Amphorae
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Amphoras or amphorae are only valuable within the context of their location and circumstances. Once taken away from their finding place,...
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Listen:
Amphoras or amphorae are only valuable within the context of their location and circumstances. Once taken away from their finding place, these are just clay vessels, and have no useful purpose whatsoever.
People are led to believe that ancient crockery is valuable, and will shell out a lot of money for some... Which is, well, a crock.
That "great value" can only stand in some corner, gather dust, and maybe serve as an umbrella stand. Or some short-term, no-data conversation piece. It was thus better off under the sea.
Did you know that there is a clandestine production of such things for less clever buyers? The crooks will copy the form, soak the thing in an organic soup, and then keep the "ancient artefacts" in the sea for several months or years.
The organic component (like meat soup, flour, fat...) attracts hordes of marine organisms - and in short time the "ware" will look like it has been underwater for a thousand years!
The anti-cue becomes antique! So don't feed the general stupidity and criminals. There is enough of that already. ;)
Read less
Amphoras or amphorae are only valuable within the context of their location and circumstances. Once taken away from their finding place, these are just clay vessels, and have no useful purpose whatsoever.
People are led to believe that ancient crockery is valuable, and will shell out a lot of money for some... Which is, well, a crock.
That "great value" can only stand in some corner, gather dust, and maybe serve as an umbrella stand. Or some short-term, no-data conversation piece. It was thus better off under the sea.
Did you know that there is a clandestine production of such things for less clever buyers? The crooks will copy the form, soak the thing in an organic soup, and then keep the "ancient artefacts" in the sea for several months or years.
The organic component (like meat soup, flour, fat...) attracts hordes of marine organisms - and in short time the "ware" will look like it has been underwater for a thousand years!
The anti-cue becomes antique! So don't feed the general stupidity and criminals. There is enough of that already. ;)
Read less
Feb, 2016Views
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Platinum
ricklecompte
February 17, 2016
The description to the right is super informative. A story beyond the image itself. Well done on both parts LookSee
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LookSee
February 17, 2016
Thank you. I always try to explain the real value of an underwater find - an it is only historical. The layout and type of scattered amphoras can show the type of ship these were transported in, leading to further discoveries and maybe the whole story about the circumstances.
It is very similar to modern forensic studies. Any part of it loses its importance once removed from the whole.
You might say that gold coins (doubloons, pieces-of-eight, etc) retain their value, but then only in their weight of metal - whereas if these are properly dated and related to certain historical data, the value may skyrocket.
Then again, there are postal stamps more expensive than gold... to some people, at least.
On the other hand, find an ice pick or a screwdriver and weave and interesting (possibly gory) story around it, and these things too will become "valuable"... See?
Funny thing, history... and people too... :)
It is very similar to modern forensic studies. Any part of it loses its importance once removed from the whole.
You might say that gold coins (doubloons, pieces-of-eight, etc) retain their value, but then only in their weight of metal - whereas if these are properly dated and related to certain historical data, the value may skyrocket.
Then again, there are postal stamps more expensive than gold... to some people, at least.
On the other hand, find an ice pick or a screwdriver and weave and interesting (possibly gory) story around it, and these things too will become "valuable"... See?
Funny thing, history... and people too... :)
PRO+
Littlelynn
February 26, 2016
You can almost feel the texture and the colors are like a soft edged stained glass. Beautiful
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AnnHopta
June 17, 2020
I love you descriptions!!! One of my favorite things that so many people never add... :-(
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CinnfullySouthern
March 01, 2023
Thank you for explaining I was a bit confused at first and that really helped! Great capture!
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Platinum
XoniUelo2
Apr 22
It is the same with deserted mansions and factories. The beauty and value of abandoned artifacts is in their surroundings, and almost all of us that visit these buildings, respect them and leave them as we found them!
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LookSee
Apr 22
True, ditto with pretty natural lengths of shores when some dumbos decide to encase natural beauty in concrete and set up kiosks with junk diverse... thinking it is an \"advancement\"! So many enchanting places have suffered such destinies it makes normal people cry in frustration. And such stupidities still go on, regardless... 😡
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Behind The Lens
Location
I spotted this scene in the Adriatic aquatory on return from the beautiful dive. It was long time ago. Exact location is of no consequence since all seas are equaly sprinkled with historical remains.Time
Hard to say nowadays; it happened several decades ago, but from what I remember of the similar dives, I'd say it was between 1100 and 1500 hours. We were diving from the ship, and our lunch was scheduled for about ~3PM... see? Anyway it doesn't change anything light-wise, since for such photos you need a strobe in any depth under 10 meters. Otherwise there wouldn't be many colors to see - not with a 100ASA film.Lighting
The main lightsource was a SUNPAK Marine underwater strobe, and I guess it was set at half power output. There was also one small DIY strobe (triggered by a slave sensor), but its influence didn't seem to matter much. I used this one mainly to lighten the front of an object. My main strobe was offset at an angle so as to render better shadows and textures. Synced at 1/60th of a second, there was no recorded daylight worth speaking of.Equipment
My camera at the time was a NIKONOS V, with 35mm UW Nikkor, and the two lighting strobes; the DIY slave unit in an IKELITE casing, and the sync-cable-connected SUNPAK. There was a modification on the SUNPAK though - maybe worth explaining if anyone wants to do the same. The sync cable has three wires that arrive to the NIKONOS connecting point: two wires to trigger the light, and the third one tells the camera when the flash unit is ON, so it can set the sync speed of the shutter to 1/60 sec. I cut that third wire within the flash casing, and inserted a reed-switch which I controlled by a sliding magnet on the outside. If the circuit was set to OFF, the strobe could be set ON - without the camera knowing it! This gave me the option to use the flash while the camera measured solely the ambiental light and used any exposure speed slower than 1/60th of a second. So the photo woud be a combination of the ambiental light plus the strobe (usually 1/4th output power). Got me some interesting photos that way... ;)Inspiration
There is no lack of inspiration when you're down in the Adriatic blue... and this unexpected find was very interesting to look at. See the photo description for some more thoughts on this theme.Editing
As the photo was made on Fujichrome Sensia (100ASA), it did need scanning to render it in a digital file. The scanner that was available to me was not nearly so good as the today's scanners are, so the file required a certain amount of cleaning and balancing until it "looked good" to me. The file was mainly post-processed in Corel's PhotoPaint, and subsequently tuned in ACDSee too. It was also cropped a tad, but not much - just to get rid of the slide margins. That's about it...In my camera bag
In the olden times, the underwater photo gear was transported in a sturdy Samsonite case, since it was rather large and consisted of many components which you'd want to keep well protected, sensibly laid-out, and always at hand. Add it to the rather voluminous and heavy diving equipment, and you get the idea; you have to be an addicted enthusiast to drag all this around! Otherwise I found it easier to carry a photo vest than any photo bag. So I load my photo vest with whatever I might need for my photo session, walk or trip, while my photo bags usually keep the equipment I'm not using at the moment. The vest's many pockets usually contain two cameras, spare batteries, ND and CPL filters, and one photo clamp standing in for a tripod. Recently I include a small action camera, mainly for its wide field of view and resistance to water and weather. The vest also has large-lens pockets that contain a small water bottle, sandwich, or a bar of chocolate if I plan on being out for the whole day. There is about three meters length of paracord or similar strong, thin rope, one hefty pocket knife, and a lighter. Using the tools mentioned above, much can be improvised along the way, so that's all I need. Recently I made it even more comfortable for me, and take the essentials along in a waist pouch. Simplicity and comfort; two best ingredients in most situations!Feedback
It's easy - in the sea, as well as on dry land! Just keep your eyes open and choose your photo gear in a way it can be used with the most of the themes you expect to encounter. With NIKONOS, we've had to prepare the setup for that one lens we planned on using, as it is not possible to change the optics underwater. But we at least tried to take along some add-on "wet" lenses, if some interesting Macro theme showed itself while you were ready for general scenery! Bear in mind that Murphy's Laws are very much present underwater, and so plan for more than just a single option!
