Testing the Water

  Yesterday I had to do some testing of equipment for a travel story I'm doing this weekend (you'll have to wait and read about it laer.). The story entails me getting wet. And for that I needed to borrow Robert's underwater housing for my Canon.

  The housing is more like a big plastic bag that allows me to put the 5D and and flash inside and take underwater for up to 100'. Not bad but I only need it for waste deep water. And actually I don't know if this will be totally underwater. It'll be more of what they call over/under which is like the above image where you capture what's under and on the water.

  So I needed to make sure that I knew how to use the housing properly and decided to head to the neighborhood pool. Yes I'm aware that Christmas is a week away but we've been having highs in the 80s (and yes I'm bragging). 

  The camera fit securely inside the housing once I propped it up a bit using Benjamin's rubber building blocks. The bag is clipped on the side and sealed using screws that clamp the opening of the plastic tightly.

  With great reservation about putting my $2,700 digital camera in the pool I slowly submerged the rig in the shallow part of the pool. I looked to see if I noticed any big bubbles rising to the surface. None. Whew!!!

  Then it was time for the big test. I first dipped myself in the chilly water before taking the bag way under for a true test. Holy crap the water was chilly. I don't know if it was my body acclimating to the temp or just hypothermia setting in but I eventually got used to the water.

  I waded over to the camera sitting on the side of the pool awaiting its fate. Sploosh!!! It was fine. No water anywhere inside the bage. Now it was time for some fun.

  I set the camera to time delay and watched the front light blink for eight seconds before going under and doing something fun. I tried a few different angles and faces to see what I got. It was just so cool to take my camera under the water for a change.

  Now I can't wait to leave for my assignment Friday morning. Should be lots of fun. Stay tuned.