Day 7

The final day of the second Wetpixel/Under the Jungle Cenote Photography Workshop was an opportunity for the participants to try out off-camera lighting techniques. Off-camera lighting offers great creative opportunities in the cave environment, as it is able to reach into scenes, potentially adding depth and lighting areas that on-camera lighting cannot.

The goal for the day’s diving was to do two dives, with the first utilizing a hidden lighting assistant to “butt light” the model with a powerful video light, providing a “halo” of light. Natalie and Tom set up a number of scenes, that the participants were able to then shoot, experimenting with settings, angles and composition to create memorable images.

Dive 2 was again an off-camera clinic dive, but this time, Tom set up a scene with remotely triggered strobes, while Natalie did the same with continuous lighting. Natalie went in the water with a large number of lights, which resulted in the coining of a new collective noun for Keldan lights. Henceforth, a large number of Keldans will be known as a “butt load!”

It was true to say that off-camera lighting requires a challenging set of techniques and setting up scenes requires practice and experience. It is not easy!

The team submitted some amazing images for the final image review:

To round out the workshop, after our (somewhat rushed) final image review and then went out for a group meal.

Thanks to all the team at Under the Jungle, and to our wonderful participants in this second workshop. I hope you have all gone home with lots of new creative ideas and techniques, along with hard drives with some amazing images. Hope to see you in the cenotes next year, and safe travels home.

Days 1& 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7