Chapter 674 - 296: You Call These Photos Rejects? (Part 4)

Generally speaking, a top diver, compared to a novice, can only have an oxygen usage difference of about three times in extreme conditions.

A standard compressed air tank of about 200bar can be used by an OW-level novice diver for about half an hour, but under the same conditions, a top diving instructor can even use it for 90 minutes.

On this basis, Li Younan can double his oxygen usage, reaching an astonishing two and a half hours!

Chen Chong also knows very well that different levels of divers indeed have significant differences in their oxygen usage.

Firstly, in terms of breathing methods, the lower the breathing frequency, the less oxygen consumption.

And the neutral buoyancy control Li Younan just demonstrated, without any extra movements, made the oxygen consumption close to a resting state, which seems quite reasonable for such an oxygen consumption level.

Li Younan looked at them with some amusement, from initial questioning to shock, and then each person’s face revealed expressions of incredulity and admiration.

All things considered, it feels pretty awesome.

Because Li Younan acquired his diving skills directly, he doesn’t have a very clear understanding of his oxygen utilization abilities underwater.

Just like a world-class sprinting talent who can run 100 meters in 9 seconds naturally, if they’ve never competed, don’t know normal sprinting standards, and haven’t compared themselves, they wouldn’t know how fast they actually are.

And it was only now that Li Younan realized that during the time he used half a tank of oxygen, Chen Chong had already used two tanks.

But in fact, Li Younan wasn’t acting entirely on the principle of conserving oxygen just now.

If he wanted to control his oxygen consumption further, he could even improve this number.

Of course, Li Younan wouldn’t say these things out loud.

Underwater, the efficiency of oxygen usage is a crucial measure of safety.

Then, the atmosphere finally relaxed and became cheerful again.

Everyone hadn’t forgotten Chen Chong’s diving objective this time, and they all wanted to see what he captured with his camera.

Chen Chong was also a bit pleased. He had taken a lot of pictures underwater, and for him, the photography equipment had, to some extent, become an extension of his organs.

His photos featured mottled rocks, the dim seabed, remnants of walls and ruins, and a tilted archway.

Choosing angles underwater is a complicated task, but these photos were clearly of much higher quality than the ones they’d seen before. Chen Chong was quite happy to have captured them.

At this moment, he looked at Li Younan and said, "Younan brother, did you get the pictures you wanted underwater?"

Li Younan didn’t join the others to see the photos Chen Chong had taken; instead, he was slowly exporting his pictures from the camera.

Upon hearing Chen Chong’s question, he sighed slightly, shook his head, and said, "To be honest, the photos didn’t turn out ideally. Only two or three shots are satisfactory; most of them just have to be deleted."

Li Younan glanced regretfully at the photos he planned to delete.

All things considered, these photos always fall a bit short of master-level images, mainly because the conditions underwater make it truly difficult to control.

Hearing this, Chen Chong comforted him, "That’s normal. Taking pictures underwater is like that."

"The suspended particles in the water can cause light scattering, leading to blurriness issues in the pictures, not to mention the unstable environment, rapid focus decay of the lens, and color loss, which are all quite frustrating."

"When I first took pictures underwater, I considered it good enough just to capture things clearly, let alone worrying about composition."

As he spoke, Chen Chong moved beside Li Younan with a laugh.

At this moment, Li Younan was deleting a photo he wasn’t satisfied with.

Chen Chong glanced and saw a beautiful underwater photography shot being deleted from Li Younan’s preview screen.

He was momentarily dumbfounded, thinking he was seeing things. He squinted, only to see the next picture that Li Younan planned to delete.

This photo wasn’t master-level either, and in Li Younan’s perspective, it was to be deleted. Just as he selected the delete option, Chen Chong anxiously shouted, "Ah, wait, wait!"

...

Li Younan stopped his action, looking at Chen Chong with a puzzled expression.

Chen Chong frantically stopped Li Younan, "Why, why are you deleting this photo?"

"Oh, this photo, well, it’s a wasted shot... The composition isn’t great."

"It originally had potential, but a fish, you see, right here, swam past and disturbed the water flow, causing the particles here to shift, altering the layout of the image."

Listening to Li Younan sincerely and regretfully explaining the reason, Chen Chong found it hard to accept.

Calling a photo like that a wasted shot?

If not for Li Younan’s forced explanation, he wouldn’t have been able to see any issues in the nearly perfect photo.

After calming down slightly, Chen Chong, with trembling hands, held Li Younan’s camera and said, "Can, can I take a look at your photos?"

Li Younan casually smiled, "Sure, go ahead."

Chen Chong’s hands were still trembling slightly as he gently flipped through the photos, viewing one exquisite underwater photography after another.

Beside him, Li Younan continued to regretfully comment, "This one, this one isn’t good either. The angle’s not great."

"This one is somewhat overexposed."

"And this one, what was the reason again? Oh, I just simply don’t like it."

Chen Chong didn’t want to speak anymore. His ears automatically tuned out Li Younan’s ramblings.

What nonsense is he mumbling?

Where are the flaws in these photos?

Finally, when he came across one of the three master-level photographs that Li Younan decided to keep, he finally understood why Li Younan was dissatisfied with the other photos.

After a long pause, Chen Chong put down the camera, looked at Li Younan with a complicated expression, "Is this really your first time doing underwater photography?"

Receiving back the camera, Li Younan flipped through the photos inside and nodded, "The yield rate is still a bit low."

Hearing this, Chen Chong really felt like giving Li Younan a punch.

Finally, Chen Chong understood why Li Younan could hold such an exhibition by himself.

For most masters, having a few representative works is praiseworthy in itself, yet nearly every photo from Li Younan could become a signature piece for others.

It’s like this on land, and underwater, this ability remains undiminished.

Oh my, he was born to master this craft. No wonder he’s the all-round traveler!

Chen Chong gradually calmed down, but his heart was in turmoil.

Even if Li Younan has those three exceptional photographs, it doesn’t mean the other works should be deleted—even a random shot he takes is better than my best one!

If even photos like Li Younan’s couldn’t escape deletion, what face would his own photos have to claim for that commissioned unit?

Chen Chong is someone who pursues art, so he took a deep breath and unhesitatingly said, "Younan, sell those photos you don’t want to my commission unit! These photos, their fate shouldn’t be deletion!"