Shooting Portraits underwater can be especially challenging as most subjects like fish are moving constantly. You must nail that perfect composition, eye contact and focus. With that in mind we loved this playful capture of a Bat Ray from Cindy Shaw which took First Place in the Open Portrait Category. Here are the details that went into this winning image.

Title: Wanna Play?

Location Captured: Farnsworth Banks, Catalina Island

Camera / Housing: Olympus OM-D E-M5 with 12-50mm Lens in Nauticam Housing

Strobes / Lights: Dual Sea & Sea YS-D1 Strobes

Camera Settings: F8, 1/125th, ISO320

The Story: We arrived at Farnsworth early after crossing over from San Pedro on the Perfect Mistress with Captain Derek.  There were four divers, two of us with cameras set for the shootout.  We weren’t sure we would be able to dive the pinnacle when we saw so many boats there even earlier than our arrival.  Most were fishing boats and we smiled when we saw that the dive boat Vision was anchored at the high spot with divers already in the water.  Our Captains managed a smooth switch so we moved onto the pinnacle as they slipped off, all divers back on board.  Nicely done Captains!  We dropped into the water and could actually see the purple on the top of the pinnacle from the anchor line.  One of our divers had never been able to dive Farnsworth before and I loved knowing his first experience would be an epic dive.  We were able to stay for 2 full dives before the conditions encouraged us to move on.  I absolutely love California diving because you really never know what you will find until you go in and see.  We have incredible diversity and myriad of opportunities here.
At about 80 feet, it was darker, so I bumped my ISO  to try and allow more light in while still keeping blue water.  I shot LOTS of purple hydrocoral shots and loved doing it, but then I swam over a rise and saw this magnificent bat ray in a shallow sandy spot.  Her wingspan was easily 6 feet across I am sure because it was head to booties for me when I approached sideways.  I Quickly went to the most versatile camera settings I could in case she decided to fly.  Then I settled down slowly and moved my lens to 50mm a good distance back.  I took a series of shots as I approached closer ever so slowly and moved my lens to 12 mm.  We spent about 5-10 min together, but it felt much longer making me quietly check my remaining air frequently because of course I found her at the end of my second dive.   I approached from a slightly sideways angle hoping to frame her diagonally and she kept constant eye contact.  She shifted perfectly for me and rose up a little to prepare to fly but stayed as I put the camera down and we just hung out.  As she seemed more comfortable but didn’t settle flat again I picked up the camera and took 2-3 more portraits before she slowly rose, circled and dipped a wing in farewell.

The post SoCal Shootout: Story Behind the Shot, Cindy Shaw first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

Enjoy the video. I’m very happy what the OM-D can do with video, it handled the low light and over all blue tone of the water well. I did not white balance, as I had the one Sola 1200 (though two would have been much better!) and in general the detail in the video is great.

The post Clear Viz on the Rigs – Olympus OM-D Video first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

The OM-D E-M5 camera from Olympus is the latest in its line of mirrorless, micro-four thirds cameras. This camera takes this line to the next step, bringing the mirrorless style camera one step closer to closing the gap between these and entry level dSLR cameras.

Olympus harkens back to the retro styled body similar to their original OM camera line with this new camera. Available in black or silver, the body design includes nice front grip. The new camera ties in many features found in larger dSLR cameras, like dual control dials for quick and easy setting changes. Most importantly, the new E-M5 includes an electronic viewfinder. This viewfinder is bright and crisp allowing for easy shooting in bright light, or for people who are used to shooting through a viewfinder. While set to the viewfinder, the LCD displays a nice, Super Control Panel for easy access to many important functions like flash settings, single or continuous shooting, ISO, focus control, white balance and more. For others upgrading from compact cameras, there is a live view option with the 3″ LCD screen available at the touch of a button. The LCD screen is tilt-able, which also come in handy when shooting on land in bright condition. In addition, the E-M5 body has extensive weather proofing, a feature that could come in handy in an unfortunate underwater leak situation.

The E-M5 has a 16 megapixel sensor with Olympus’ new 5 axis image stabilization that works on both still images and video. It shoots full HD 1080, 60i video. One huge improvement with the E-M5 is the increased strobe sync speed of 1/ 250, faster than other competitors like the GX1, or NEX-5n and 7 which have a sync speed of 1/160. The camera has a high continuous shooting rate of 9 frames per second, though we found when shooting a fast moving subject there can be some focus drop. The camera handles high ISO well and offers ISO sensitivity up to 25,600. The E-M5 offers extremely quick focus speed, and still performed well in low light situations similar to those found underwater.

Pair the camera with the ever growing line of micro four thirds lenses for a wide variety of shooting options. The E-M5 is available as a kit with either the classic 14-42mm lens or Olympus’ new 12-50mm lens, both of which work well underwater. Panasonic’s 8mm fisheye lens and the upcoming Olympus 60mm macro lens will be a winning combination for any underwater set up.

Read the Full Review here.

The post OM-D EM-5 review part 1 first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.