{"id":380396,"date":"2026-04-03T18:39:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/380396\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:39:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:39:29","slug":"the-cave-was-pitch-black-so-to-create-this-magical-underwater-shot-the-photographer-had-to-use-all-his-camera-expertise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/380396\/","title":{"rendered":"The cave was pitch black \u2013 so to create this magical underwater shot, the photographer had to use all his camera expertise…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Underwater photography is in many ways the definition of a niche genre. It is amazing how much of an adjustment is needed when shooting in this unfamiliar medium. A special set of skills is required to work effectively in aquatic environments \u2013 both practical and technical.<\/p>\n

Photographer Petr Pol\u00e1ch is an experienced shooter and diver, but needed to call on all his photographic expertise when shooting his impactful image titled Dream Gate. He explains, “This image was taken while diving in the cave system in Yucat\u00e1n, Mexico, specifically in the flooded cave Dream Gate\u2019s downstream section.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Flooded caves are characterized by an unfavorable situation for a photographer \u2013 absolute darkness,” Pol\u00e1ch explains. Fortunately, he had a solution…<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

The story behind still<\/p>\n

Pol\u00e1ch explains, “The world of flooded caves, in which the diver swims in a state of weightlessness among the beautiful stalactite decorations, completely captivated me and forced me to capture this beauty in photographs.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to capture the size of the cave space, so in the foreground is a large stalactite, followed by a diver, and in the background a blue cave space with small stalactites.<\/p>\n

“The colors in this cave made it possible to emphasise the space with complementary colors \u2013 orange and azure blue. I wanted to share this beauty with people who have no chance to visit this world,” he says.<\/p>\n

But how did he manage to lighten up the pitch-black cave? “The solution is to use external underwater flashes. For this photo, I used a total of five flashes \u2013 three external and two on the case.”<\/p>\n

The best camera deals, reviews, product advice, and unmissable photography news, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

Tech details \u2013 ‘Dream Gate’<\/p>\n

\n

\"The
\n<\/p>\n

The Sony A7R II is a 42-MP full-frame camera with phase-detect AF and 4K video, launched in 2015 (Image credit: Sony)<\/p>\n

Gear info
Camera: Sony A7R II <\/a>
Lens: FE 16-35mm f\/4 G<\/a>
Accessories: Five flashes<\/a> (three external + two on the case)<\/p>\n

Exposure details
1\/80 sec, f\/9, ISO 3200<\/p>\n

In post-processing, Pol\u00e1ch only made minor adjustments, focusing on color, contrast, brightness, and saturation to emphasize the natural impact of the scene.<\/p>\n

To see more of Pol\u00e1ch’s work, visit his website.<\/a><\/p>\n

You might like…<\/p>\n

Browse the best underwater housings for cameras and phones<\/a>, the best underwater fishing camera<\/a>, and the best underwater drones and ROVS. <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Today’s best underwater housings’ deals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Underwater photography is in many ways the definition of a niche genre. It is amazing how much of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-380396","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=380396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}