishes, Till Soon,
Klaus
