Surface… She worked an hour. At most. She’s smiling.To laugh at all the constraints underwater photography implies, you must have special bounds with the ocean.
200 bars. She will have to bring heavy equipment to breathe under the water, including a tank full of air pressurised at 200 bars. Time does not run in minutes under water, but in air consumption.
180 bars. She will have to protect her camera in a waterproof case. She will put on a neoprene wetsuit to avoid getting cold. She will add fins to her feet to propel herself. She must also wear a mask to be able to see but this will limit her field of vision.
160 bars. Diving down… She’s managing what we call a Buyoncy Control Device (a BCD). She’s adding or removing air inside it, depending of the depth, in order to float, to stay still. Not enough air and she sinks until to meet ocean floor. Too much air and she goes back to the surface like a rocket putting her life at risk.
140 bars. Underwater photographer works in 3D. She can move in any direction and wildlife can come from anywhere. A barracuda is coming, from her low-back-left, swimming close, going down, she follows…
120 bars. She has no fulcrum, no tripod, sometimes she must manage with surf or currents. And deeper she descends, less light she gets.
100 bars. Because of security, she cannot dive by herself. She scubadives with her buddy. She keeps an eye on him to know where he is at all times. They communicate by signs. They are at 25m deep.
80 bars. She is photographing coral. She is head down, fins up, holding a rock by one hand. She frames looking at her viewfinder through her mask and through her waterproof case. She is breathing slowly, waiting for the right moment to shoot.
60 bars: end of the dive. Already… But she needs air to come back up safely. Communication with her buddy. The ok sign. They are making their way up to the boat.
50 bars. They stay at 5m deep for 3 minutes making a safety stop in order to eliminate nitrogen bubbles travelling in their blood.
Surface… Smile.
