Surf Photography - How to shoot in Manual mode with ease and success inside a water housing

[@instamauimatt]

Another super helpful discussion about shooting in the water! Keep em coming!

[@dreamlifephotography]

thanks Ledge, really appreciate the support!

[@66Jigsaw]

Great video, explained in simple terms!! well done mate

[@dreamlifephotography]

thanks mate, glad it came across well, appreciate your feedback

[@RuaridhKidd]

I've just started swimming out with my camera and housing and the biggest issue I seem to have is the lens sometimes focusing on some ridiculous spots like someone's knee or the headland in the back! I'll now give the f8 and manual focus a shot and see how that works. Thanks for your vids man! Super helpful and appreciated!

[@dreamlifephotography]

Yeah thanks for the kind words.. but be sure to only use the manual focus technique with lenses wider than 20mm otherwise you need to use auto focus and be sure to select single point focus to get the right distance locked in... hope that makes sense?

[@joshtwitchen]

I always come back and give every video a like!

[@dreamlifephotography]

I really appreciate this Josh, thanks so much

[@SplashGuestHouse]

Good video well explained , thanks for sharing.

[@thesearchforserotonin4068]

Love the channel Tom! I am just beginning my journey into wave/ocean photography and I just think your tips are priceless. Just got first first housing, a Seafrogs housing for my GH5 and it’s going on its maiden voyage next week in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Keep producing and we’ll keep watching. 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@dreamlifephotography]

Hey David thanks so much for your message and encouragement... it means a lot! Water photography is such an exciting journey... you are going to love the ride that for sure. If you haven't already checked it out, I have a FREE 40 minute Webinar/Training on water and surf photography. You can get access at the link below: waterphotographycourses.com/free-webinar-video

[@thesearchforserotonin4068]

@@dreamlifephotography and this is why you are the man!

[@ennooldigs2531]

Hi Tom, thanks for all your tips & tricks. I just went out with my water housing and the PD 140 dome port. Inside was the Canon 5d MK 2 and a Canon 16-35mm f/4. I tried autofocus but I had 95 % out of focus images. Next time I try the manual focus setting. do you think it would work with the 16-35mm ? I mostly shoot wingfoiling, so a lot of chop around me.. Cheers Enno

[@dreamlifephotography]

Hey Enno, thanks for your message mate... Yeah so if you are set at 16mm the manual focus technique will work well for anything above the water.... basically you are setting a focusing distance so if you get that right and the focus doesn't move inside your housing then everything above the surface will be in perfect focus... the other thing to consider with your out of focus images is to make sure your dome port is clear, when there is chop and spray sometimes its the lens port that is effecting your clarity of images, so that could also be a factor with your images.. Ive got more on all this inside a free 40 minute workshop if you haven't already seen it, you can get access at this link if you are interested: www.waterphotographycourses.com/wp-sign-up-page

[@ennooldigs2531]

Hey mate, thanks a lot for your reply. Much appreciated! I will check it out and try. @@dreamlifephotography

[@teimuraliev538]

Thanks brother 🤙

[@dreamlifephotography]

Cheers stoked you liked

[@randol160]

I'm subscribing after watching a few vids. watched your lick the port vid first and that helped me alot about timing. I had already done iso and limiting the maximum which has worked excellent

[@dreamlifephotography]

Awesome to hear!! appreciate your comments and thanks so much for subscribing

[@randol160]

@@dreamlifephotography I'm having trouble choosing focal lengths. Using a Sony a6400 and I have a couple options. Zeiss 35mm, sigma 30mm, sigma 16mm. Wondering if I need to try shooting with a longer focal length like maybe 56mm for capturing action from a distance or barrel shots from a safer distance.

[@dreamlifephotography]

@@randol160 In my online course I show techniques on how to navigate the lineup to minimise risk. I find shooting super wide is actually easier than longer lenses however a combination of both an ultra wide lens and a 50mm lens will give you some great variation. Link to details on water photography courses are: waterphotographycourses.com/

[@robbyfuggi7930]

This helped so much I am a well rounded surf photographer but I only shoot fron land.... just bought aqua tech base housing so :// appreciate the tips tho!

[@dreamlifephotography]

Thanks Robby, appreciate your message so much. The base housing is a great piece of equipment, no doubt you will produce some amazing pictures with it and more importantly have a heap of fun.

[@andrehilariophoto]

Nice video ! Would like to hear how do you set you manual focus on the lens, do you use hyperfocal ? How do you set it ? And don't you use tape to lock the focus anel ? Keep up the good work ! 🤙

[@dreamlifephotography]

Hey Andre thanks so much for your comment! I have been asked this a bit lately so I will follow up soon with a full video on my focusing methods with wide angel lenses. But basically when shooting above the surface with super wide lenses I use manual focus that is preset before it goes inside the housing. None of my focusing rings move on my canon lenses so I don't need to tape up, however I know a lot of crew do. So maybe different brands have looser focusing dials that may shift. The video to follow will go into more detail than i can here. Cheers

[@TheAssaschan]

When you're shooting waves underwater with this superwide lens, do you keep it on manual as well or autofocus? Great video as always mate 🤙

[@dreamlifephotography]

Yeah great question Sasch. I only use manual focus for above water shots. The focusing needs to be in auto if you plan to shoot underwater. I knew in this shoot that I was only ever going to shoot above the surface so thats why I went manual focus with this particular shoot. Thanks for asking this question. I may make this a topic for my next video, cheers mate Tom

[@RODPIKERDRONESUK]

Great video very nice indeed well done new subscriber here cheers take care and stay safe

[@dreamlifephotography]

thanks for coming on board!! stoked you are here!

[@ColmDoyle]

Hi Tom, great video again, looking forward to watching more, I just picked up a Base (V1) on sale to try get into some surf / water photography so your manual / limited control videos are very helpful, in this case why do you not go with aperture priority mode to let the shutter speed also adjust automatically? Another question about caring for the housing, when not in use do you leave your backplate clamped onto the housing via the quick release clips? I am wonder if having the backing always mounted will effect the seal / gasket long term? Thanks!!!

[@dreamlifephotography]

Hi Colm, appreciate your feedback. The base housing is a great product, Im sure you will have some great success with it! I do use aperture preferred a fair bit actually, its just that each video I do on here touches on one type of setting at a time. Will probably do an aperture preferred video down the track. When freezing the action is the main priority especially with a wide lens I go shutter preferred or manual with auto ISO because the effect of the aperture isnt as important, unlike when I use a 50mm lens. I definitely leave my back plate unclipped as it does put strain on the o-ring. I would suggest to store with the clip over but not locked down. Cheers mate Tom

[@ColmDoyle]

@@dreamlifephotography Cheers Tom good tip on storing with the latches over but not locked down, will look out for new content from yourself!

[@nicholasdegarmo2415]

Hey Tom, first, really appreciate your showing the process of what and how you do for different situations. Another video of yours I watched recommended a 50 or 55mm lens. I am just getting into photography especially surfing and diving and am curious how big a difference 5mm would make? Is it more about the fstop at 1.8 or 2.8? This is probably a long answer but any tips would be great, especially because lenses are pricey! Thanks dude!

[@dreamlifephotography]

Hey Nicholas, thanks for your kind words and for tuning into the videos. The difference between 50mm and 55mm is not much at all at that length so either would be a good lens choice for shooting waves and surf action above the water. Beneath the surface I would recommend a super wide like a 15mm. Most straight 50mm or 55mm lenses will have a wide open aperture like 1.4 or 2.8 both really good for shallow depth of focus shooting. More on lens choice and understanding the effects of aperture are inside the course, but this should get you started with choosing the right lens. Cheers mate

[@nicholasdegarmo2415]

@@dreamlifephotography Right on! Glad 5 mm doesn't make too big of a difference. You mentioned a course? Whats that about? I'd be stoked to learn more from you. Maybe its a commonality between surfers/water people. But I actually understand your tutorials and what your saying. Let me know how I can learn more. Cheers

[@dreamlifephotography]

@@nicholasdegarmo2415 Hi Nicholas I would love you to become a member of the course! The link below takes you to the full length course or you can sign up for a free webinar where you will get a small taste of the way I teach and some tips with water and surf photography. Please let me know of any questions I would love to assist you. Link to full length course and webinar is: learn.waterphotographycourses.com/p/water-surf-photography-training-webinar-course

[@terencepieters4282]

Cool video, question is - did you shoot through your view finder this session? If not, how do you know if you're focussing on the surfer, or on the right part of the wave etc. Thanks

[@dreamlifephotography]

Hey Terence, sorry must have missed this comment, just saw it today! So with this session I am shooting with a 15mm wide angle lens which has almost a 180 degrees view. So I know everything my out stretched hand points at it will get it in the frame fairly well composed. My focus is set to manual which gets everything from 1.5meters to around 30meter away in focus (this sort of depth of focus can only be achieved with ultra wide lenses)

[@thomastarner8683]

Newbie question here. What is inside your port? looks like 8 short strips of tape that go around the lens on the inside of the port?

[@dreamlifephotography]

Hey mate, they are just double sided sticky tapes that hold a black bit of fabric in place to help with some reflection, It was there when I got it from Aquatech, but I don't think they use it anymore. I rarely put the fabric on there because it actually causes vignetting

[@thomastarner8683]

@@dreamlifephotography got ya... I just got my housing today and my dome port doesn't have anything like that in it. Granted it's the smaller dome that's recommended for the Tamron 15-30 so there really isn't room to do something like that with it. I can't wait to get out there and use it. Keep up the great work!! Also thanks for inspiring and sharing you knowledge with us. Cheers from the Middle of the U.S.

[@dreamlifephotography]

@@thomastarner8683 thanks so much for the encouragement! really appreciate it! hope you can start using your new housing soon