Introduction
Looking out from a watery cave
Everyone has heard about extreme sports, well, beginning with this article, I am going to introduce you to extreme photography. Go where you have never gone before with your camera, go underground. Go a spelunking. I am not talking about visiting sites like Howe's Caverns or some other such tourist site. I am talking about finding a hole in the ground and crawling in it with one or two companions and your camera. Join a spelunking club and team up with an experienced spelunker for your own safety.
Subterranean Photography
still deeper in the same watery cave
Subterranean photography is like no photography that you have ever done above ground. Spelunking will not only challenge you physically; it will challenge you as a photographer. There will be many new skills and techniques to learn. How challenging will it be? Lighting will be one of your biggest challenges. Think of it this way, in many cases, it will be like trying to light a football field with only a single candle. Are you up for the challenge?
Your spelunking partner doubles as a photographer's assistant.
A light painting
I have found a willing assistant to be invaluable to photographing caves because of the techniques I employ.
Painting with light
A broader light painting
My favorite light for subterranean photography is Lithium powered flashlight. My partner "paints" the area I am photographing with the flashlight. When I am photographing a large area, the light is swept smoothly back and forth over the entire area for the duration of exposure. The light must be kept moving to avoid odd-looking highlights. When I am photographing small, detailed areas, only a little "painting" is required. "Painting With Light" requires considerable communications and coordination between you and your assistant.
I have also used an off-camera flash to fill in the shadows, but the results were never as polished or as consistent.
I have also used an off-camera flash to fill in the shadows, but the results were never as polished or as consistent.
Position the light as far from the camera as possible.
OIn the way out of a tight hole in the ground
You need to separate the Lithium flashlight as far from the camera as possible. If the painting light and the camera are at the same angle to what you are photographing, the resulting picture will have a 2D effect.
The problem of "White Balance"
Stalagtites and Stalagmites
The color temperature of light in caves can vary considerably, so I usually shoot with my camera set to "Auto White Balance."
Shoot in the RAW
100 feet down to The Emerald Pool
Shooting in the RAW is always best if your camera makes that file format available to you. In the RAW, your camera records a wider range of colors and records them just as the sensor sees them.
Basic equipment
This looks like an interesting hole
Besides the high-powered Lithium flashlight, you will need a tripod and two zoom lenses, one in the 20 to 100-mm range and the other in the 100 to 200-mm range. The tripod is mandatory because most exposures will be in the 20 to 90 second range.
What about tourist caverns?
off-camera flash unit
You can take some exciting pictures there too and there are over 200 of them in the United States. There is always an element of danger when you go crawling into an unknown hole in the ground so if you are looking for the safe route to cave photography take the tourist cavern route. Carlsbad Caverns and Mammoth Cave National Parks are two good ones to visit for the photographer.