Finland wreck techniques

Timo Ahomäki · Issue 61, Jul/Aug 2011 · pp. 43–46

Products mentioned: Green Magic filter, Kodak Wratten magenta gelatins, Manfrotto 055 tripod, Nikon D70s, Nikon D300, 10.5mm FE lens

My first real exposure to underwater filter photography was on an Alex Mustard Red Sea workshop back in 2006. Learning the tricks of the Magic Filter occupied me almost totally on this trip, but I could not help but notice Alex and Paul Carre producing some absolutely stunning black and white shots of the Abu Nuhas wrecks using deep red filters. The rather dramatic contrast and almost black water in the background seemed like the ticket to shooting sweeping panoramics of some of the hundreds of wrecks that litter the murky, green waters of the Northern Baltic Sea which I call home. I decided to give the technique a shot when I got back home. Problem being, of course, it does not work at home. For the first the water is green, not blue, and second, the real problem is not that of colour manipulation but in stead desperate lack of contrast. Basically the huge amount of suspended plankton i…