I went up to the mountains in the north of town this afternoon and had a few hours of fun shooting one of our many rivers and some of its small waterfalls. I hadn't intended to get into the water, but while moving around I slipped and one leg went into the water halfway up my calf. The water wasn't unbearably cold and I figured "in for a penny, in for a pound" and decided I may as well stick the other leg in while I was at it.

Since I was already wet I thought I would try out an idea I had last year but never got around to trying out. I wondered how it would be to shoot such a scene with the camera just a few centimeters above the surface of the water. So I set my tripod up in water above my knees and tried a few shots. Here is a shot of the setup, taken with my cell phone and with no PP:

Yes, I'm an idiot.

[paulyrichard]

OMG, that is temptin' the gods!

[fractal]

Haha gold! Temptin' the gods is always very well respected in my books.

Can't say i have done that.

Where is the shot from the Pentax though?

[Peter Zack]

Mike I don't have a picture of the setup, but as an idiot equal to you (we can start a club) , I've done the same a couple of times.

This was taken with K10D and DA 16-45mm. Waist deep and lots of spray.



This one has the camera only 20-30cms off the water.



There are others where I'm standing in the water with the camera. I've done it a bunch of times when shooting weddings.

[Urmas R.]

... a Mermaid ;-)

[Peter Zack]

Actually I'll amend the above comments. You're the president of the club. I don't have the courage to take my hands away from the camera. That took (insert exclamatory remark) to step back from the camera, even for a second!

[Rense]

I've done it a bunch of times when shooting weddings.

And where did you order the bride in that case? And why shoot from such a low angle when there is a girl in a nice dress in front of you eh?

@Mike: you have to trust your tripod!! I would like to see the results though...

[Peter Zack]

Rense, here's an example.


There's a reason I bring a complete change of clothing and a spare camera to every wedding!

[Mike Cash]

And where did you order the bride in that case? And why shoot from such a low angle when there is a girl in a nice dress in front of you eh?

How else do you expect him to shoot up her dress without getting arrested?

@Mike: you have to trust your tripod!! I would like to see the results though...

It is one of those cheap lightweight travel tripods that I have recently been informed makes my photos worse. Who knew?

I didn't include the photo in the original post because I was still in the processing process. Nothing special, but it was a fun experiment anyway. Here it is:

Pentax K20D
S-M-C Takumar 28/3.5
ND8 and Linear Polarizer
ISO100 / 10 sec @ f16

[Peter Zack]

I like it Mike. Worth the gamble.

[khardur]

I've been known to come home soaked from the waist down, though I hate having to dry out my wallet and stuff... I try to stick to thigh-height at worst.

I have to agree with Peter's sentiments, Mike - that first shot is sort of surreal - makes your stomach lurch a little and gives me the urge to reach out and grab hold of the camera to ensure its safety.

I think the fact that you have it tilted 90 degrees doesn't help either!

[Rense]

Rense, here's an example.

There's a reason I bring a complete change of clothing and a spare camera to every wedding!

That's a very nice one Peter, I love it!

[Rense]

Mike, I like the result from such a low angle. The large rock is a bit to central imo, but the perspective is great.

[fractal]

I kind of like that the rock is central in this photo. Nice shot and def worth the risk.

[Mike Cash]

Not having access to a humongous crane and also having forgotten, as usual, to pack enough dynamite in my camera bag I was sort of stuck with having the rock where it was.