Underwater housing lenses suffer the usual problems of dust and lint, but are also susceptible to things like sunscreen (my pet hate), salt residue, sand and other nasties.

Whenever I travel through Cairns, I always stop in to visit the friendly staff at  Digital Diver and pick up cleaning accessories.

Preparation Tips

I follow a set procedure each time for housing preparation:-

1. Remove the main o-ring and use a lint-free cloth to wipe around the o-ring groove, removing any excess silicon, sand or hair that may have lodged in the groove. A piece of hair or sand under the o-ring can cause the housing to leak. (Tip:- use a plastic credit card to remove the o-ring so you do not damage it. I use my cert card as a reminder for me to take it diving).
2. Use a second lint-free lens cleaning cloth on the inside and outside of the underwater housing lens to remove dust, lint or finger marks.
3. Unfortunately cloths can adsorb oils and spread them around. My new favourite cleaning accessory is lens cleaning tissue paper. I had ignored these until recently, as they are normally sold in cheap cleaning packs. One side of the tissue typically has a slightly “waxy” coating, and I discovered purely by accident that this is excellent for removing oils, sun screen and water marks from underwater housing lens. (I read an article recently about using using cigarette papers to cleans lenses, but have not verified this solution yet.)
4. Making sure the camera batteries are charged and lenses cleaned, I insert the camera into the housing with 2 gel packs located on the bottom. The gel packs will absorb any moisture in the housing that forms due to temperature variations and stop fogging. By placing  the packs on the bottom of the housing, they are also a good indicator if the housing has a leak as they will absorb the water and change colour slightly. (Depending on the size of the leak, this may give you just enough time to get the camera back to the surface and save it).
5. Clean the o-ring with fresh running water, and inspect for any damage by running your fingers around it to detect and abnormalities in the surface. The o-rings can collect sand and hair if they are greased, and as mentioned previously in my blog post Canon Powershot G10 Technical Problems, they can also be pinched or collapse.
6. Apply high quality silicon grease to the main o-ring, and insert the o-ring back into its groove on the housing. I recommend using the high grade silicon grease, as low grade grease is not able to absorb into the o-ring correctly.
7. Close the housing. I have found my housing makes a slight “whoosh” sound as it closes, and is a good indication of it being air tight.
8. Submerge the housing in the kitchen sink or a bucket full of water. Check for bubbles that could be an indication of a leak. Press every button and turn every knob 6-8 times to make sure there are no leaks through their o-rings.
9. Also submerge your flash and video lights to make sure they do not have a leak.

The underwater housing is now ready for use. I find the process typically takes around 20 minutes to complete.

Tips on the boat

1. The first thing I do on boarding the boat is put my housing in the camera wash bucket. This allows the temperature of the housing to drop to water temperature, stopping moisture forming on the lens.
2. I prefer to place my camera “lens-down” in the camera wash bucket to minimise scratching from other cameras. On a recent dive trip, I noticed one diver used an old thick sock to protect his lens.
3. Before jumping in for each dive, I use “soft soap” to clean the housing lens. “Soft soap” is great for removing sunscreen. Typically a camera will pick up sunscreen from around the boat, or even in the camera wash bucket which tends to build up a film on the surface.
4. Once in the water, I regularly check for particles stuck to the front of the housing lens. Use a purged regulator to remove the offending material, rather than your fingers that may have sunscreen or other oils on them.

At the end of the day

At the end of the day, I soak the camera in fresh water in the kitchen sink again. I repeat the process of pressing every button and turning every knob 6-8 times to flush out any salt residue.

I remove the main o-ring with my cert card and wash it in fresh water. The housing and o-ring are then stored in a dry area out of the sun.

Summary

Like many things in both photography and diving, success comes from attention to detail.

I hope these tips from my obsessive cleaning behaviour have been useful, and would be interested to hear from others who have any further tips.

ANZAC Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year.

Initially honouring members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I, the day has expanded to include other conflicts such as World War 2, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan.

2010 Cairns ANZAC Parade

The images can be viewed in my archive, or at my ANZAC Day Images photography project site.

The last few years have been smaller parades. I am hoping to photograph the larger Melbourne parade in 2011, and expand the coverage to include things that occur around the parade like the traditional AFL game between Collingwood and Essendon football clubs.

The ANZAC Centenary Celebrations

The National Commission on the Commemoration of the ANZAC Centenary is seeking submissions on how the Australian community can be a part of the centenary commemorations between 2014 and 2018.

Submissions are being accepted until 17 September 2010.

Software Updates

• Lightroom 3 – The full version of Adobe Lightroom 3.0 has finally arrived.  Upgrades included:- lens correction, Support for DSLR video files, Flickr integrations, image Watermarking, tethered shooting, Perspective correction and more.
• Lens Profile Creator - Adobe posted a second prerelease of their Lens Profile Creator Utility, which generates custom lens profiles for use with the Lens correction tool in Photoshop CS5.
• Safari 5 – Apple released the latest version of the Safari browser.
• Photoshelter – Photoshelter made a major upgrade to their system meaning that any photographer can have an attractive SEO-friendly website that has full image search-ability, an integrated e-commerce shopping cart capable of selling prints, products, Rights-Managed and Royalty-Free and Personal Use downloads, built-in high-end image delivery systems, modern-day photo marketing tools, and an industrial strength online archive — all in one spot, for free.

Books

• Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition : How to Shoot Great Photographs by Bryan Peterson. The update to this best selling book is due out August 10.
• Photoshop for Video (4th Edition) by Richard Harrington. Due for relase soon.

Web links

• Cliff diving video -The video of world champion freediver Guillaume Nery base jumping underwater into Dean’s Blue Hole will take your breath away.
• Jacques Cousteau Centennial: What He Did, Why He Matters – Marking Cousteau’s hundredth anniversary—five successes, one great legacy.

News

• Alamy changes submission size – Stock agency Alamy has reduced the uncompressed minimum file size requirement from 48MB  to 24MB.

Software Updates

• Canon 5D firmware update – Newly released firmware update 2.0.7 corrects:-
  • The phenomenon in which the aperture exhibits abnormal movement when shooting movies in manual exposure mode and Aperture Priority AE (Av mode) using some Canon lenses (such as macro lenses).
  • A phenomenon in which the exposure level shown in the LCD panel differs from what is shown in the viewfinder when shooting still images in manual exposure mode.
  • A phenomenon in which the Wireless File Transmitter (WFT-E4 or WFT-E4 II) may not automatically power off when used for FTP transfers.
• Adobe Issues Security Update for Photoshop CS4 11.0.2 – Critical vulnerabilities have been identified in Photoshop CS4 11.0.1 and earlier for Windows and Macintosh that could allow an attacker who successfully exploits these vulnerabilities to take control of the affected system. Adobe recommends Photoshop CS4 customers update to Photoshop CS4 11.0.2, which resolves the issues. The Photoshop 11.0.2 update also addresses a number of problems with brushes, styles and gradient preset files discovered after Photoshop CS4 was released

iPhone apps

• Seesmic (FREE) – I have been using the Seesmic Desktop app for a year now, as it has the option to aggregate multiple twitter accounts and a facebook account into one feed. They have finally released the iPhone and iPod  app which operates slightly different to the desktop app, but is still easy to use.
• The Photographer’s Ephemeris ($11.99 AUD) – Developed by Steven Trainor the Photographers Ephemeris is a tool to help with the planning of all types of outdoor photography, but particularly landscape and urban scenes. It is a map-centric sun and moon calculator to see how the light will fall on the land, be it day or night, for any location on earth. The desktop applications is free for download.

Web links

• Motions of the Sun Simulator – A great web-based tool for  determining sun angles at any location and time.

Books

• The Underwater Photographer (4th Edition) by Martin Edge. – I found the latest 4th edition of this very popular book in a local dive store. This book has evolved to become almost a standard work of reference, and as I am reading it cover-to-cover, it’s easy going with lots of interesting information and tips. Highly recommended, and available from Amazon.

iPhone Apps

• Gorillacam (FREE) – Brought to you by the photography experts at Joby, creators of the world famous Gorillapod flexible tripods (a great device), this app adds extra functionality to your iphone/ipod camera. I like the 4x digital zoom, grid lines, self timer, time lapse, and bubble level functions amongst many others.
• Easy release ($12.99 AUD ) – Discovered on a Linkedin post, the Easy Release app replaces inconvenient paper release forms with a streamlined application designed by photographers for photographers. Easy Release lets you collect all the data and signatures you need right on your iPhone, then mails a PDF and JPEG of the release to you …. sure saves me having to carry around paper releases and the result is really professional.
• Travel Health (currently $3.99 AUD) – Research has shown that around half of overseas travelers will develop a medical issue while away, but many of these problems are easy to manage if you know how. Developed by Dr Deborah Mills, Australian Travel Medicine specialist and author of the best selling book Travelling Well, this app is essential for travelers who visit places where some of the local hospitals could make you sicker than you already are.
• Twitter (FREE) – Twitter has just released version 3 of its own iPhone app. I like the simple design and clutter free interface of this application compared to the other available options.

Videos

• The Making of Rare: Behind the Scenes with National Geographic Photographer Joel Sartore (Youtube) – Working with animals is never easy. But wild animals, on an indoor set, with expensive equipment? ….  A good laugh as National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore tries to get the perfect shot for his book National Geographic Rare: Portraits of America’s Endangered Species
• 14 Powerful TED Talks by Photographers – TED has some of the most interesting talks you’ll find on the web, with a great collection by photographers.

Web Links

• Stockphotorights.com – Several stock sites have banded together to launch a new educational resource which aims to unravel the complexities and expose the potential legal pitfalls of image use. The site provides image users with information and advice they need to license images with confidence.
• Facebook Privacy – Facebook privacy has been a nightmare over the last few weeks, and is too complicated even for the experts. ReclaimPrivacy.org has produced a bookmarklet to help you be as private as you’d like.
• Woorpa – For those into web site analytics, Woopra generates live detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. The service is provided in real-time using a desktop application, and has a very cool layout. Check out Trey Ratcliff’s Video Review of Woopra for more detail.

Came across this video on Scott Kelbys blog by Atlanta music photographer Zack Arias, and even though it was posted in February 2009, it is quite profound in what it has to say heading into 2010.

Transform by Zack Arias

Trivia 1 – Victoria Cross Medal

The Victoria Cross medal awarded for gallantry is forged from the metal of some old Chinese canons believed to have been captured during the Crimean war in the 1850′s.

Trivia 2 -Thumbs up/ thumbs down

The commonly used signals of “Thumbs up” and “Thumbs down”  are centuries old and come from the days of gladiatorial combat in ancient Rome. When one gladiator fell, the crowd and the emperor would give a thumbs up for the gladiator to live if he had fought well. If given the thumbs down, the gladiator would be put to death. (Note it has a different meaning in the Middle East.)

Today’s Inspiration

Came across the article  The short but powerful guide to finding your passion from Zen habits. A good read with steps for determining your ideal job.