Underwater Photography {Preliminary Ideas}

So I have this idea for a new series of photographs – underwater landscapes. Think the floor of the lake and a million shades of blue-green water and maybe a hint of the surface. Essentially vast areas of colour. Images that would transport you to a magical, meditative, soothing world, where you find nothing but peace and quiet.

Well that’s all fine and good right, except for a few logistical issues. Mainly taking my camera underwater. That whole thing makes me nervous. What are my options? AquaTech, SPL Waterhousings, Equinox, Ikelite all seemed like the best way to go, but for a test shoot that I’m really not sure is going to go anywhere, $1000+ is just not in the budget. Then I wondered about my Canon G9, maybe I can get something a lot less expensive for it? After a bit of googling, it turns out that waterproof housing for the G9 is hard to come by. They go for about $250, which is much cheaper, but I’m still not so sure if that’s the answer. Definitely something to keep in mind though.

Darren’s been eyeing up the GoPro Hero for a few years now and this would be a good great excuse to get one but I have no experience with the still photography quality of it. And GoPro’s auto-exposure-jpg-shooting ways have me a bit wary. Fortunately a friend of mine has an older one, complete with underwater housing that he’s offered to lend me for some experimenting.

Stay tuned for more!