Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries:
I love shooting underwater when the ocean's surface is sheet glass. The water acts like a lens and makes the shoreline a trippy mass of shapes, colours and textures. And the water itself takes on a softness that makes every ripple and facet worthy of its own frame. Add in a lazy north swell like we had last week and it's a silky smooth playground.
My challenge is simple: get the camera into the right position inside the wave and capture the moment. Sounds so easy, but it's not that straightforward – I have to have the right amount of water between the lens and the air. Too much and the water can get a little murky – especially when backlit, not enough and the camera can disturb the surface and make ripples and splashes. And then it helps a lot if I've lined up and interesting scene. I like the one above – a little bit of detail behind the wave, lots of warped coastline and whitewater and a leading line of the lip right through the centre. Just missing a surfer grabbing a rail and setting up for the barrel. One day that one will come together.
Things seem to be coming together for the Sea Shepherd crew of the SSS Steve Irwin which visited Dunedin this week. This vessel and its crew are playing cat and mouse with illegal Japanese whaling fleets in Antarctic waters. The Japanese vessels are allegedly targeting Minke whales and it sounds like the crew have the proof. They sailed back down there again yesterday to continue their surveillance. They do some amazing work around the world ... here's a glimpse at what they are up to.
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS The 35th annual Otago Home Show is on this weekend at the More FM Arena in the Edgar Centre from Friday through to Sunday (March 3-5). It opens from 10am to 6pm each of those days and is a great chance to see what some of our favourite prints might look like framed and hung on your wall at home. See ya there.
Box of Light is made possible thanks to these visionaries: