Hi
Would like to do some underground photography..
Already do landscape and general DSLR photography and long exposures etc..
Have a Canon Eos 450D, 10-20, 18-55, 28-90 mm lenses.
Lee Filters kit, Cokin ZPro, Manfrotto kit etc
Curious on the technical bits?
Do you use Polarisor filters to rid of the reflections in water etc?
Do you use mulitple flashes for a one shot?
Or take a long exposure and fill in as you backtrack along the passage towards the camera with one flash?
Need some flashes and know it gets expensive for several flashes plus triggers etc...
Can anyone recommend kit they use?
And do you do photo trips specifically for photography?
Thanks alot!
Andy

I've never tried a polariser underground but i'm sure it'd work wonders for certain things!

There are many different views on flashes verses light painting with torches, both have their merits, I personally use flashes with wireless triggers on them as I prefer the look. I just bought a lot of old film camera flashes off the bay and use yonguno flash triggers which are around 15-20 quid for a pair and they're actually really bloody good!
We do tend to have a few photography oriented trips now and again.

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I would be wary of using expensive filters underground, like the Lee ones.
I use a UV for protection on my lense, just a cheap one, putting the debate of crap filters in front of good glass aside, the amount of dust in the air can soon coat it, it also might steam up if you put your lense cap on...etc a mixture of condensation and dust isnt easy to clean.
They can get messy. Rather the UV than the lense but cleaning them in the underground enviroment isnt ideal, i certainly wouldnt use my Hoya PRO1 filters but dont mind something cheap and disposable in a mine.

I would take your 10-20. I wouldnt take anything else, i wouldnt fancy changing a lense in a location with a lot of dust in the air. Also if you use a longer lense you need much brighter light to lit the shot because of the Inverse Square Law (i think lol), unless your got super good torch/flash units.
Also dont forget a polarizer will lose you 1-1/2 stops

Those yonguno are cool, i also use them, bargain for the price!

Going slightly off topic the yonguno triggers are great. Not only can you slave several flashes, but you can order with a trigger cable for yuour camera (Canon/Nikon) and use as a remote trigger.

I have used that to set my camera up far nearer to the Welsh Highland/Ffestiniog lines than the officials would like a human to be, and happily watched the train pass while I just pressed the fire button on the yonguno and the camera did all the work.

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I would be very wary indeed taking autofocus or zoom lenses underground - I've already ruined one autofocus kit lens due to grit ingress, as the repair costs were not much less than buying a new one! I use a Pentax K20D camera, which is very good for allowing old lenses to be used - I mainly use a 28mm prime film lens, which is wide-angle enough for most shots, even with a 1.5X sensor, though a secondhand 21mm would be nice. Prime lenses are only £30 for a total strip-down and clean at my local shop.

I generally use lights and tripod for 'good' shots - I'm considering flash triggers, but the Yongnuo units don't work with Pentax, and my tentative experiments with Firefly triggers are not proving positive - the trigger/flash works, but the photo is totally underexposed, no matter what setting I have the camera on - very perplexing. Being an impatient sod, with a lot of photos to produce soon, I just invested some spare cash in a new underground-friendly tripod instead!

Great Tips everyone!
Thanks.
Which yonguno flashes and triggers do you recommend for a Canon EOS? Spec part no`s etc..
And how many flashes work best?
I will check out Ebay and put a kit together over Christmas for the new year!
Thanks again.:thumbsup:
Andy

Which yonguno flashes and triggers do you recommend for a Canon EOS? Spec part no`s etc..

I have RF-603C, i think 602 might also work on a 450D, check first, make sure you get ones with a C in the name as they make the same trigger for other camera brands, IE 603N

Great point from pwhole, yeah autofocus will just keep searching. What you can try it putting a bright light right up near something you want to focus on, just to get your focus, once done switch it to manual focus and leave it, ready for the shot

Which yonguno flashes and triggers do you recommend for a Canon EOS? Spec part no`s etc..

I have RF-603C, i think 602 might also work on a 450D, check first, make sure you get ones with a C in the name as they make the same trigger for other camera brands, IE 603N

Great point from pwhole, yeah autofocus will just keep searching. What you can try it putting a bright light right up near something you want to focus on, just to get your focus, once done switch it to manual focus and leave it, ready for the shot

great tip ta!
Always do manual focus anyway for sharper pictures so will use manual underground too, as you say you need a bright light too! have a real bright LED handlamp to light up foreground features about 1/3 in the shot to focus on.

Most of the mine photographers I've seen working use LED video lights. About £15 each from 7dayshop.

Most of the mine photographers I've seen working use LED video lights. About £15 each from 7dayshop.

Sounds good? you mean these?

http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-led-modelling-light-for-dslr-video-and-camcorder-uses-54-x-led-model-DS-001 

http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-led-modelling-and-video-light-for-dslr-video-and-camcorder-uses-160-x-led-model-DS-008 

Underground shooting's more about the lighting than composition. If you're using static lights you often get the best results using a combination of fore, back and side lighting.

I usually get about 15 seconds per shot before somebody starts whinging at me that I'm being too slow... Auto focus, and one torch is the order of the day 🙂 Would be nice to have a but more time and play with multiple light sources, flash bulbs etc.

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I usually get about 15 seconds per shot before somebody starts whinging at me that I'm being too slow... Auto focus, and one torch is the order of the day 🙂 Would be nice to have a but more time and play with multiple light sources, flash bulbs etc.

:lol:
Know the feeling!
Like the idea of fixed lights as you can see what you will get better and use a longer exposure to get the exposure right?
may give a few of those lights a go at that price and see how well they work?
Possibly good in smaller passages where the light can bounce around a bit.
Bigger places will probably need flashes!
But even with flashes the LED light will be ideal to set up quickly and give you a point to clearly do manual focus!
Great Tips!
Hope we can all do a catch up photo trip in the new year to try everything out?
Plus Simon! you can take as long as you like? :lol:
I do ;(

I usually get about 15 seconds per shot before somebody starts whinging at me that I'm being too slow... Auto focus, and one torch is the order of the day 🙂 Would be nice to have a but more time and play with multiple light sources, flash bulbs etc.

Bring all your toys to Cwm on Thursday. I predict that there will be plenty of time....:lol:

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There are two ways of getting started in underground photography.

The Additive method:
Start with nothing and build up a wish list.
"That's nice, I wish I'd bought my camera"
"Next time I'll bring a tripod"
etc

The Subtractive method:
Buy loads of new kit, lug everything with you then wish you hadn't.

The 2nd method means you're less likely to enjoy the trip as you'll be too weighed down and stressed about breaking or losing something expensive.
The first means you can relax, enjoy the trip and think of it as a recce for a better prepared return. So I recommend starting with the absolute minimum - a camera (in a tough, waterproof holder), something to hold it steady and a light.
Practice outdoors in the evening, photographing a tree at the bottom of your garden or whatever. You just need to be familiar with your camera's long exposure settings and the best way to focus in the dark.

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Ultimately what you take depends on if your aiming for artistic photos or general shots to show where you have been. I usually do the latter. Often just carry a flashgun, camera, and wireless triggers (including one that works as an AF assist lamp for close up stuff) and shoot shoot mostly handheld.

I started out using my LED bike light, painting with light with the camera on a tripod, but after a short while found it quite limiting, not least because I generally work alone, which means you can't cover the lens to move about during the exposure.

I've since switched to multiple flash & radio triggers which means the shots are repeatable & allows you to make minor changes to lighting from shot to shot. I still use 15 second exposures to bring out the light from a head torch. The radio triggers I use are SDMV Flashwave 3, which are quite expensive, but they're very reliable, run on AA batteries & can be used to remotely trigger the camera as well, including AF via a two stage button.

I am now using the Yongnuo 560TX as the trigger on the camera and the Yongnuo 560 mkIII as the flash units.

The Yongnuo 560 mkIII is a manual flash with a built in radio trigger which does away with the need for an addittional thing to add on to the flash and at a price of around £50.00 are a bargain and cheaper than many second hand.

The Yongnuo 560TX is a trigger that you can control the above flashes from the camera, power, angle etc. This works fantastic so far both down potholes and mines and costs around £25.00.

I also have some of the Yongnuo RF603's with the lead to use as a radio release for the camera. You do need to order for your specific camera.
I am currently using a Fuji XM-1 underground and the Canon triggers work with it. The Nikon version also works with Pentax

If you need more info ley me know.

Alex.

I use a Canon G7 in a waterproof perspex case intended for divers (both now obsolete, but picked up cheaply on the net). A 15 second exposure is the order of the day with the picture lit by two or three old Vivitar 283's (again cheap eBay purchases, although they are getting more pricey now!). I wrap these in clear plastic bags to protect them.
I've fancied experimenting with triggers but have never worked out which, if any, are suitable, as the 283 generates a very high voltage and will fry modern circuitry in a flash! So I just depend on having a human 'slave' to fire one flash, while I fire the other. We generally fire each flash two or three times in the 15 seconds.
The only other bit of kit is a sturdy tripod which takes some lugging about, although better now I've got a barrel bag to carry it in. I've tried a few photos using just an LED torch, but I find the images turn out with a blueish hue. Colin.

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Most of the mine photographers I've seen working use LED video lights. About £15 each from 7dayshop.

Sounds good? you mean these?

http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-led-modelling-light-for-dslr-video-and-camcorder-uses-54-x-led-model-DS-001 

http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-led-modelling-and-video-light-for-dslr-video-and-camcorder-uses-160-x-led-model-DS-008 

That's the boys.

3 or 4 oth those and you are set up.