TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography

Ikelite Housing for Pentax K5 / K7

Living on Okinawa, I can scuba dive most weekends. If you shore dive and only pay for tank rental, a day’s scuba diving actually works out cheaper than an evening bowling. I’ve tried underwater photography a couple of times before. First with an EWA Marine bag for my Nikon film camera that was good down to 5 meters, but limited functionality. Then I got a used Sea & Sea MX-10 submersible camera that you could take scuba diving, but the optical quality wasn’t great. I sold off the MX-10 and for the last 8 years have dived without a camera. From 2012, however, things are going to be different.

Ikelite recently started production of a housing for the Pentax K5 / K7 cameras.  I ordered an Ikelite housing from the States and picked up a K5 on sale at Amazon Japan.

The housing is rated to be waterproof to 60M (20M below the maximum depth for recreation divers) and allows you to access all the functions of the camera while underwater.

You must attach a lens port to the front of the housing to complete the system. The type of port will depend on the lens you are using. For the 10-17mm fisheye lens I can use the standard dome port. The port comes with a shade that will vignette the image if the lens is wider than 12mm, but the shade is removable.

Taking your camera underwater is not cheap at around US$1200 dollars for the housing plus a couple of hundred dollars for the port. If you wish to use flash underwater you can get specialist strobes from Ikelite that mount onto the arms of the housing. I will probably get these in the future, but they are not required for the shots I want to take in Yonaguni.

So far I’ve read the manuals and tested it out in the bath. I thought about a test dive today, but weather conditions weren’t really favorable. Hopefully I’ll get in the ocean sometime this week as I need to be comfortable with the new gear before heading down south to Yonaguni next month. You don’t want to be  fumbling with new equipment when you’re also trying to deal with cold water, ocean currents and … sharks.

Tripod by 3 Legged Thing

3 Legged Thing is a young British company making camera tripods. After being on the waiting list for several months, a friend just received one of the tripods so I thought I’d check it out and offer up some comments.

The tripod is really well made, and similar in many ways to my Gitzo. They have carbon or alloy legs and twist locks at the end of each segment. The design of the legs allows the tripod to be placed very low to the ground, a real bonus for people who shoot a lot of macro. The motion of the ballhead is smooth and it comes in a range of anodized finishes. The quick release camera mount is available as a stylish Black Rapid compatible plate or a more traditional Arca Swiss style plate. Each tripod also comes with it’s own bag to protect your investment. All in all, a great piece of kit.

Although I’m impressed,  I already have a great tripod that will continue working fine for several more decades. A quality tripod is one photographic product which is a good  longterm investment. The technology won’t become obsolete in a few months or years, it has few moving parts to wear or break, and it’s really useful if you actually take it with you rather than leaving it in the car or the cupboard.

Get a tripod, and give your life some stability.

You can buy 3 Legged Thing tripods directly through the 3LT website or on Amazon or at B&H Photo

Happy Surfing Okinawa  is a new guest house and surf / paddle board school in Okinawa set up by professional surfer Danny Melhado.

Happy Surfing Okinawa - Danny Melhado (image by Danny Melhado)

With its reef breaks, Okinawa is not one of the easiest places to surf, you have to be aware of the underwater topography, the tides, the currents, and weather patterns. What you really need is someone who is both a good surfer and a good teacher that can guide you through the choppy waters.  Danny is almost the archetypal laid back surfer, with a relaxed personality and an understanding of what are the really important things in life. He set up a great guesthouse by the beach, built a pizza oven in the yard and continues to share his passion for surfing with others.

Pizza Time at Happy Surfing Okinawa

I haven’t tried surfing on Okinawa yet, but once the warmer weather arrives I’ll definitely be giving it a go.

Had a great time this weekend teaching the Photography 101 Workshop. On Sunday Lemont, Mitzi and I were out in Yomitan practicing the various things we learned the previous day.

Photography 101 Workshop - Lemont & Mitzi

It was a bit wet and windy as we explored the area around Cape Zampa, but even in inclement conditions there are plenty of opportunities to create images.

Cape Zampa and Whitecaps

We were also practicing composition looking for repetition and leading lines. Overall a good weekend with excellent company.

All roads lead to Zampa

Ready for the ball

Another quick studio shoot with Alisa Hilton in front of the camera, make up by Summer Johnson and hair styling by Courtney Valimont.

😉

There are a couple of spaces available for my January 14-15 Photography 101 Workshop, and a couple of spaces available for the January 28-29 Off Camera Flash Workshop with Pete Leong and me.

If you want to snag one of these places just email me on chris@travel67.com and I’ll send you a Paypal request to reserve your place.

Off camera flash on location - Pete Leong

Took some photos of my friend’s twins last week. A quick photo tip: when photographing children it is a good idea to get down to their level. Thanks to Kirsten and Shiro for letting me spend the afternoon with them and their beautiful girls.

Get down low when photographing children

Smiles at the beach

Even in the studio it helps to shoot from below the child's eye level