Introduction to underwater photography - Mossel Bay

About the course

It’s almost time for an underwater stills photography course that I am running together with expert assistance from professional photographer Louis Pieterse. We’ll be hosted by the awesome Garden Route Scuba, a PADI dive centre with the best views, in the quaint and quiet town of Mossel Bay. I’m always excited to train people at my home reefs, the diverse macro-laden reefs of Mossel Bay. There are many treasures to be found here.

This introduction to underwater photography caters to SCUBA divers who have a long-ish weekend available ( or, who can take one day off ) and are seeking a crash course on how to quickly make underwater photographs look considerably better.

The course comprises three fully packed days of practical training, SCUBA diving, tuition and some socialising in Mossel Bay. For those who aren’t rushing off back to work on Sunday evening, we will present a combined slideshow and presentation of certificates whilst enjoying a braai or dinner at the local yacht club.

Includes / Excludes

Includes: 3 x dives, course tuition, finalisation certificate

Excludes: Accommodation, Underwater camera, meals, transport to/from Mossel Bay, diver insurance

Optional Add-ons: Full Scuba gear rental is available @R450 per dive, Full DSLR camera rental with strobes is @R1800 for the full course. If interested, you can also speak to me about the PADI UW photo certification add-on.

Cost

R2550 p.p

Quick Info

Location: Mossel Bay
Duration: 3 days

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Course Schedule

Pre-Course Meet & Greet:

On Thursday evening we will meet at the centre and go through the three days ahead and what to bring and prepare for each day.

We like to fit in a short lecture during this evening, but much depends on what time people will arrive in Mossel Bay. If you are booking a flight please try to land in George by 2 pm giving you time to get through to your accommodation, and to relax for an hour before heading down to the dive centre.

Day 1 – Friday:

We meet for a coffee and delve into your underwater camera/housing and its buttons and settings; we take a look at possible upgrades and why you could, and even if you should? After that, we move into the basics of shooting in all the modes your camera will allow, including the ultimate full manual mode. We talk about maintenance and preparation of your equipment and by then you’ve had enough of listening. After a lunch break, we will spend the afternoon in the pool practising and you can ask all your questions. We’ll prepare the cameras for the next day. Later, there’s an introduction to Adobe Lightroom, the post-processing program of choice. You’ll receive an overview of the interface and we will delve in deeper over the weekend.

Day 2 – Saturday:

We do a pre-dive briefing on the photographic skills to be practised on that day and then we hit the water to seek out the macro treasures waiting for us. We do two dives and they are usually both macro dives on this day, conditions permitting. After a well-deserved lunch, it’s back to some theory. We’ll be looking at your shots from the morning and learning more about Lightroom at the same time. After the crit. session and a coffee we will get back into some more theory and cover such topics as wide-angle shooting; perfect strobe placement; use of ambient light; reading the ‘peak of the moment’. The Lightroom work for the day includes a look at its library and develop modules. We will set up our cameras for the next morning and then it’s time to relax. Garden Route Scuba is in the Mossel Bay Yacht Club and so a sundowner could fit in here.

Day 3 – Sunday:

As usual, there’s a pre-dive briefing on the photographic skills we will practise and today it’s wide-angle we are concentrating on. We whip around the reefs seeking out the gorgeously coloured corals and schools of fish that the area is known for. On occasions, we get a Raggie, which is always a bonus. Same as the previous day, we do a crit session and then it’s time to choose some photos that really worked and some that really didn’t and to do a group discussion- helping each other to find out why- based on what you’ve learned. Now, it’s time to really apply the knowledge you’ve acquired over the past 2 days. The Lightroom work for the day includes a look at the remaining modules, esp. the slideshow module and how to watermark and export correctly.

As a bonus, and only if you tag my courses ( wink, wink, nudge, nudge! ) I’ll also show you how to quickly get your best shots out onto social media, appropriately watermarked and resized so they can’t be stolen. For those who aren’t rushing off back to work, on this final evening, we will present a combined slideshow and presentation of certificates whilst enjoying a braai or meal at the yacht club.