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A Guide to Underwater Wildlife Video & Editing: Part 5
Read Part 4 here.
A part serialisation of a book by Jeff Goodman
PART 5: Focus
Most cameras will have an auto focus mode with the option of switching to manual if desired. Unfortunately not all underwater housings will have the controls to let you access this. Some give you a choice of being able to manually change either focus or exposure. If this is the case then I would highly recommend leaving focus on auto and having full manual control over exposure.
Focus is critical to get right.
Sharp – in focus
Soft – out of focus
A picture can be a little too dark or a little too light, or even a little oddly framed, and still be acceptable to most audiences. But a picture that is even slightly out of focus is very hard to accept.
Auto focus
Professional cameras don’t have this option but most others do. Auto focus is a wonderful piece of technology, but no matter how wonderful, it still doesn’t know what you, as a camera person, actually want to focus on. It will take its ‘best guess’ as to what’s right and that generally is what is biggest and most central to your picture frame.
Let’s look at an example of when auto focus can really mess up your videoing.
You are in open water with a dolphin or two. There are no well defined images in the water except the dolphins themselves. Unless the dolphin is large in the frame the auto focus will have a terrible time trying to find an image to resolve itself on. Without the dolphin as a reference in your monitor you may notice that the auto focus is ‘hunting’ in and out trying to find a subject. Often it will settle on focusing on the small bits of dirt or bubbles on your lens port. (Note – always keep your port clean and check it constantly.)
Then a dolphin comes into frame. Will it be sharp? Who knows, it’s pot luck. If you then stay framed on the dolphin long enough, maybe just a few seconds, the auto focus will recognize the image and be happy. Sadly in those first few seconds of video, which may be the most important, the dolphin may not be sharp. Then as soon as the dolphin leaves frame the auto focus will become worried again and may start looking for a new focal point.
This may seem only a minor problem at the time, but believe me, when you get back into the edit room and look at the video, the first few seconds of out-of focus images will drive you crazy. Hence the advantage here of manual focus which you can set yourself.
For this type of shot with the dolphins it usually works out that wide angle framing is best and thus will have a good depth of field. Preset the focus to around 1 to 2 metres. This will generally give sharp images from the lens port to infinity. A point of reference for the pre-focal point could be one of your fins. Simply point the camera down to you feet and focus on the tip of your fin. A brightly coloured one would be most effective. Perhaps use your dive buddy’s bright tank. This pre focus trick can also work quite well for the auto focus especially if you do it moments before the dolphin enters frame.
With manual focus, although you do have greater control over what is sharp, the difficulty arises when you want to zoom in and alter the frame size. Now the 1-2 meter focal point won’t have enough depth of field and so you will have to adjust your focus to compensate. On zooming in the focus becomes much more critical and will have to reflect the true distance of the subject as the depth of field will now be quite small. We look at depth of field later.
With auto focus, zooming in, as long as you remain on the subject, can be very good, but if you are not already framed up on the subject the auto focus will have a devil of a time trying to resolve the image.
Ideally your image should be crisp and sharp. Even if the visibility or light values are bad.
A ‘hunting’ auto focus may give you a ‘soft’ unusable image while all the action is going on regardless.
Here, the auto focus has almost resolved the image for you but not quite in time.
A clown fish in an anemone
Here again, as with the dolphin, the auto focus would work very well in a wide angle shot, but as soon as you zoom in to get some close-ups and the depth of field becomes very small, then the clever auto focus is not going to know which part of the frame needs to be kept sharp. The constantly moving fish and also the tentacles of the anemone could keep the auto focus ‘hunting’ throughout your entire shot. Here certainly, the best option is manual focus. If you do not have the option of easily adjusting focus through the housing controls, then keep to the manual option and move the camera in and out slightly as the fish moves, thus keeping it at the correct focal distance. i.e. sharp. There will be many occasions when the auto focus will work just fine and do a brilliant job, but, you are giving over control to an electronic chip. Know it’s limitations.
Not all housings allow you to have full manual control of focus and many don’t allow you to have any control at all. If you only have the auto focus option it’s no problem as long as you are aware of what is going on. With a good clear monitor you can see when a shot is losing focus or not and if it is, then re-think what you are doing and perhaps something as simple as adjusting your shot size will cure the problem.
As we will see later when we discuss editing, it is often desirable to let your subject leave or enter your frame, in this case the clown fish. The downside to this with auto focus is, that as soon as the fish does leave frame, the focus will start hunting for the next best thing to be sharp on. This ‘searching’ even be it for a few moments can look awful and is very different from deliberately changing focus.
So all in all, auto focus is generally very good but can occasionally cause problems which may be acceptable in an amateur video but certainly not in a professional production.
For the lucky ones, some cameras and housings will allow you to change from auto to manual and back again with the flick of a switch or press of a button. Here you have the best of both worlds. Let’s suppose we are filming a turtle on a reef. The first shot you may want to do could be a wide angle and then, adjust shot size, for a close up or two. If there is time, try to zoom right into the turtle and let the auto focus do it’s thing, then flick over to manual focus. The focal distance of the lens will then be locked in place. Now zoom out to the shot size you want and you can be confident that the picture is as sharp as it can possibly be. As the turtle moves you can occasionally, momentarily, flick the auto focus option just to ensure that all is well. How many times you do this is entirely down to your discretion, and lots of practice.
With a very small depth of field, the focus is critical
This wide angle image of a reef is spoilt because the auto focus concentrated on the background reef. The red foreground coral is out of focus, even though it is in the key part of the frame.
In the previous example of the coral wide angle, it isn’t of course the fault of the auto focus that the foreground coral is not sharp. You are in charge. Look carefully at what the auto focus is doing. If you don’t like it then turn to manual, re-frame, or don’t do the shot. In this instance it would have been better to have had the red foreground coral sharp, at the expense of the background
Pulling Focus
Pulling focus from one subject to another can be very dramatic, but is mostly effective on long lens shots or at the longer end of your zoom. As we are underwater and most of our videoing is done with a wide angle, pulling focus is not something that is used much at all. However, it can be effective when shooting in close up or macro mode. Here auto focus is next to useless as the shot size and framing will remain constant throughout and the auto focus has no idea that you want to alter the focal point from one part of the frame to another. We definitely want the manual focus option, which needs to be very smooth in its operation, otherwise it will look amateurish.
With small subjects the point of focus is critical for a good image.
Next month we look at Lenses, Depth of Field and Angle of Coverage.
COLOURS OF OBLU, a brand by Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts, has opened two exciting new resorts in Male Atoll in the Maldives this year.
OBLU XPERIENCE Ailafushi opened in June. Translating from the Maldivian dialect of Dhivehi, ‘Aila’ means family and ‘Fushi’ means island, in essence, the Family Island. A 15-minute speedboat ride from Velana International Airport brings guests to this beautiful tropical island.
The four-star resort’s 268 villas and rooms are designed to experience nature at its best. A striking fleet of water villas shaped like dhonis are lined up along the jetty – a perfect spot for snapping some selfies. From the moment of arrival, a carefree and relaxed holiday unfolds with the generous Fushi Plan™. Dining, activities, a multi-level kids club with a pool and food corner, overwater gym, and live entertainment are all blended within the stay for a hassle-free holiday.
Sumptuous all-day dining options are available at the Element X Restaurant which serves modern Western, Central Asian, and Far Eastern cuisines. X360 Bar features a 1000 sqm infinity pool – one of the largest in the Maldives. Guests can enjoy unlimited orders of refreshing spirits, wines, and beer from the grab and go bar counter. Evenings come alive with enthralling music and party vibes at the bar’s dance floor. The Copper Pot Food Truck parked on the beach is perfect for an open-air dinner of choicest fresh seafood and meat grills that can be relished on the soft sandy beach beneath the starry sky.
Walk up to La Promenade located beside a channel that meanders across Ailafushi island. This picturesque walkway has cosy seating corners along with a wine boutique, souvenir shop, and café. There is so much to do here — lounge at the scenic overwater deck, sip a cup of coffee, and socialise with like-minded travellers. Experiential highlights also include The Dome, a futuristic 15-meter theatre and entertainment centre.
Sister resort OBLU SELECT Lobigili is an adults only property that opened in March. In the Maldivian language of Dhivehi, ‘Lobi’ means love and ‘Gili’ means island. Lobigili is, in essence, the island of love.
Blessed with verdant foliage, this five-star resort features 68 contemporary beach and water villas – all assuring gorgeous views of the turquoise-blue lagoon. With the resort’s exclusive Lobi PlanTM guests can immerse in a blissfully carefree stay. This generous plan includes specialty fine-dining, unlimited beverages, spa services, Indian Ocean excursions, a selection of non-motorised watersports as well as a fully stocked minibar replenished daily.
OBLU SELECT Lobigili continues with the brand’s tradition of exceptional fine dining, elevating the mealtime experience with playful and fun touches. At Ylang-Ylang, the All-Day Dining Restaurant, delectable world cuisine with intimate nooks for couples and a unique book corner are unmissable. The Swing Bar with itschilled out beachside vibe features chic hammocks, swings and a stunning infinity pool that is one of the largest in the Maldives. Evenings come alive with handcrafted, aromatised cocktails and hypnotic DJ and Live Band performances.
That is not all. There is Gaadiya 17 Food Truck serving grab-and-go game meat grills to be relished in a fun, open-air setting on the beach under starry skies. And an exotic ONLY BLU Underwater Restaurant, one of the largest underwater restaurants in the country, where guests can experience impeccable modern gourmet cuisine.
A standout experience is ELE | NA The Spa – designed exclusively for couples and adults – featuring locally inspired spa treatments including Lobi Dhooni (Love Bird) Hithun Hithath (Heart To Heart) and Dhekanbalun (You & Me).
Scuba Diving from both resorts is with OBLU’s partner dive centre, TGI Maldives, one of the best-known in the country. The dive centre teaches a variety of PADI and SSI courses. The island’s house reef is perfect for relaxed dives, snorkeling and training, whilst many of North Male Atoll’s best dive sites are just a short boat ride away. In particular, the atoll is well-known for its manta ray sightings from May to October.
Discover more at www.coloursofoblu.com
SSI has announced the release of the SSI Explorers Program, where kids aged 6-11 years old can get a taste of the many ways to explore the aquatic world around them. This exciting program makes diving for kids stress-free, guiding them in engaging underwater adventures where they can scuba dive, act like a real mermaid, and go underwater on a single breath with freediving. SSI has invested much time and energy into re-vamping this child-centered experience program.
Formerly known as Scuba Rangers, the new SSI Explorers Program is today’s most extensive aquatic experience program for kids in the dive industry. Children who have not yet reached the minimum age for scuba diving will not only gain a solid foundation in ocean conservation, but they will have the opportunity to experience four main aquatic adventures and many specialties.
Your young aquatic explorer will join Emma and Nico on exciting underwater adventures with their marine friends, Star the starfish, Shelly the sea turtle, and Spike the shark. The comprehensive children’s manual is very engaging, with colourful cartoon drawings and authentic ocean images for this young audience. Emma and Nico guide children throughout the manual’s educational content in a fun and engaging way, using Spike as their equipment expert and Shelly as the ocean environment advocate.
The SSI Explorers materials start by introducing children to the importance of protecting and preserving our oceans by becoming a Blue Oceans Explorer. After learning why our oceans are important, about the world’s five oceans, and what they can do to help protect our oceans, students earn the SSI Blue Oceans Explorer recognition rating. They can then move on to learn all there is to know about snorkel equipment and snorkelling in a confined water environment to earn their Snorkel Explorer rating.
After completing these two initial experiences, SSI Explorers can choose from one of three aquatic adventures and either become a Scuba Explorer, Mermaid Explorer, or Freediving Explorer. Better yet, they can continue on to earn all three ratings!
SSI Mermaid Explorers get to swim around like real mermaids while improving their swimming skills. SSI Freediving Explorers will go underwater and dive deeper by holding their breath longer in an encouraging, relaxed environment. Explorers who have not met the minimum age for scuba diving can try it out within the safety of a pool or confined water and become an SSI Scuba Explorer.
The fun doesn’t stop there, however! SSI Explorers can go on even more underwater adventures to earn 22 different Specialty Explorer ratings. They can improve their explorer skills with exciting specialties like Underwater Model Explorer, Rescue Explorer, Shark Ecology Explorer, and Search & Rescue Explorer, just to name a few. Your child can earn the Specialty Explorer recognition rating by completing two Explorer specialties. When they complete four specialties, they will become Advanced Explorers, and after completing the Rescue Explorer specialty, they can become a Master Explorer. SSI Explorers will even be able to earn real C-Cards just like their parents to show off their hard-earned recognition ratings.
To look back on their explorer fun, SSI has included a logbook section toward the back of the colourfully engaging SSI Explorers manual. The Explorer Logbook is where students can record details of their underwater adventures as they work through these exciting experiences. Near the logbook, SSI has also included an area for the Explorer Instructor to place an SSI recognition sticker specific to each completed explorer activity. Children will be excited to work toward earning them all!
The SSI Explorers program is now available as a book or digitally in four languages: German, English, Spanish, and Italian, with more languages hopefully coming soon.
Training the next generation of ocean lovers and aquatic enthusiasts is very important to SSI and all SSI Training Centres and Pros. The SSI Explorers Program is an excellent way to promote ocean conservation and aquatic safety in our younger population and prepare them for future open water certification opportunities once they reach the minimum age for scuba diving.
Look for an SSI Explorers Program at an SSI Training Centre near you. To find your nearest SSI Training Centre, check out the SSI Centre Locator here.
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