Without strobe

[nivla80]

Hi guys,

I'm a relatively new diver, and i'm also pretty new to uw photography. I understand that a strobe is essential for taking good pictures. I'm using a Canon SD800 IS, with the WPDC9 casing. I'm tryin to get comfortable takin pictures underwater b4 i get a strobe.

I know this is hard, but is there anyway that i can take ok lookin pictures, even without the strobe?

Thanks!

[ThatsSomeBadHatHarry]

staying shallow in well lit conditions can help.

[under water]

1. Become familiar with manual settings
2. Manual white balance for non-flash pics
3. If the water is clear then try the built in flash.

[Footslogger]

Agree with the comments so far:

Shallow
Lots of Light
Really short distance to your subject

Unfortunately without adding in some light from a strobe the natural colors of object will begin to fade rather quickly and your shots. People and objects will appear somewhat washed out and the overall pic will be mostly bluegreen.

[Diver Dennis]

Depending what editing program you are using, you can correct it on your computer. Some programs have white balance correction. Adobe Lightroom Beta is free.

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom/

[DennisW]

I have yet to buy a strobe, but I have been able to take some fairly nice pictures. Some of the photography edit programs can enhance underlit and faded pictures quite well. Many of the underwater photographers use these programs to give their photos just a bit more light and color. I use Photoshop 7.0. The software can't fix everything, but it can sometimes make an unacceptable picture worth keeping.

[AUTiger]

...but you'll eventually want one, just to expand your capabilities. I shot my Oly C-5060 for the first year without a strobe. They're different cameras, but same situation. I think that I was shooting in the automatic "P" mode in these photos. I've learned a lot since then, but these didn't turn out too bad.

Your options are

Take close-up photos with the built-in flash:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/WetTiger/Roatan%202004/TwoJuvenileSpottedDrumFish-Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/WetTiger/Roatan%202004/SpottedMorayEel-Small.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/WetTiger/Roatan%202004/P7311136_upload.jpg

Take wide-angled shots with a UR Pro (red) or Magic Filter.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/WetTiger/Roatan%202004/P7301102_upload.jpg

Or wide-angle without any filter, and then try to correct the color in an editing program (last photo was considerably corrected).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/WetTiger/Roatan%202004/P7301016_upload.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/WetTiger/Roatan%202004/P7301026_upload.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v642/WetTiger/Roatan%202004/RoatanFeeding.jpg

[NWGratefulDiver]

Hi guys,

I'm a relatively new diver, and i'm also pretty new to uw photography. I understand that a strobe is essential for taking good pictures. I'm using a Canon SD800 IS, with the WPDC9 casing. I'm tryin to get comfortable takin pictures underwater b4 i get a strobe.

I know this is hard, but is there anyway that i can take ok lookin pictures, even without the strobe?

Thanks!
I use a basic point-n-shoot camera, no strobe ... and I like to think I get some decent shots from time to time. You can check out a sampling of them here ...

http://s106.photobucket.com/albums/m257/NWGratefulDiver/?start=0

Although some of my pics were taken in fairly lighted, clear-water conditions ... the majority were taken in Puget Sound, where it's typically dark and the water's reasonably murky. The trick is to get in close to your subject and concentrate on good buoyancy control so you don't stir up any bottom muck.

A good photo editing program is also very useful ... I use PhotoShop Elements 2.0. There are better (and more recent) programs out there for not much money ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

[CompuDude]

It's harder in cold dark water than clear warm water, but you'll get some great shots with your camera. Think shallow and light for wide angle shots, no flash. Think close and macro with flash for everything else.

[Charlie59]

Manual white balance may take you as deep as 40 ft for distances greater than 3-4 ft. Use the built in flash close up and remember the less water between your camera and the subject the better.

[nivla80]

Thanks guys! This beats Googling "How to use Canon digicam w/o flash effectively"...

[ianw2]

I use a basic point-n-shoot camera, no strobe ... and I like to think I get some decent shots from time to time.

:rofl3: :rofl3: :rofl3:

That’s like saying Carter’s made a few pills or diving is sort of fun! :D

I don’t have a strobe, either, yet. I’m not unsatisfied with the results I’ve got so far. You can check out some of mine (no where near the same quality as Bob’s). The close-ups are lighted with the built in flash. I just make sure that the item I’m shooting is in the upper left-hand quadrant so that it get lit.

I use PhotoShop Elements 5.0 to salvage the photos.

The great thing about digital is that I can fill up the 1Mg card with photos and delete them all if they’re really junky and it doesn’t cost me a penny in processing charges!