Hi Gina,
You've done a superb job, doesn't look like you need too many tips from the rest of us
White balance of the lights is both a problem and a solution, it's just a challenge to make the best of them.
When a cave/mine is too evenly lit it loses shape and results in a sort of flat HDR type image; but using odd coloured lamps can solve this.
Putting the odd coloured lamp in the distance enhances the sense of depth and shape of the chamber. Here's an example:
I've also found that pairing two lamps of different colours, one on the left wall next to the camera and one on the right really brings out the texture in the walls.
First a shot with colour matched lamps - flat and boring
Second, the same location lit by two lamps (one left, one right) with different colour balances - editing was a nightmare to tone down the wild colours but the result is much better!
I have two underground photography sets.
Th lightweight kit fits in a watertight Darren Barrel and contains an X30 camera, two DSLR video lights, flash and radio triggers. I shoot hand-held and rely on the image stabilisation. The flash is a last resort as I much prefer the what-you-see-is-what-you get approach with continuous lighting, but it is able to bung out vast quantities of light when needed.
The full kit is an expedition rucksack containing a 5DIII camera in a Peli case, travel tripod, 10W LED floodlight, 20W LED floodlight, Darren Barrel with two DSLR video lights + dive torch for placing underwater + 1 or 2 crazy bright bike lights. The bike lights can be opened and the reflector removed when I want to use them to light a wide area instead of filling in a hole. I always shoot with continuous lighting and don't light-paint, it makes composition and placement of the models much easier.
I now have a decent head lamp which occasionally gets used to fill in parts of the image, but most of the time I need it to move around the cave!
If you live in the South West, then next weekend is Hidden Earth; the national caving conference, which has a major photo salon.
The standard is shockingly high and will be well worth a visit for inspiration and chatting to the photographers.
My caving images are tucked in a gallery on my website
http://www.wild-landscapes.co.uk/Gallery/Caving/47210956_nZ8s37
If you have questions, fire away and I'll try to answer them
Exit
