Took our new recruit ( an experienced caver ) into WL and Shatter Cave yesterday. All part of the softening up proceedure before he gets inserted into Jill's Slither. ( Poor Jill ). He likes to have photos of his trips so I duly oblige whilst he takes a few of his own. His memory card was found to be full shortly into the trip. Ah a point worth checking.

With cave photography you might have to arrive at a compromise. Too much prep. for shots can leave your helpers bored so I kept it simple.

Kit.

Long extension pole for those unique high level views.

The old TG 2 Camera.

Skyray LED high output hand torch for spot and backlight.

Yongnuo slave flash.

Camera flash exclusion box to eliminate back scatter.

Lens and hand cloths.

WL Cave.

A confined space so P Auto . 5.6 at 200 ISO.

WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

320 ISO f2. I tighter aperture would have helped but P Auto with Yongnuo back flash.

Scalloped undercut. WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Cryogenics.

Cryogenic shearing WL Cave. by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Cryogenic shearing WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

My new friend.

WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

The extension pole. It can carry the camera or the hand torch or both. It can also carry the Yongnuo.

WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Great Rift Chamber. A single flash will likely give you a shadow so its worth thinking about where it will be. ( not too dominant ) . Of course it can be cloned out. In session you can use multiple flash best individually set by a radio controller. Remember to write the numbers on the flash gun. This takes time to set up and adjust. Personally I dont mind shadows. They are part of reality and add depth and contrast to an image. Multi flash can look a bit flat. Anyway no wrong or right way.

Great Rift Chamber WL by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

WL Cave. by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

WL Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave.

Spot on The Organ Pipes at the back.

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

My secret little crystal basin.

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Top in ambiant light as flash too close. You can use a ring reflector on the TG. Bottom camera flash but cropped in and haze filtered.

Despite many trips I always find something new to see.

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter is the best cave that I know for colour variation.

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr


An amazing lilac stalagmite I had never noticed before.

Lilac stal. Shatter. by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

The hand torch in shot.

Pisa. Shatter. by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Here the hand torch giving substance to the caver.

Pisa. Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Tor Chamber. Hand held Yongnuo. Worth trying on Olympus Live Composite Mode.

Tor Chamber. Shatter by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

High level views using the extension pole. TG on 12 second timer. Views even the caver cannot see. Also you can use the headlamp or torch for fill in or spot.

High pole shot. Tor Chamber. Shatter . by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

The Tor. Framing could have been better but that means more time on shot. Of course you cannot see the view finder so trial and error.

High pole shot. Tor Chamber. Shatter . by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

High level view of The Canopy.

High pole shot. The Canopy. Shatter by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

High pole shot. The Canopy. Shatter by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Helectite garden.

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Macro will give a very small depth of field. Try standard shot and crop. Yes. Shooting in RAW would be best but I keep it all simple.

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

The rest of the session.

Tor Chamber. Shatter. by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Shatter Cave by Nicholas Chipchase, on Flickr

Love the latitude of your lighting.