18. Mastering Underwater Photography & Videography (w/Josiah Gordon)

Josiah Gordon (0:00)

I've shot underwater all over the world now, and water actually is a lot easier to shoot than over water as far as lighting goes. So I could get down there, shoot for like maybe 15 seconds, and then I need to start heading back up, because it takes about 45 seconds to get down, 45 seconds to get up.

Robbie (0:23)

Are you ready?

Hi there, I'm Robbie, and you're watching or listening to the Lost Creator Podcast, a show where we interview some of the most unique and influential people in the content creation world in the hopes of inspiring you to escape the nine to five and live out your dreams. And joining me today, we have Christian, thank you for joining us. And hi, how's it going? And Josiah, Josiah, you're right there, buddy.

Josiah Gordon (0:46)

The sparkling water is really nice.

Robbie (0:48)

Here to tell us all about a very unique niche that Josiah has tapped into, which is underwater photography. But Josiah, really love for you to tell us more about it from your perspective.

Josiah Gordon (0:57)

Underwater photography?

Like, on a photography, but under, under, it's under the water. In liquid, it's really nice.

Christian (1:06)

Can I preface something before we jump into this?

Josiah Gordon (1:08)

Yes.

Christian (1:09)

He is, no joke, one of the best underwater photographers.

You are literally like half fish, and you are an, so first of all, underwater photography is very difficult. So when you see a beautiful photo like this, a video like this, and a photo like this, you might think to yourself, well, that's beautiful, but what you don't see is a complexity. So you are in the presence of one of the top underwater photographers, videographers, so buckle your seats and start saving, because the underwater housing is gonna break your bank.

Josiah Gordon (1:39)

Man, I'm about to disappoint y'all a lot after that. After that buildup.

Christian (1:46)

Tell us about it. What got you into underwater shooting?

Josiah Gordon (1:49)

Sure, sure.

Christian (1:50)

Did you fall in? Did you just-

Josiah Gordon (1:52)

So I went, I moved to Hawaii for college, and I was pretty broke, and started spear diving, spear fishing, while I was there.

Christian (2:00)

Was?

Josiah Gordon (2:01)

Well, I still do, but at the time-

Christian (2:03)

No, I meant the broke part.

Josiah Gordon (2:03)

Oh, the broke, yeah. Well, that's TB continued.

Robbie (2:06)

And this spear fishing was an activity, I hope it was-

Josiah Gordon (2:11)

Well, so when I was broke, so it's kinda what I would do on the side to eat. So I got really into diving.

And yeah, just like when I moved from Hawaii, I kinda lost that part of my life. I really enjoyed it a lot. And I remember during that time, I was doing photography, and remember seeing other people doing underwater photos, and remember telling myself, like, oh, I'll never be able to afford that. Like, that would be really sick. But that's just so out of the range of what I'm capable of doing as far as-

Christian (2:46)

Like the housing.

Josiah Gordon (2:47)

The housing, and the equipment. I mean, housings can go be, I mean, they're usually more expensive than the camera. And they can range anywhere from three to 10 grand.

I need to stop drinking this. Over time, yeah, I was able to afford one. And particularly, like at the start of COVID, I just didn't, I was feeling a little bit burnt out with what I was doing. And so I started getting the water a lot more just to dive. It wasn't even for photography and specific. And then really got reestablished my love for the water. And then got a housing, started shooting. And yeah, it was really cool because it's completely different and it reinvigorated my love.

I'm so glad there's not a bike on my ass right now because I farted like four times.

Robbie (4:00)

Stop drinking it, it's not gonna help.

Josiah Gordon (4:03)

Oh man, yeah, so anyways.

Christian (4:05)

Let me ask you, what are you currently shooting with underwater?

Josiah Gordon (4:08)

So I use an R5 in the water with a Naughty Cam housing.

When the R5sters came out, there was actually a big thing about, oh, you shouldn't shoot R5 in the water because of overheating. They were having a big overheating problem, but I have not a single time, and I've only shot with the R5 for the last year and a half in the water, and I've not had a single problem with it. So it's a really amazing camera to use.