I’ve had some new regulators I’ve wanted to test out for a while so last Sunday I made my way down to Ocean Optics Underwater Photography stage to test them out. Of course I couldn’t just test out my regs, I brought along my camera to take photos of the plastic fantastic fake reef they set up occasionally in their movie tank! I thought it might be an issue that I hadn’t had time to gear up my strobes but they have a huge topside lamp on the side of the pool to make quite realistic sunshine when underwater. Here are some of my photo – all “available” light.
This is the scene as you see it when you first swim into it:
This is how it looks from next to the observation window:
If only all sharks would be this cooperative!
I was able to get quite close even thought I had my fisheye lens on because I was testing out my new zen mini dome:
There’s a ladder to get in with so you don’t get tangled in anything by jumping from the side:
Here’s a few of me taken by Mike on his iphone – from the side of the pool
from the observation window:
If you’re thinking of heading down there to check it out I would highly recommend it. Steve and Mark and really nice guys. My advice, to avoid disappointment, is to phone before you go as they only put the reef in when they are teaching underwater photography classes.
What a cool place! I really wish we had something like this around here. It would definitely help to practice and try out gear. That sunburst/hammerhead shot is pretty darn close to looking real.