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Be Water TrainingCourses

Learn from a working cave photographer and instructor. From your first steps into technical diving to the course that teaches you to light the dark.

Intro to TechCave 1Cave 2Cave DPVPhotography Masterclass

Learn from the diver behind the images

Do you want to see places like these with your own eyes? To become a cave diver, and one day bring back photographs and film like the ones in the gallery?

Fan Ping is more than an award winning photographer. He is a working cave and technical diver who plans and runs real projects underground: photo and film shoots, expeditions and team dives in demanding environments. He has worked on projects with Karst Underwater Research and has logged more than a thousand hours on closed circuit rebreathers. That field experience is what goes into every course.

  • Plan like an expeditionGas, contingencies and turn points built the way real projects are planned, so safety is a strategy, not a checklist.
  • Execute as a teamClear roles, communication and discipline in the water, so the plan holds when the cave does not cooperate.
  • Learn from real divesLessons drawn from years of shoots and projects in caves, not read from a slide deck.

You finish as a diver who can think for yourself underground, not one who only completed a course.

Signature course · 5 days · $3,000

Underwater Cave Photography Masterclass

Underwater Cave Photography Masterclass

Five days in the cave with Fan Ping. You will learn four lighting techniques made for caves: lights on camera, on the diver, on a tripod, and on the ceiling. Then advanced photography techniques such as exposure bracketing and panoramas, and a complete editing workflow.

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Duration
5 days
Tuition
$3,000
Prerequisite
Cave 2
Recommended
Cave DPV and cave CCR
Skills required to start
Outstanding cave diving skills and awareness, excellent equipment management, and a solid understanding of photography
Provided
All lighting for the shoot. Bring your own camera and housing.

The heart of the course

Plan the shoot. Shoot the plan.

Above everything else, you will learn how to plan an underwater cave shoot in detail and carry it out safely: the team, the gas, the lights, the communication, and who does what at every moment. A great photo is never worth an unsafe dive.

Course outline

Eight modules, from the fundamentals to the finished image.

Module 1: General Knowledge
Module 1General KnowledgeExposure, color, and composition. The foundations every cave image is built on.
Module 2: Cave vs Open Water
Module 2Cave vs Open WaterCamera settings, lenses and ports, camera trim, dive planning, and communication in an overhead environment.
Module 3: Lights On Camera
Module 3Lighting technique 1Lights On CameraLight positions, controlling backscatter, and using the cave itself as a reflector.
Module 4: Lights On Diver
Module 4Lighting technique 2Lights On DiverLight in hand, light on back, and face light to separate and shape your model.
Module 5: Lights On Tripod
Module 5Lighting technique 3Lights On TripodBacklighting, and lighting the mid ground and background where divers cannot go.
Module 6: Lights On Ceiling
Module 6Lighting technique 4Lights On CeilingPlacing lights overhead to mimic ambient light, in harmony with every other light in the frame.
Module 7: Advanced Photography Techniques
Module 7Advanced Photography TechniquesExposure bracketing for high dynamic range, and panoramas in the cavern and the cave.
Module 8: Editing in Lightroom
Module 8Editing in LightroomA full workflow from catalog to color grading, without losing the truth of the cave.

The pathto the masterclass

Every course below builds the skills you will rely on in the cave with a camera in your hands. All courses other than the masterclass are priced by the day, at $500 per day.

014 days

Intro to Tech

$2,0004 days at $500 per day

PrerequisiteAdvanced Open Water (AOW)

Skills and notes

Skills required to start

  • Basic buoyancy control
  • Basic underwater awareness
  • A basic understanding of your equipment

Good to know

  • Can be taken in backmount doubles or sidemount.
  • No drysuit experience? Add one day of drysuit training.
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023 days

Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures (ANDP)

$1,5003 days at $500 per day

PrerequisiteIntro to Tech

Skills and notes

Skills required to start

  • Good buoyancy control and trim
  • Good propulsion techniques
  • Good personal and team awareness
  • A good understanding of your equipment
  • Gas sharing
  • Valve drills
  • Deploying an SMB

Good to know

  • Can be combined with Intro to Tech, 6 days in total.
  • Certifies you to a maximum depth of 45 m / 150 ft.
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035 days

Cave 1

$2,5005 days at $500 per day

PrerequisiteIntro to Tech

Skills and notes

Skills required to start

  • Good buoyancy control and trim
  • Good propulsion techniques
  • Good personal and team awareness
  • A good understanding of your equipment
  • Gas sharing
  • Valve drills

Good to know

  • Includes cavern and introductory cave training.
  • After certification, dive caves using the rule of sixths, without complex navigation.
  • Can be taken in backmount doubles or sidemount.
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046 days

Cave 2

$3,0006 days at $500 per day

PrerequisiteCave 1

Skills and notes

Skills required to start

  • Excellent buoyancy control and trim
  • Excellent propulsion techniques
  • Excellent personal, team, and environmental awareness
  • An in depth understanding of your equipment
  • Excellent line work

Good to know

  • Full cave and stage cave training.
  • After certification, dive using the rule of thirds with up to two stage cylinders, including complex navigation.
  • Without a decompression certification, combine with ANDP, 7 days in total.
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054 days

Cave DPV

$2,0004 days at $500 per day

PrerequisiteCave 2

Skills and notes

Skills required to start

  • Excellent cave diving skills and awareness
  • Good equipment management

Good to know

  • Previous scooter experience is recommended.
  • Without a decompression certification, combine with ANDP, 5 days in total.
Ask about this course
065 days

Underwater Cave Photography Masterclass

$3,0005 day course

PrerequisiteCave 2

Our signature course. Four cave lighting techniques, advanced techniques, and how to plan and run a shoot safely.

See the course outline

Not sure where to start? Tell us your current certifications and experience.

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