Cave Photography & Other Horrors
Last night, I took my first stab at cave photography while on a caving trip with two friends into Jewel Cave. Out of 61 shots taken that night, only two felt “okay.”
Settings
- Nikon D80 with a 35mm lens (52mm equivalent)
- Shutter Speed 1.3s
- Aperature f/11.0
- ISO 100
- 2 Vivitar 283s with a firefly 2 flash
Jessie Ketchum models on the canyoning portion of Jewel Cave’s Wild Caving Route. A slave flash fired by Vicki Bierwirth from below lights the corridor beyond Jessie while a secondary flash, held at arm’s length from the camera, provides fill for Jessie. I would’ve liked a secondary assistant, and perhaps a third flash to light the fifteen foot pit that Jessie is straddling. A more active pose, perhaps with Jessie moving towards instead of away from the camera, would have enhanced the composition.
Settings
- Nikon D80 with a 35mm lens (52mm equivalent)
- Shutter Speed 1/60s
- Aperature f/8.0
- ISO 100
- Vivitar 283 with a firefly 2 flash and on-camera flash
Again, Jessie sits on the canyoning section of the route, but this time looking upwards. I instructed Vicki to aim the vivitar at the ceiling above Jessie while an on-camera flash provided fill light. Although I like the effect of the lit ceiling, the on-camera flash gives Jessie a flattened look and failed to properly light her, leaving her too dark against the lighter ceiling. I used photoshop to highlight Jessie out of the foreground and lighten her, but this only further reduced the depth of her shadows.