Page 88 - AlertDiver_Spring2013

A s I reviewed the body of work
submitted for this year’s Ocean
Views Photo Contest, I was blown
away. The images were stunning
and diverse. There were pictures of
single-celled organisms, surprising
behaviors, the largest fish and mammals on the
planet, rare animals and aerial pictures bordering
on the abstract. Photographers explored the waters
of every part of Earth — from the tropical Pacific’s
pristine reefs to the icy waters of the Arctic and
Antarctic.
The collection of photographs submitted
embodies the perfect ocean portfolio; it is
unsurpassed by the work of any single photographer
and made possible only by the efforts of thousands
of inspired ocean folk putting in millions of
hours of work. Improvements in computer and
camera technology have been incredible enablers,
allowing photographers to capture subjects and
behaviors that would have been nearly impossible
only a decade ago. We are squarely in the middle
of a wildlife-photography renaissance driven by
the combination of extraordinary technology in
affordable cameras and the ingenuity of today’s
professional and hobbyist photographers.
Great photographers are great regardless of the
camera they use. They have skills that enable them
to succeed as image-makers: deep specialization,
tremendous domain knowledge born from years of
experience, near-infinite patience and the drive to
obsessively pursue that perfect picture.
While experience is king, technology also plays
an important role in today’s photography. New
technology enables new techniques that allow
photographers to create new kinds of images. When
I started my career as an underwater photographer,
digital cameras were not something professionals
took seriously. Now they are the standard. During
a single scuba dive, a photographer can fire off
the same number of pictures that a productive
photographer in the film days might have taken in a
month. Instant review permits a feedback loop that
dramatically enhances the learning process.
Cameras now feature advances such as image
stabilization at the sensor level and incredible
low-light performance. Underwater-housing
manufacturers are fine-tuning ergonomics, and
continuous lighting has moved almost exclusively
to LED. Now lighting is on the same exponential
performance-increase curve that home computers are
on. Frame rates in still photography are pushing into
video territory, and photographers are experimenting
with filters, time-lapse and unusual perspectives (e.g.,
relay lenses for wide-angle macro). Computational
photography is peeking at us from around the corner,
giving us powerful lens- and aberration-correction
abilities, real-time high dynamic range (HDR), smart
multi-image capture and even really crazy things like
light-field imaging, which allows perspective changes
and refocusing of pictures after they’re taken.
Photographers are getting really good at
documenting the ocean and its inhabitants at a
particularly crucial time. It’s hard to overstate the
threats of ocean acidification, climate change and
overfishing. When I talk to experienced photographers
decades older than me, they describe with great
nostalgia the oceans of their youth. Unfortunately,
no one will ever get to experience those oceans
again, and even the best photography from that era
is unable to successfully communicate it.
One of the driving forces of my own photography
is the desire to document what I see in the ocean
now so my descendants might have an idea of what
it was like. Contests like Ocean Views aggregate the
beauty of the ocean at a particular moment, creating
a time capsule of excellence that will enable future
generations to see what drove us to spend as much
time as possible in and around the water.
— Eric Cheng
publisher and founder, Wetpixel.com;
director of photography, Lytro Inc.
86 | SPRING 2013
IMAGING
O c e a n V i e w s 2 0 1 3 : A T i m e
C a p s u l e o f E x c e l l e n c e