Face to Face with Big Animals featuring Ron Watkins [Recorded LIVE] June 4th 2020

Join us for a live Q&A chat with professional underwater photographer Ron Watkins. He'll share his favorite images of coming face-to-face with big animals and exactly how he shot them. Topic Time Codes 00:00 - Intro 01:04 - How did you get started in underwater photography? 03:22 - Crocodile Split Shot with Nikon D800 & Nikon 8-15 Fisheye 04:13 - How close to the subject are you? 04:58 - Metadata: Why the higher ISO? 06:09 - What was the thinking behind capturing the depth of field? 08:16 - How many shots did it take to get this final shot? 09:33 - What post process work was needed? 10:42 - How many dome ports have you gone through in getting so close to animals’ sharp teeth? 11:40 - How do you position strobes in lower light or night shooting conditions? 14:01 - Whitetip Shark Slow Shutter Blur Shot with Nikon D850 & Nikon 16-35 15:22 - What’s the working distance in this shot? 17:01 - Explain the choice behind using 1/8th shutter speed for blur 18:00 - Was your strobe positioning identical to the previous crocodile shot? 19:12 - What specific strobe(s) are you using Ron? 20:51 - Any worries about getting bit when shooting large subjects? 21:56 - Did this shot take the same strobe power as the crocodile shot? 23:01 - Salmon Shark Shot with D800 & Nikon 16-35 24:56 - Where in the world were you for this shot? 26:26 - What was the decision behind lens selection when shooting an elusive subject? 28:03 - Given the aperture choice, any concerns about soft corners? 29:45 - How do you balance zoom and focus in such dynamic water conditions & visibility? 31:15 - How much post processing work was needed for this shot? 33:05 - Pool Jump-In Shot with Nikon D800 & Nikon 16-35 35:08 - Preparing settings prior to the jump shots 36:26 - What’s the lens selection when working with human models? 37:10 - Humpback Whales and Diver Shot with Nikon D850 & Nikon 16-35 38:22 - Was the diver model intentionally placed in the shot? 40:18 - What were considerations behind the in-camera settings? 41:08 -What’s the aperture choice to prevent motion blur of the whales? 42:53 - Is the ISO set to auto or manual? 43:59 - Are future photo trips implementing social distancing? 44:31 - Marine Iguana Shot with D800 & Tokina 10-17 46:51 - Tell us about using the Tokina 10-17; how close you are to the subject? 48:59 - Were you using a “Magic Filter?” 50:09 - Is the lighting ambient or with strobes? 50:54 - How were you able to work around the “blue halo” or flare effect around the humpback whales? 53:06 - Blue Shark Shot with Nikon D850 & Nikon 8-15 55:07 - The story behind the lens selection 56:11 - Shark diving/shooting style recommendations 58:01 - How do you avoid blowing-out the white underbellies of sharks? 58:25 - Dialing in your “drop-in” settings on the boat 59:28 - What’s the post processing work behind this shot? 1:01:15 - What size dome are you using? See all of our Live Streams: https://www.backscatter.com/reviews/p...