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Innovative Underwater Photographers

Underwater Photographer Eric Cheng

Written by René Edde

Thursday, 12 October 2006 16:50

According to underwater photographer and the editor and publisher of Wetpixel Quarterly, Eric Cheng, shooting under water requires more from the photographer technically than when shooting on land.

Leru Cut, Solomon Islands “At typical scuba diving depths, water has already stripped out red, orange, and yellow light, so we have to use strong strobes to bring out the vibrant underwater colors that are normally hidden. The cameras we use are also calibrated for above-water shooting, and underwater, we typically want a different look. As a result, I shoot almost exclusively using manual exposure and manual strobe settings when I'm underwater.”

Eric attributes successful underwater photography to being an excellent diver first, noting the need for good buoyancy to position himself properly and in the right places for his shots, as well as paying attention not to destroy any of the surrounding marine life in the process. As well as being a marine photographer, he is a conservationist and pays careful attention to the life swimming around him and its habitat.

With his Canon 1Ds Mk III digital SLR in a Seacam underwater housing, Eric uses dual Ikelite DS-125 underwater strobes mounted on articulating arms and are then attached to the housing.

Juvenile anemonefish by echeng. Juvenile anemonefish in anemone (Solomon Islands)
There is not much post processing involved with Eric’s underwater work, and he believes that Photoshop is only a useful tool for bringing out the last 5% of an images final pop and not relying on it as a crutch. Getting the image exposed properly from the beginning is the key to the consistency of Eric’s work.

The technical skill in Eric’s work that helps to insure his ability to nail a proper exposure is his lighting and how he uses the two Ikelite strobes. When asked about his light setup and how he utilizes it to bring out the magical quality of his images, Eric said, “I use two Ikelite DS-125 underwater strobes and manual strobe power settings.

False percula clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris), Indonesia There are strobes that are more powerful and strobes that are smaller, but Ikelite DS-125 strobes are a good compromise between weight and power. The strobes are mounted on articulating arms that can be fixed in position using clamps and extended out to roughly 24 inches to each side of my underwater housing. It's important to be able to place and aim strobes while underwater because there is a lot of particulate matter in the water that lights up unpleasantly when lit from the front. Our goal is to light up our subject, but not any of the water between us and it.”

Garden eel portrait (Solomon Islands)

Underwater photography challenges Eric because he says that each dive is a new experience. He advises new underwater photography enthusiasts to spend as much time as possible in the water and to always try new things, noting that just because something has been done before doesn’t mean that there isn’t a new way to approach it.