Getting “the shot” in Blackwater Diving is a culmination of different factors……and of course a little dose of luck.
During Blackwater Dives, the format of the dive is very different to regular day or night dives. We are swimming around in midwater searching the entire water column looking for critters to pop up in our torch beam.
Good buoyancy control and propulsion techniques are your first step to getting better photos. This helps you position yourself better for the small and fast moving critters, whilst also allowing yourself to stay steady enough to obtain focus.
Familiarity with your camera’s focusing methods is the next step. Most people say that focusing is the hardest part of Blackwater Dives due to the creatures often being quite small, moving erratically and cameras often struggling to differentiate between the subject and the other plankton or sediment in the water.
Finally is your settings and strobe positioning. A high aperture gives you the best chance of getting the animal sharp, especially if you feel you might not have had the focus point exactly right.
A small increase in ISO lets you reduce the power of the strobes so you can take many photos in a short space of time whilst you have your critter “locked on”.
Strobes facing directly forward so the edges of the beam are lighting up your minimum focus distance will almost certainly provide decent exposure. But you may want to experiment with strobes wider apart facing inwards or even having one behind the subject if you notice reflective critters are being completely blown out.
Why Dive With NAD-Lembeh Resort?
LOCATION
NAD-Lembeh Resort is a small, owner-operated, photography-oriented dive resort in the Lembeh Strait. We are situated in a private bay on Lembeh Island, away from the hustle and bustle of the mainland. We guarantee a 2:1 guest to guide ratio as standard, which makes for a private dive experience and lots of time to take pictures.
ROOMS & BUNGALOWS
All our rooms (10 Beachfront Rooms, 5 Seaview Bungalows) offer ocean view, air conditioning, hot water, wifi, including full board. Our resort has only few steps, which makes our layout extremely convenient to get from your room to the restaurant, camera room, bar and floating jetty.
DIVE CENTER
Our dive team consists of 15 full-time guides, with over 100 years of combined experience! Air as well as Nitrox and various cylinder sizes (both DIN and Yoke are available onsite).
BOATS & FLOATING JETTY
NAD-Lembeh has 4 large, purpose-built dive boats. Each at around 15m long, they offer lots of space and comfort for the divers. Boats feature onboard toilets, towels, drinks and snacks and first aid/ oxygen.
Our jetty allows our guests dignified and quick boat entries – all our dive boats can be moored simultaneously, so there is no wading through the shallows to get on the boat for the dive!
PHOTO CENTER
Our focus at NAD is to take your underwater photography to the next level. We offer 1:1 photo classes and our guides are all proficient with photography, using our rental equipment for fun dives when not diving with guests.
We shoot video up to 8K, along with Nikon/ Canon SLR and mirrorless setups. This gives us a rounded knowledge of all cameras. We are also the go-to location for natural history filming in the Straits.
CAMERA ROOM
Our newly renovated, huge camera room offers one work space for each and every guest. The spacious, individual benches with lots of power points were purposely built for underwater photographers. NAD’s dedicated camera room is also the perfect place to work on and edit your pictures.
Several rental cameras and strobes are available onsite. We have basic tools and spare parts in our gift shop in case of minor camera problems as well as a drying cabinet, and computer for you to work on and edit your photos.
