Rockpool Photography

Harvey Lloyd-Thomas

A photographer who enjoys exploring wilder and remoter landscapes, searching out unseen details, while attempting the occasional photographic vista. Also partial to the odd image of rust and decay

casgwent.com

I have long found the miniature worlds contained in rockpools fascinating and over the years I have taken the odd photograph from above with varying degrees of success (ideally using a polariser to cancel surface reflections). More recently, admiring oceanic photographs and noticing adverts for underwater housings for digital compacts got me thinking. It struck me that these underwater housings might offer a novel viewpoint on the world of rockpools, given I had no intentions of leaving the safety of dry(ish) land and donning a wetsuit for full-on underwater photography. The tipping point came several years ago when I noticed an underwater housing for my original 2MP Nikon COOLPIX E2200 at a knockdown price, since it was for a discontinued camera. Also I wasn't too worried if I were to lose that particular camera to flooding. And so started my experiments in underwater photography without getting wet.

I was pleasantly surprised by my initial attempts. Although, given the fully auto limitations of the camera and the bulky housing, a lot of trial and error - and deleting of images - was certainly involved. While good use was made of the macro capabilities of the camera. The key skill was in trying to compose an image, with the camera being dunked underwater giving no chance of viewing the screen on the back. You have to rely on what you can see from your aerial viewpoint above the rockpool, to aim the camera in roughly the right direction towards an interesting subject you have identified: an anemone or sea urchin for example.