OK, now I'm worried about this underwater photography thing

[MXGratefulDiver]

To me, what makes one a "photographer" whether pro or amateur, is the need to express and capture your personal view of the world. To me, that first shot is a stunning composition of your particular vision. That is a scene that is unique to your vision. Maybe I wouldn't have seen it if I were diving with you. Someone said, oh you can look at other people's photos. Well, yeah, but that is just not the same thing as capturing what you see with your own eyes. It's like telling a writer that they can read someone else's books, or a director, you can see someone else's films, or a musician, you can hear someone else play. Well, you get the idea.
Of course, having the technical ability to capture your scene with the right exposure settings is just one of the many things that separates the pros from those just starting out.

This is true ... I often dive with other photographers, and it's sometimes amazing how differently we "see" the dive, when comparing photos afterward ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[aic007]

fairybasslet, thanks. That was probably my favorite out of the 600 or so pics taken that trip. I had it blown up 20X30 for my bedroom, it's my window into paradise.

Dennis, I get what you are saying, I should have thrown a in there

Alot of the times I do attribute it to luck though since I rarely have time to concentrate on one thing for more than a minute because the group is always moving. Need to find a buddy that will hang out while I take some pics.

 

[Diver Dennis]

No worries...

 

[ahsohz]

Thanks for the nice comments. The turtle was awesome, it was a sizeable specimen but it didn't allow me a lot of time for shots while it was swimming. Once it settled in the coral and fell asleep it was difficult getting a proper shot. Also, I've heard that these turtles are very sensitive when they're sleeping and that you shouldn't touch them as they may get heart failure from the fright (not sure how true that is) but I decided to play it safe and not use the flash on the sleeping turte, hence the absolute lack of red in the shot.

We were diving at Sodwana Bay on the east coast of South Africa. All of the dives were on 2-mile reef.

Hi Deefstes, the pictures are great! i am a newbie in u/w photography, using a canon digital compact.
May i ask what is your camera setup? Using any strobes? Sorry if i sound rude, any post editing on the pictures (ie the blue hue)?
Thanks

 

[Deefstes]

Hi Deefstes, the pictures are great! i am a newbie in u/w photography, using a canon digital compact.
May i ask what is your camera setup? Using any strobes? Sorry if i sound rude, any post editing on the pictures (ie the blue hue)?
Thanks

Hi ahsohz,

I'm using a Fujifilm FinePix F30 with underwater casing WP-FXF30, no strobes (yet).

I did do some basic post processing on the images but mostly just contrast enhancement, histogram adjustment and sharpness. I've been shooting digital (not underwater though) for some time and have at least some experience in post processing but I have to be honest that I'm not quite sure how to really fix the colours afterward on underwater pictures.

Eskasi mentions that one should adjust your white balance under water and while I'm sure this has some merit, I'm not convinced that it will really achieve what you expect. There is a fundamental difference between colour correction above water and colour correction under water. When you're above water it often happens that the entire colour spectrum of the scene is shifted to the "warmer" or "colder" side. This is typicaly as a result of the lighting. Correcting this with in-camera white balance (or even post processing) is a cinch. You basically just shift the colours in the opposite direction again. With underwater photography the colours aren't shifted to a certain side of the spectrum, what happens is that selective colours (red first but more depending on how deep you go) are removed from the scene while others remain largely untouched. If you remove red from a scene, the resulting colours will appear more cyan. Shifting the resulting image towards the "warm" side of the spectrum will put red back across the wole scene, making blue objects (of which there are lots) appear purple.

Basically, the way I see it, there is really only one sollution and that is to get proper light on the subject (seeing as the proper light that comes from the sun has to go through 15m of H₂O filter, removing lower wavelengths of the light, before it gets to you. The answer is... you guessed it, a strobe or two. Dang! This is getting expensive!

 

[ahsohz]

Hi ahsohz,

I'm using a Fujifilm FinePix F30 with underwater casing WP-FXF30, no strobes (yet).

I did do some basic post processing on the images but mostly just contrast enhancement, histogram adjustment and sharpness. I've been shooting digital (not underwater though) for some time and have at least some experience in post processing but I have to be honest that I'm not quite sure how to really fix the colours afterward on underwater pictures.

Eskasi mentions that one should adjust your white balance under water and while I'm sure this has some merit, I'm not convinced that it will really achieve what you expect. There is a fundamental difference between colour correction above water and colour correction under water. When you're above water it often happens that the entire colour spectrum of the scene is shifted to the "warmer" or "colder" side. This is typicaly as a result of the lighting. Correcting this with in-camera white balance (or even post processing) is a cinch. You basically just shift the colours in the opposite direction again. With underwater photography the colours aren't shifted to a certain side of the spectrum, what happens is that selective colours (red first but more depending on how deep you go) are removed from the scene while others remain largely untouched. If you remove red from a scene, the resulting colours will appear more cyan. Shifting the resulting image towards the "warm" side of the spectrum will put red back across the wole scene, making blue objects (of which there are lots) appear purple.

Basically, the way I see it, there is really only one sollution and that is to get proper light on the subject (seeing as the proper light that comes from the sun has to go through 15m of H₂O filter, removing lower wavelengths of the light, before it gets to you. The answer is... you guessed it, a strobe or two. Dang! This is getting expensive!

Yeah, u got it spot on! The white balance does its job but only fairly and to a certain extend. Even the underwater mode on most digital campacts are kind of disappointing. In fact most of the time, i am better off taking pictures using the manual mode.

I read somewhere in the forums that we can compensate the colours by using this auto magic filters. I never use them personally but i have seen the before and after pictures using those filters.
Not really sure what is the effective depth that the magic filters can use until but its really a lot cheaper than a strobe. :11doh:

As what people says, using a strobe is like "taking the sun down with you" while taking u/w pictures. haha, how true is that!
I have been looking at this Ikelite AF35, it can fit on to most digital compact u/w housing, easy to setup, does its job fairly well like a regular strobe and is the cheapest entry level strobe among all other models out in the market.

 

[jimbo2006]

Back to original question - One option for U/W photography while you're concentrating mostly on your diving might be the "Go-Pro Digital Hero 3mp Video/Camera". It looks very small and can be wrist-mounted. I'm not certain but assume (with large SD card) you could start its video record mode when you first descend, then just let it run and see what you "get". If something great swims by you might be able to point at it for a second to make sure you catch it. Just an idea

 

[seaducer]

Also, I've heard that these turtles are very sensitive when they're sleeping and that you shouldn't touch them as they may get heart failure from the fright (not sure how true that is) but I decided to play it safe and not use the flash on the sleeping turte, hence the absolute lack of red in the shot.

You won't give them heart failure, but you should respect the fact they are trying to rest and not push them to the point they need to move. Also, turtles can be quite nasty and even a tiny turtle can remove a finger. A big one can take your hand.

Some nice work BTW

 

[fairybasslet]

You won't give them heart failure, but you should respect the fact they are trying to rest and not push them to the point they need to move.

I felt so badly doing this to a turtle in Bonaire once. It was the first time I got really close to a turtle and I kept firing away at the poor thing until he left. I never did that again. I felt guilty all day, and still do.

 

[seaducer]

I felt so badly doing this to a turtle in Bonaire once. It was the first time I got really close to a turtle and I kept firing away at the poor thing until he left. I never did that again. I felt guilty all day, and still do.

I am sure he got over it, after all in Bonaire there is no rest for the little guys. On the bright side, I am sure he was relieved to be bothered by a photographer as opposed to a shark, lol