Houston's Premier Scuba and Dive Shop Oceanic Ventures Inc.

(713) 523-3483 (dive)
5808 Newcastle Drive
Houston, TX 77401

Photography

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Photo Hint – Frame Your Subject Against Open Water

By Tobias Friedrich

When a subject performs a “flyby” like this Hawksbill Turtle, make sure to frame it against open water. The animal will stand out much more when it has only blue water around it, instead of having a reef or any kind of distraction in the background.

Equipment: SeaLife Micro 3.0

Settings: Deep Water White Balance

If you’d like a copy of the above underwater image, please email: lindsay@pioneer-research.com

Sea Dragon 3000SF Pro Dual Beam

SL679

Try the NEW SL554 Micro 3.0 Pro Dual Beam Set! The compact Sea Dragon 3000SF Pro Dual Beam Photo-Video light has a large COB LED, delivering 3000 lumens in an even 120° wide beam. The light offers an impressive 90 CRI (color rendering index) with a proprietary COB LED array that replicates natural sunlight (A CRI of 100 would be just like natural sunlight). With a simple one-button push, the underwater photographer can switch from the wide 120° beam to a narrow 1500 lumen 15° spot beam. For imaging, the spot beam offers many creative opportunities such as to create a narrowly focused snoot or stage spotlight effect.

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Photo Hint – Creative Use of Ambient Light

By Tobias Friedrich

Working with ambient light is a great way to add contrast to your image. In this case, it was a much better idea to give the light source to the diver, so they can have it in their hands, rather than using the light to illuminate the cave’s interior. The light at the edge of the cave leads the viewer towards the diver.

Equipment: SeaLife SportDiver Housing with iPhone 12 Pro Max using 0.5x iPhone Lens

If you’d like a copy of the above underwater image, please email: lindsay@pioneer-research.com

SportDiver Underwater Smartphone Housing

SL400-U  Available now!

The SportDiver underwater housing works with iPhone® 7 through the latest 13 Pro Max and most Android phones. Check if a phone fits and is compatible here. The SportDiver includes a color correcting red filter that brings back lost underwater colors. The best way to get breathtaking images and brilliant video underwater with your phone is with the Sea Dragon 3000F or the complete SportDiver Pro 2500 smartphone housing & photo-video light set.

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Photo Hint – Shoot Upward for Best Perspective

By Tobias Friedrich

Shooting upward is always the best option to compose your image. In this case, the low camera perspective works best as the moray eel is masked into the blue which gives a nice silhouette of the animal’s huge head.

Equipment: SeaLife Micro 3.0, Sea Dragon 3000F

Settings: Deep Water White Balance

If you’d like a copy of the above underwater image, please email: lindsay@pioneer-research.com

SeaLife Micro 3.0 Pro 3000 Set

SL552 – Available now! Ideal for colorful, sharp stills and videos, the Micro 3.0 Pro 3000 Set includes the Sea Dragon 3000F Photo-Video Light, Micro 3.0 Camera, Flex-Connect Single Tray and Grip for optimal stability and handling. The SeaLife Micro 3.0 camera offers easy set-up with automatic and manual image setting options. The Sea Dragon 3000F Light has a Color Rendering Index of 80, with a 5000k color temperature to simulate natural sunlight. Sea Dragon Photo/Video Lightsreveal beautiful colors in underwater photos and videos.

Micro Wide Angle Dome Lens

SL052- Available January 2022 The SeaLife Micro Wide Angle Dome Lensincreases the camera’s field of view by 43% and allows for 3x closer shooting distance. For the SeaLife Micro 3.0, the lens angle is increased from 100° to 143° and shooting distance is reduced from 15”/38cm to 5”/13cm. The 0.7x dome lens high-grade optical design improves overall image quality and edge sharpness. Fits all SeaLife Micro-series and ReefMaster RM-4K camera models.

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Photo Hint – Composing Schooling Fish

By Tobias Friedrich

When you’re shooting schooling fish, like these bannerfish, try to get them all swimming in one direction, which will result in a much nicer composition and image. It takes a little patience with schooling fish in general until they gather and move in a composed way, so make sure to stay with them patiently.

Equipment: SeaLife Micro 3.0, Sea Dragon 3000F

Settings: Deep Water White Balance

If you’d like a copy of the above underwater image, please email: lindsay@pioneer-research.com

SeaLife Micro 3.0 Pro 3000 Set

SL552 – Available now! Ideal for colorful, sharp stills and videos, the Micro 3.0 Pro 3000 Set includes the Sea Dragon 3000F Photo-Video Light, Micro 3.0 Camera, Flex-Connect Single Tray and Grip for optimal stability and handling. The SeaLife Micro 3.0 camera offers easy set-up with automatic and manual image setting options. The Sea Dragon 3000F Light has a Color Rendering Index of 80, with a 5000k color temperature to simulate natural sunlight. Sea Dragon Photo/Video Lights reveal beautiful colors in underwater photos and videos

Sea Dragon 3000SF Pro Dual Beam

SL679 – Available Now! The compact Sea Dragon 3000SF Pro Dual Beam Photo-Video light has a large COB LED, delivering 3000 lumens in an even 120° wide beam. The light offers an impressive 90 CRI (color rendering index) with a proprietary COB LED array that replicates natural sunlight (A CRI of 100 would be just like natural sunlight). With a simple one-button push, the underwater photographer can switch from the wide 120° beam to a narrow 1500 lumen 15° spot beam. For imaging, the spot beam offers many creative opportunities such as to create a narrowly focused snoot or stage spotlight effect.

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Photo Hint – Adding a Diver in the Negative Space

By Tobias Friedrich

Adding a diver always adds to the composition of the image. Try to place the diver in negative space and not too dominating, allowing some room for the animals and keeping a balanced underwater scene.

Equipment: SportDiver Housing with iPhone 12 Max Pro using 0.5x iPhone Lens

If you’d like a copy of the above underwater image, please email: lindsay@pioneer-research.com

SportDiver Underwater Smartphone Housing

SL400-U  Available now!

The SportDiver underwater housing works with iPhone® 7 through the 13 Pro Max and most Android phones. Check if a phone fits and is compatible here. The SportDiver includes a color correcting red filter that brings back lost underwater colors. But the best way to get breathtaking images and brilliant video underwater with your phone is with the complete SportDiver Pro 2500 smartphone housing & photo-video light set.

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Photo Tip – Using Sunlight for Best Color

By Tobias Friedrich

When you’re in a reef landscape without a photo-video light, it’s especially important to shoot with the direction of sunlight and use it as best as you can. Photographing into the sun will result in harsh contrasts and overexposed areas. Photographing with the sunlight captures vivid colors. Make sure to use the correct white balance in the SportDiver app while shooting.

Equipment: SportDiver housing with iPhone 12 Max Pro using 0.5x iPhone Lens

SeaLife SportDiver Smartphone Housing

SL400 – In stock now!

The SportDiver underwater housing works with iPhone® 7 through the 13 Pro Max and most Android phones.  Check if a phone fits and is compatible here. The SportDiver includes a color correcting red filter that brings back lost underwater colors. But the best way to get breathtaking images and brilliant video underwater with your phone is with the complete SportDiver Pro 2500 smartphone housing & photo-video light set.

Sea Dragon 2500F

SL671 – In stock now! The Sea Dragon 2500F closely mimics the brightness of natural sunlight, bringing out amazing colors in underwater photos and videos. With a Color Rendering Index of 90, the Sea Dragon 2500F turns murky and dark scenes into bright & vividly colorful images. The wide beam angle fully covers the image. For even more underwater light coverage, double your lights with the Sea Dragon Duo 5000F Set.

If you’d like a copy of the above underwater image, please email: lindsay@pioneer-research.com