How the Ressel's photo was done ?
Principle
Most of the pictures on this site have been taken in an original way. Some kind of multi flash / bulb exposure technique, well known of the cavers and numerically adapted.
The principle is simple. I set up the camera on a tripod and use a little homemade system to keep the release button engaged. Once the stand is in position and the framing is determined, I set the continuous shooting mode and go wandering in the gallery, lighting it from every angle with my lamp. Sometimes I also lay it down and swim into the light so as to get a diver on the pic, a good way to give it a scale and even merely to show there is water all around…
Back home, I have a whole set of pictures of the sump lit up from different angles. Thanks to photoshop and a great deal of patience, I can reconstitute a complete picture with a homogeneous lighting.
The Ressel
This picture had been running through my head for a year and a half, I was dreaming of taking an image back from one of the most beautiful sites I know. Each time I go back there, the same feeling of happiness, solitude, estrangement and ecstasy mingles with the beauty of the site and enthrals me. Taking back this photo was a personal challenge…
The Diving
After checking all my equipment, the great moment had come for me. The double tank on my back, the two backups in place, the camera on its tripod, preset for the picture, plus the light, I'm heavily loaded ! But thanks to the scooter, I press on the trigger and dive into the gallery effortlessly, like magic. The walls move on, everything is going on perfectly, I just have to make the most of the sight. The fork comes up, I get into the shunt (parallel gallery, narrower but shallower), which enables me to save my air and my decompression stops.
15 minutes have passed, I leave my first backup in the middle of the shunt, switch to the second one and go further on. Two magnificent shafts get me to the main gallery. I am now 300m away from the entry, about 20m deep. Another shaft, a few more meters of galleries and I get to the upper part of the so coveted shaft.
I know I don't have much time. I lay my scooter and my second backup down on the guideline, start unfolding the tripod while heading to the place where I'll position it. It'll stand unsteadily balanced, on two great rocks, my previous attempts convincing me it was the best place. A few lead weights stabilize the contraption as well as possible. I set up the framing at best (my headlights don't allow me to see that far), engage continuous shooting and put the light on.
There you go, it's pure delight ! I'm wandering in this gigantic place in total weightlessness, all alone. The white limestone walls, carved with erosion, stand in all their splendour. I sweep across them methodically with my light. Each move of it gives a peculiar dimension to the place, shadows standing out, moving and dancing…
I spot a rocky crest, wedge the lamps there and move into the light. Today I'll be both the photographer and the model ! I hope I'm well exposed, everything's done by guesswork…
Now it's time to go lighting up the bottom of the shaft. I go down slowly, turning round on myself calmly, the picture still in mind, I need a homogeneous light. The rapture of the deep makes my well-being grow, I get down to the bottom. The entry of the lower gallery is right before me - 45m deep - I'm fully making the most of these moments but it's already time to go back up. I've been down for 45 minutes and I only have air and an old dive computer, the decompression stops will be long.
Now it's time to go lighting up the bottom of the shaft. I go down slowly, turning round on myself calmly, the picture still in mind, I need a homogeneous light. The rapture of the deep makes my well-being grow, I get down to the bottom. The entry of the lower gallery is right before me - 45m deep - I'm fully making the most of these moments but it's already time to go back up. I've been down for 45 minutes and I only have air and an old dive computer, the decompression stops will be long.
I've been down for 75 minutes, I'm getting closer to the surface but there are decompression stops left. 45 minutes stuck to the ceiling, still doing some testing with the little battery I have left. Cold is getting tougher, two hours now that I'm under water but I made it. I can go back to the surface, open air, sunlight, everything went out quite well, I feel fine.
Back home
It's not over, some work still needs to be done ! I now have to search through the some 400 shots I took to find the pictures that will help me with the final scene. Two whole days with photoshop later, there it is. It can still be improved but it is the best I've ever managed, by far !
Epilogue
I can't resist, I have to share my pleasure. With the miraculous help of the Internet, I post here and there the result of my work on different forums. Answers move me, the picture is pretty much appreciated. To the point that the idea of printing it and taking it to the cave diving congress comes up to my mind. I only have ten days left, but my decision's taken. After many phone calls, I manage to find a printer who can do it within the allotted time.
A few days later, the result is under my eyes, a beautiful poster, which seems to be greatly appreciated from what I've been told.
The next step will be this site. If you wish to get one of these printings, do not hesitate. In addition to getting it, you'll help me buy some photo equipment and, who knows, enable me to get back there to make even more beautiful pictures.(Order the poster)