Strobes are for wimps!

OK, it’s a provocative title. And of course I use flash. In fact for certain types of work – macro, or when there’s no light – flash is essential. However there is a bit of me that thinks that using my strobe means that I have failed to some extent. If I’m photographing a wreck, I believe the best way to do it is with natural lighting, or perhaps with the aid of a diver.

The principle here is this: let the diver do the lighting. I got the idea from a (well-known) underwater camera-man who told me that he hated using lights, and where possible he filmed a diver lighting the scene. The picture of the Hispania (below) is a classic example. The diver has this amazing HID torch. He told me it had the equivalent power of a car headlamp. So I thought, why not let him light the subject and turn off my strobe. The result, as you see, is that the rudder of the Hispania (a wreck in the Sound of Mull in Scotland) is well-lit by the diver. I think that had I used the strobe it would have actually flattened the image. The eariness of this picture is enhanced by the beam of light from the diver.