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10 Caving photos using E-M5 w/ 12-50 & 60 Macro

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DLBlack

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Couple of weeks ago I went to Roppel Cave, which is part of the Mammoth Cave System. Back 30 some years ago I was one of the main explorer/surveyor of this cave. It has been the first time I have been back to the cave since 1999. The trip brought back many memories from my many trips there so many years ago.

I had the E-M5 with the 12-50 kit lens and a 60 Macro lens along wit three flashes (FL600R and two Vivitar 285) packed in a 1300 Pelican box. In a 1200 Pelican box I had two more Vivitar 285 flashes. The flashes were fired using a Phottix radio slave.

Photo 1

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 6

Photo 7

Photo 7

Photo 8

Photo 8

Photo 9

Photo 9

Photo 10

Photo 10

The photo gear all worked and it is really nice how compact the E-M5 and the two lenses pack. I was able to get an extra flash in the Pelican box. Have to carry and drag the gear through the cave really makes one think about the type of gear you take along.

Many thanks for taking the time to look. If you are interested in seeing more photos from this trip I got them posted in my Flickr gallery at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_l_black/sets/72157632942762248/with/8537708148/


Also comments are always welcome. Comments is one way of many that I can use to improve my photography skills. Again many thanks for taking the time to look.

Dave
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Nice work Dave and it was a good call taking some strobes down there, I think you used them to great effect. You got some nice shots of somewhere different. Much as cats are ok I'd much rather look at some interesting shots of somewhere different such as these, thanks for sharing them.
 
enjoy your speulunking (sp?) photo's.



It is like going to another planet.



Tedolph
 
Thanks for posting, very interesting. Good lighting too.

:-) Sabine
 
…there are whole bunches of serious cave systems being discovered herein New Britain Island!

Not as dry as your cave, though. So wet you can almost see the stalig-whatevers growing! :)

Cheers, geoff
 
ryan2007 said:
ryan2007 wrote:

Whats the White stuff in photo 5
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Many thanks for looking and taking the time to comment. The white stuff is cave cotton, which is a is a fiberous form of gypsum. It is kind of rare and is very delicate. We try to stay 3 feet from it since even the heat from our body makes the filiments move.

Dave
 
papillon_65 said:
papillon_65 wrote:

Nice work Dave and it was a good call taking some strobes down there, I think you used them to great effect. You got some nice shots of somewhere different. Much as cats are ok I'd much rather look at some interesting shots of somewhere different such as these, thanks for sharing them.
Click to expand...
 
tedolf said:
tedolf wrote:

enjoy your speulunking (sp?) photo's.

It is like going to another planet.

Tedolph
Click to expand...
Many thanks for looking and taking the time to comment. Yes, going caving is kind of like visiting another planet. Plus you don't have to worry about anything except for caving when you are caving.


Dave
 
Sergey Borachev said:
Sergey Borachev wrote:

Very interesting. Good to see nice pictures of places that I will never go. Thanks.
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Many thanks for looking and commenting. This is one good thing about photography is that you get to see places that one will never get to go to.

Dave
 
Hen3ry said:
Hen3ry wrote:

…there are whole bunches of serious cave systems being discovered herein New Britain Island!

Not as dry as your cave, though. So wet you can almost see the stalig-whatevers growing! :)

Cheers, geoff
Click to expand...
 
Nice series, liked to see.
 
I first looked at the photos and settings and though "this is impossible". Then I read about the use of the remote flashes. Amazing how you can create light in the depth of the cave by means of these remotely triggered flashes. Outstanding work!
 
DLBlack said:
Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 4


Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 6








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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3571/3380136992_7c5a0986ea_m.jpg
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Dave, as ever I really like your caving photography and you really make the E-M5 shine with those flashes (no pun intended).

All of the shots were great but the two above were really excellent IMO - composition and perspective.

All the best,

Simon

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Dave:

Great job. I was also lucky enough to get into Roppel Cave about 12 years ago (pre-convention weekend trip). Wonderful cave. I remember the gypsum flowers and Yahoo Avenue very well. As we came out of the cave, we ran into Jim Borden going in! For me, Roppel was also the first time I shot in 3D (Stereo Realist film camera and strobes). If I knew then, what I know now, those stereo photos would have been much better.

To anyone interested in this cave, please get the book "Beyond Mammoth Cave". Some of the photos in the book are by our OP, Dave Black. Dave was on the team that made the connection between Roppel and Mammoth, which expanded the length of Mammoth significantly. That type of activity is Nirvana for cavers.

Dave, BTW, I finally got up the courage to take my beloved E-M5 with 14mm Pany lens plus 3 strobes into one of the lava tube caves on the big island of Hawaii. The shots came out really, really well. Besides the kit 12-50mm, I especially like the 14mm as it is wide enough to capture substantial cave and it also has the internal focusing mechanism (unlike the older Oly 17mm) which means the lens and camera stay dust free - which is critical if you want to keep using such a setup for cave photography.

Leave nothing but footprints...

caver3d
 
Very impressive.

I admire anyone who can get shots underground like this....I'm pretty claustrophobic, so I get cold chills even thinking about poking around in caves. I'll tell you, though, if I wasn't, I would be very interested in seeing some of those rock formations up close and personal...they are very cool.

Thanks for the tour!

-J
 
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