Concept Shooting

MY ARMPITS AND MY CHEST HURT FROM HANGING OVER THE SIDE of the boat as I try to anticipate the movements and turns of the sharks.

- Steve Miller

The weight of the camera housing when it’s only half submerged, is enough to make your arms go numb after a few minutes so we take turns at the three or four good spots on the boat, to shoot from.

The sharks we have coaxed up to the surface around the boat, pass from every direction, even from below as they swipe at the bait and occasionally make contact with part of the camera housings. With every pass or splash, the camera flashes go off like it’s a press conference, briefly lighting up the water and revealing how many sharks are circling the boat—numerous! The sky is just starting to color up as the sun sets in front of us. We point our cameras right at the setting sun, with our domes half submerged and wait for the perfect pass.

This is a Concept Shoot. Everyone on the boat is set up essentially the same way (a super-wide lens, a big dome port and two flashes) and we are all looking to make the same type of capture—the coveted Sunset Split-Shot, with sharks as the primary subject. Some of us did the same thing the night before and have made small adjustments after reviewing the images on the laptop.

A Concept Shoot means that earlier, a classroom workshop was conducted to discuss the specifics of how to get a particular type of image. Often, the more complex images like over/unders are fun for this. The process allows every participant to “see” in their mind’s eye, the image they want to create, and to work out the settings and technique beforehand. In the case of “sunset splits,” there are a lot of details to consider. Exposure tops the list since we are pointing our cameras right into the setting sun.