Sydney-based photographer and videographer Michaela Skovranova recently hired an underwater and location kit for a two week shoot in Fiji. The shoot locations included the famous Cloudbreak, the jungles of Taveuni and various waterfalls scattered across the islands. We spoke to Michaela when she got back to find out how the shoot went.
Photographer: Michaela Skovranova
Location: Fiji
Client:
- This Island Life for Fiji Airways
Equipment:
- Underwater Housing for Canon EOS 5D Mark III
- Aquatech Lens Port LP-WZII
- Sennheiser Wireless Lapel Mic Kit
- Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM Lens
“I was recently booked for a shoot in Fiji where I was shooting for THIS ISLAND LIFE, a fashion, travel and lifestyle blog that follows summer around the world. I was capturing both stills and video in a variety of situations, so I needed a lot of equipment, but at the same time needed to travel light, as we were island hopping every few days.”
“Shooting both in and out of the water was a crucial part of the brief, so I needed an underwater housing for my 5D Mark III that was both compact and versatile. With our main mode of transportation being by water, the housing quickly became the most important piece of equipment in my kit. Whether I was shooting an island from the back of a jet ski, a bikini from inside a waterfall or a huge swell from a tiny boat, I was able to capture the action above and below the waterline.”
“There aren’t many places that hire underwater housings, so it was great to be able to get all the equipment from one place. The kit I hired from Camera Hire included a rig, a variety of lenses, an audio solution and an Aquatech Underwater Housing for my 5D Mark III.”
“Even though I hadn’t shot with the Aquatech before, it was nice and easy to set up — just make sure you have the correct ports to fit your lenses. I went for a dome port which allowed me to do both over and under shots, while allowing room for an ND filter when I needed to capture video.”
“A handy tip is to set up custom functions in the camera before using the housing. This means you can change camera settings while the camera remains inside the housing. Because I was shooting all day, I had to perform several battery swaps while on water — thankfully this wasn’t too difficult!”
“The underwater housing was also light enough for me to swim and free dive for hours on end, while sturdy enough to scale a few waterfalls, too.”
