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kodak.com
presents
Rick Sammon
Underwater Photography
June 27, 2001
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Coral:
How much different is video underwater photography from still?
Rick Sammon:
I used to shoot underwater video, and I think it's easier because it's more forgiving. You have the motion. You don't see all the particles in the water. They're not annoying. You're not looking at frozen moments in time. Underwater photography is a lot harder than video, because you can shoot beautiful natural light-only videos at 40-50 feet, but you take a still at 40 feet even with Photoshop, it's not going to look great at that light. Speaking of lights, the dive master is out there. In this room I'm in there are two big picture windows, and the dive master just got our attention by shining one of the lights in the window. He's like the world's largest flashlight fish!
Brook:
What is the deepest you would or could dive for an underwater photo?
Rick Sammon:
For underwater photography, you don't have to dive deep to get great pictures, unless you want pictures of the Titanic. Most of my best pictures have been taken at 30, 40 or 50 feet and above. That's where most of the life is, most of the color.
Plaster:
Should you ask your camera store to use the special Kodak underwater processing? I've used the cheap underwater cameras and wasn't thrilled with the results.
Rick Sammon:
The official name is Kodak Sea Processing, and if you're shooting prints, color prints, I highly recommend that. Because it will give you better color, but it's not meant for slides.
Pressman:
Speaking of sharks, has one ever gone after you?
Rick Sammon:
Yes. And the key when you're photographing sharks is you don't have to be able to swim faster than the sharks. You have to be able to swim faster than your buddy! All kidding aside, in all these years, I've never had a shark come at me in a menacing way. Let me take that back. Oh never mind. Kidding!
Snapshot:
Have you ever had a harrowing experience while diving?
Rick Sammon:
I've never had a bad experience diving, but I have had bad experiences on the surface. And that's where I think my friend Rick would agree, that's where a lot of accidents happen and that's where you really have to be careful. I was snorkeling once and without a snorkel vest and I was swept through this cut in the reef. I was scared. I was in Grand Cayman and I was going toward Cuba fast. And I was scared. I think the important thing to remember when in the water is how fast a fantastic fun moment can turn into not a fun moment, so you have to really be careful and be aware all the time.
Julies:
What kinds of added precautions do you take when diving with dangerous creatures?
Rick Sammon:
I don't really dive with dangerous creatures. I would not go in waters with great white sharks. So I go in the waters all over. If you know what an animal can do, it's not dangerous.
Jilly Bean:
How do you get a fish to smile for your camera?
Rick Sammon:
Give the fish a jellybean (laughing). Tell a fish joke.
Jupiter's Angel:
What was your favorite location to dive?
Rick Sammon:
My favorite location. I don't have a favorite location, but some are Galapagos, Lake Baikal in Siberia, and actually my favorite might be the Maldives. Maldives is just incredible. It is packed--and I mean packed--with fishes. Palau was voted the No. 1 underwater wonder of the world by a group of marine scientists that I assembled several years ago, including Ian Koblick, and we voted on all the underwater wonders and Palau was named the No. 1 underwater wonder of the world. So it is truly a beautiful place, and I highly recommend going there.
Luv 2 Shmooz:
Have you ever shot black and white underwater?
Rick Sammon:
I've never taken black and white pictures underwater, however, with Photoshop, it's very easy to convert color images to black and white images. You can also do that with the Kodak Picture CD. You can send in your prints for processing, request the Kodak Picture CD so that when you get your prints on the CD back, you can put the CD in your computer, click on your picture and make it a black and white image. That's one option.
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