photographer research project

Photographer Research Project

David Doubilet

Biography:

• David was born on August 28th, 1946 in New York City.

• He started taking photos underwater at age 12 using the Brownie camera.

• He graduated from Boston University in 1970. • David had decided to take pictures underwater

because he had a passion for undersea majesty of light and how it captured it.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0227_030228_belize_doubilet_2.html

•Since 1972, David has shot more than 60 stories for National Geographic magazine. 1995-1996 Doubilet and his work are

featured in a national advertising campaign for the Rolex Watch Company.

• David's Work also appears in the books he wrote.• Light In the Sea, was published in 1989 by Thomasson-Grant in the

USA • Pacific: An Undersea Journey was published in 1992 by Bulfinch Press • Under the Sea From A to Z written by Anne L. Doubilet with

photographs by David Doubilet was published in 1991 by Crown Press (Random House)

• Fish Face by Phaidon Publishers (2003), • The Kingdom of Coral: Australia’s Great Barrier Reef by National

Geographic Books (2002) • Water Light and Time by Phaidon Publishers (1999).

http://www.diveglobal.com/photography_film/the_greats/doubilet.asphttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0227_030228_belize_doubilet_2.html

Type of Style:• David is known for

underwater photography. He is one of the worlds leading underwater photographer.

• Underwater photographer is about taking exciting and rare photo graphics.

• It’s the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while snorkeling or swimming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwater_photography

• David was inspired to take underwater photos when he was growing up in New Jersey by the green sea coast.

• He started taking above and below photos in black and white with the brownie camera.

• Then in the summer and winter when he went to Small Hope Bay Lodge on Andros Island in the Bahamas he would take pictures there.

• He worked as a diving guide and on days off would take his camera.

• David later spent several summers working as a diver and photographer for the Sandy Hook Marine Laboratories in New Jersey.

• Basically David discovered an interest for taking underwater photos when he was younger.

http://www.diveglobal.com/photography_film/the_greats/doubilet.asp

Circling Pacific barracuda, New Hanover Island, Papua New Guinea, 1987

Juvenile lionfish, Suruga Bay, Japan, 1989

“I want people to feel, when they look at my pictures, a little bit like a fish to feel that freedom, that weightlessness of the sea.”

“The problem with photography underwater is that you cannot talk to your subjects. They look at you with fish eyes, and you look back at them with human eyes. And they comprehend nothing.”

Cowfish in diver’s red glove, Izu Peninsula, Futo, Japan, 1983

“Most of these pictures are made with micro lenses and now micro-telephoto lenses. And most of them require infinite patience. It’s a creeping kind of photography. At times I find myself lying on the bottom, inching up on my elbows, putting my head down, holding my breath, pretending I’m a rock. Sometimes I shut my eyes and hope that the fish is going to reappear again. And when it does, you take a bunch of pictures and hope to hell you didn’t blow it.”

Moray eel in soft coral, Izu Peninsula, Futo, Japan, 1983

Embryo and yolk sac inside an egg case of a swell shark, Izu Peninsula, Futo, Japan, 1982

“A strobe is nothing more than a bottle of sunlight, and when you turn that strobe on, just for a brief, pulsating second, for 1/2500 of a second, the image in front of you virtually boils with color. That’s what light is in the sea—it’s a tremendous and total surprise. It’s a bloom of light in a dark world. All of a sudden an image becomes something almost unworldly.”

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/media/photography/doubilet/0273.html

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/media/photography/doubilet/index.html




Questions:• What is the lighting used? (Artificial

(inside) or natural (outside). • What direction is it coming from?• - What is the main subject of the

photograph? • How can you tell?• - Explain HOW the composition

works to make the photo so striking?• Think lines, lighting, rules

of thirds, texture, etc. • - What is the photographer trying to

communicate in the photograph?• Is there a story?• - Why did you select this

photograph as opposed to any other?

1. In the first photo there is natural lighting from the outside. The lighting is coming in from the top of the water. When I look at the photo the main subject to me is the diver in the water with the fish around it. I can tell because the fish are acting like leading lines. This photo is so striking because its one underwater and the way he captured it made the photo look good. With the fish acting as leading lines it help make the photo look good. I'm not sure what the photograph is trying to communicate with this photo. I selected this because I thought it was a cool picture and it caught my eye.

2. I think that the lighting in this photo is artificial. It seems like the lighting is coming from the camera that is taking the picture. The main subject in this picture is the fish. I can tell because the photo is zoomed in and the fish is the only thing shown. I think this photo is striking because of the way the photographer put lighting on this photo. In this photo the photographer wants people to feel when they look at this picture, like as if they were a fish and feel freedom of the weightlessness sea. I selected this photo because I really liked the way the photographer zoomed in close on the one fish.

3. Once again I think the lighting is coming from the camera so its artificial. The main subject in this is the fish. I can tell because the photographer zoomed in close on the fish again. I think the picture it striking because instead of taking a full body picture of what the fish looked like he decided to only take half of it. The photographer had said that its hard to take underwater photos because fish look at you with their fish eyes and you look at them with your human eyes and they cant comprehend on what your saying. The reason I chose this photo was because I liked the fish in the picture and the way he decided to take it.

4. This photo looks similar to others with the lightning. I believe the photographer also used artificial lightning in this photo and that it came from his camera. The main subject in this photo would be the eel. Its nice how he could take the photo of the eel when he was in the orange coral. Since the eel has that camouflage color the orange makes it a lot easier to look at the eel. The only thing I don’t like about this photo is how that orange coral is so bright and is a distraction. The photographer says that sometimes its hard to capture these things. That he has to hide behind a rock sometimes and blend in with certain things so he can take the photo. I selected this photo because I found it interesting on how he was able to capture the camouflage eel.

5. The lighting in this photo comes from a strobe. The lighting was focused on the fished stomach and how you can see what's inside it. The main subject in this photo is the fish and its stomach. I think that because the light is mostly focused on that part of fish so it captures your eye. Honestly I don’t know what the photographer is trying to say with this photo. There could be a story to it but as far as I know there isn't one. I picked this photo because I thought it was an interesting on to look at. I really like how the lighting is in this photo.

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