Posted by Angela Classen on October 17, 2009 at 10:53 AM
My hubby & I are headed to MO next Fri. We're planning to tour the Onodaga Cave which is SW of St. Louis. Cameras apparently are allowed as I've found a number of shots on the net. I would guess, however, that tripods are not allowed as it is a guided tour and I could see where tripods might be an issue in tighter quarters like this.
Anyone have any tips or advice for shooting in caves? ISO suggestions? I have a Canon Rebel XTI - max ISO is 1600. Any other ideas to stabilize the camera? It looks like they probably have a lot of handrails around the formations.
Flash or no flash?
Lens? Probably the fastest glass I have? I have an F4 35-80 mm lens and a F3.5-4 10-22 mm lens.
I assume I should shoot wide open to allow as much light as possible in.
Your advice/suggestions are always appreciated. I'm amazed at the knowledge all you folks have
Posted by Kent Staubus on October 17, 2009 at 11:54 AM
Assuming you don't have much equipment, I would put the 10-22mm on the camera and take the 35-80mm just in case. Do you have an add on flash such as the 430 or 580? If so, definitely take it. I would also take a little piece of CTO gel to tape over your pop up flash (or whatever flash you are using) to match the color temp of the lights used in the cave. You're going to need all the help you can get in getting a fast enough shutter speed. ISO 1600, f1.4 lens if you have one, and IS lens would help. Another thing you can try is shooting with motor drive on slow, or even timer with 5 second delay. That way you're not pushing the shutter button when taking the shot.
I did a few cave shots last summer. I brought two Nikon SB-28 flash and had my wife & kid each hold one. I'd point at what I wanted the flash to light. The flash were triggered by my CyberSync radio triggers and worked like a charm. If I do it again, I'll bring my Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens, and put CTO gels on the flash.
My only prolonged experience in cave shooting was at Carlsbad Caverns in NM. We went in the "back way" and basically didn't see any people till we got near the elevators. Side loops from there also got us away from crowds. It was distinctive in cave shooting, in that lots of the features are lit.
Here's my take on those two days of shooting, assuming they'll have some relevance in your adventure.
Flash is problematic because of the vast areas behind your main subjects. You'll mostly end up with properly exposed near features, lots of shadows, and stark backgrounds. If you're shooting an areas with some ambient lighting you can use the flash for fill, but that requires a tripod to work west. And as Kent says, gels are good for balancing strobes to ambient.
As for ambient lighting, the NPS anyway seems to buy their lightbulbs from whoever has the lowest bid this week. Color temps varied over a vast range in Carlsbad Caverns. Leaving the strobe off and letting the ambients do the work (irrespective of color) worked best for us unless we were including people in the scenes.
Tripods are just about critical, unless you wear knee pads and get down low enough to use the hand rails available in some locations for braces.
Posted by Kent Staubus on October 17, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Hank--
The Missouri caves are relatively small, and a pop-up flash has at least a chance on formations that are near. Also, you might be amazed how much I can light up with just two or three SB-28 on radio triggers. Only three flash used here. Look at the scale!
Yeah, multiple flash is key, if possible. In Carlsbad we did it for several shots, relying on velcro straps (bring lots) to affix the strobes to hand rails. The NPS didn't have any problems with tripods as long as we were right with them. Untended tripods for lights would be serious trip hazards. One "Parky" had seen us earlier, and came looking for us on her lunch break. Great company, and quite a knowledgeable photographer. She "cut corners" on our learning curve, having a sense for the limitations of camera gear and really useful pointers on locations and light. We refined our technique and greatly improved results, thanks to her brief visit and interest.
That inspires me to recommend talking to the staff at the Missouri caves. Local knowledge is invaluable when you can find a knowledgeable source.
Discussion
4 repliesAnyone have any tips or advice for shooting in caves? ISO suggestions? I have a Canon Rebel XTI - max ISO is 1600. Any other ideas to stabilize the camera? It looks like they probably have a lot of handrails around the formations.
Flash or no flash?
Lens? Probably the fastest glass I have? I have an F4 35-80 mm lens and a F3.5-4 10-22 mm lens.
I assume I should shoot wide open to allow as much light as possible in.
Your advice/suggestions are always appreciated. I'm amazed at the knowledge all you folks have
I did a few cave shots last summer. I brought two Nikon SB-28 flash and had my wife & kid each hold one. I'd point at what I wanted the flash to light. The flash were triggered by my CyberSync radio triggers and worked like a charm. If I do it again, I'll bring my Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lens, and put CTO gels on the flash.
Kent in SD
Here's my take on those two days of shooting, assuming they'll have some relevance in your adventure.
Flash is problematic because of the vast areas behind your main subjects. You'll mostly end up with properly exposed near features, lots of shadows, and stark backgrounds. If you're shooting an areas with some ambient lighting you can use the flash for fill, but that requires a tripod to work west. And as Kent says, gels are good for balancing strobes to ambient.
As for ambient lighting, the NPS anyway seems to buy their lightbulbs from whoever has the lowest bid this week. Color temps varied over a vast range in Carlsbad Caverns. Leaving the strobe off and letting the ambients do the work (irrespective of color) worked best for us unless we were including people in the scenes.
Tripods are just about critical, unless you wear knee pads and get down low enough to use the hand rails available in some locations for braces.
The Missouri caves are relatively small, and a pop-up flash has at least a chance on formations that are near. Also, you might be amazed how much I can light up with just two or three SB-28 on radio triggers.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/3991093609_0fe526e2a3_o.jpg
Kent in SD
That inspires me to recommend talking to the staff at the Missouri caves. Local knowledge is invaluable when you can find a knowledgeable source.