HOW TO STOP WATER DROPS!!! Improve Your Surf & Water Photography/Videos With These Quick Tips!

[@brandondax5828]

Best tutorial on KZbin hands down for ports!

[@ConnorTrimble]

lesssssgo, thank you!

[@Mcgeee]

Dude this is amazing! Can really tell all the hard work you put into it. Less is definitely more.

[@ConnorTrimble]

Thanks!! :D Yeah no one likes a hazy shot haha

[@gman5375]

Great vid man! I think the reason candle wax is suggested is to ensure you don’t pick up a bar of wax you’ve been rubbing on a sandy board. Nobody is waxing their boards with candles so it eliminates the chances of scratching your lens.

[@ConnorTrimble]

100%, I also wonder if part of it is the temperature as well. A lot of the videos I've seen on candle wax have been form places with water temp that's colder than Hawai'i.

[@briandaniel3268]

I like the small squeegee method idea. Nice work.

[@ConnorTrimble]

thanks! defintiely clutch on a jet ski or sail boat too!

[@saltynat]

Thank you so much for these videos! Super helpful

[@ConnorTrimble]

Glad I could help!

[@dianeserra5962]

Hopping back on here to confirm that all your tips worked for me! Thanks so much. I enjoyed shooting a local surf school recently and came home with a ton of great photos to edit without waterdrops, yay! I'm feeling more confident now. :)

[@ConnorTrimble]

Let's gooooo!!! Psyched for you!

[@hel1007]

Just starting surf photography and I wanted to thank you, I will try asap :D

[@ConnorTrimble]

100% psyched to see what you capture someday!

[@hawaiifreespeechnews]

Excellent video Connor, I would love to see a video on your camera settings when shooting with water housing 🤙🏾

[@ConnorTrimble]

That's coming this week (:

[@hawaiifreespeechnews]

@@ConnorTrimble Awesome, I can't wait 👏🏽

[@kneepayne]

Really good and practical advice

[@ConnorTrimble]

Thanks!!

[@Domcaptures]

Some good info right here 😊

[@Thalesaraujophotos]

Nice . Subscrived. Aloha from Rio de Janeiro

[@ConnorTrimble]

Thanks for the support!

[@megantuckerr]

This is so helpful thank you! Keen to get back in the water and test the wax method out 😊

[@ConnorTrimble]

100%, glad it helped!

[@InventiveImagery]

Just finished watching the whole thing. Great video. Just to clarify, never use surf wax on domes..only on flat ports?

[@ConnorTrimble]

Don't use wax on domes honestly, I don't like it. I still just spit.

[@paulomello4669]

Good job❤

[@ConnorTrimble]

Thank you very much!

[@Auroralover9797]

Thank you Connor. There's so many helpful things in the video. I have so many questions. I am not a surfer and just started water photography, so I get knocked down a lot and don't go out too far. Is a dome port better for that situation? I have a flat port right now and use the spit method. I still get weird streaks and drops. Appreciate any advice. 🙏

[@ConnorTrimble]

What's going on, if you're in a shore break zone with a lot of bubbles constantly on the surface then a dome might be good. But based on my experience, I'd assume you have the right port, you just need to NOT use the spitting method with a flat port! Try the surf wax method, or guaranteed working method with a squeegee :)

[@STUDIO777]

Hi! I have a question for you: is it correct to ask photographers on which camera they shoot from the water and why? I sold my camera and aqua box. Now I think it was a spontaneous decision and I'm thinking about which camera is better for shooting.

[@ConnorTrimble]

I think it's a great question and completely depends on the needs of each person + their budget. If you only will use your camera for diving then maybe a nauticam housing, but for surfing + diving or just surf the Aquatech is great for hosuings. As far as cameras go, I think that toally depends on the budget, but I really love my Canon r5 for nearly everything.

[@STUDIO777]

@@ConnorTrimble Thank you. What lenses do you use to shoot underwater? And what kind of aquabox with a wide-format lens or not and in what cases

[@ConnorTrimble]

I use a 15-35 underwater with an 8 inch dome usually!

[@gordonschuecker]

Amazing thx! So GoPro only licking, surf wax or oil doesn't work that well there? I'm filming a lot of kitesurfing and I have not been super convinced by the licking method... Will test your other tips!

[@ConnorTrimble]

If the GoPro is in a place you can lick it easily, I suggest that method! If it's not then you can try using surf wax, face oil or even RainX helps water drops fly off especially it it won't be submerged much then it'll wick off decently well. I think it depends on how wet the camera will be getting, if you give me more info on that maybe we can find some practical methods for ya!

[@afluidvision8929]

Filming surfing, going under water heaps I’m finding I’m getting a really thin layer of water that eventually runs off the lens but messes with the focus. Would you recommend wax? I havnt found licking to be all that helpful in that situation

[@ConnorTrimble]

If you're in foam a lot then it doesn't come off as easy, but I'd suggest trying a squeegee if you're still having issues

[@afluidvision8929]

@@ConnorTrimble thanks for the reply, yea I ended up getting a squeegee fixed all my problems haha

[@bisbbisb]

Hey Connor, great vids! I just picked up an Aquatech Edge housing to shoot surf/waves. I've been an u/w photog on the Big Island for about 20 year and have used "Lemon Pledge" on my acrylic domes for water drops, trust me it works lol. Spray on a layer and buff with a paper towel, it won't scratch the port. ;-) What I'm looking for is the vid you shot for setting you use for shooting sunset or sunrise??? Can you direct me to it??? Thx Aloha!

[@ConnorTrimble]

Hey there! I'll try the lemon pledge on the dome for sure, but I think Red Bull or Gatorade and spitting may be tastier haha For settings at sunrise or sunset, it's the lowest or most wide open f-stop and shutter is ideally 1000, but sometimes I'll let it go to 800 or even 500 if it's super dark. ISO I try to keep under 400, but usually 800 for those dark shorebreak barrels.

[@InventiveImagery]

@@ConnorTrimble did you ever end up testing Pledge?

[@ConnorTrimble]

@@InventiveImagery I didn't do pledge but was with a friend testing a thick coat of wax and think spitting still works better. I honestly still don't love round ports, I'd much rather deal with a dry port on a flat one.

[@InventiveImagery]

@@ConnorTrimble yeah was not having the best luck with surf wax yesterday. That water stuck to it even with the wax being buffed in. Do you ever find yourself needing to burn your port glass? Similar to how goggles have that small plastic layer?

[@ConnorTrimble]

@@InventiveImagery I've never done that with needing to burn a port before, but I think certain ports have different properties to them. I can honestly say that my least favorite part about aquatech is the element coating compared to my CMT. For some reason those were just better with not having water spots than AT, but each system has its quarks you just have to learn to live with because none are perfect and shooting in the water is really difficult.

[@charlesnetzler2262]

Any tips for removing a lens port from a housing when its super stuck?

[@ConnorTrimble]

Ooooof, honestly putting it between your legs, using a towel or something to grip the port better and doing your best to get it off without damaging anything.

[@gamechanger-o5t]

Hola Conor, I believe you mentioned in this video the fact that it's optimal for the lens glass to be as close as possible to the port lens. is image affected in any way using your 24-105 zoom vs say a prime lens ?. Cheers.

[@ConnorTrimble]

This is where prime lenses have a huge advantage over the 24-105 f4 or 24-70 f2.8 in the port because they're closer to the glass. This also included internal zoom lenses like the 15-35 or new 24-105 f2.8. If you're a lot of issues with water spots, I suggest trying to use a prime with a wide open aperture like f2 and the extra blur helps hide the fact that you have water spots. Let me know if that all makes sense haha. I'll try to explain more if needed.

[@AWilliamsfilm]

Local photographer uses lens cleaner on a flat port , he says water will come straight off a superclean flat lens port. ever tried this?

[@ConnorTrimble]

I haven't tried that yet

[@puresounds196]

Thx for your effort and the amazing video ❤

[@ConnorTrimble]

My pleasure 😊