I'm not a quitter, but...

After this last trip, I'm about ready to throw in the towel. I'm new to photography and my first trip to Coz a couple months ago yielded some decent shots. I was pretty happy with it for a first outing. Then I wondered how I could start moving toward better pictures. Much of the advice that I saw said "get a strobe - your shots will immediately improve".

Instead, on last week's trip to Maui, shot quality degraded to such an extent that I was seriously contemplating smashing the camera with a hammer. I was getting one or two keepers per dive. Photography seems to consume a lot of underwater time that would otherwise be used to look around and enjoy the scenery. I don't mind sacrificing some of that time if I can come home with some quality images, but when I'm getting a ratio of two or three good shots per thirty shots taken, I have to question the wisdom of wanting to take pictures.

Here's the setup: Oly SP-350, Oly housing, Inon D-2000 strobe, using the sTTL settings.

I'm seeming to have several major issues. Focus is the main one. On close-in stuff that doesn't move (coral, sendentary fish) I seem to be ok, mostly, otherwise the autofocus doesn't seem to be doing its job (autofocus is set to 'Spot'). They're close, but not quite in focus. It's more pronounced before I size them down for posting. Examples:




Some shots turned out decent:


...and then the next one bites:


The other issue is that the firing of the strobe seems to be a crapshoot, but I'll post those issues in the appropriate forum.

I know that I need practice, which I'll be doing. I'm not even sure what I'm asking here - maybe I'm just venting. I just don't get why the focus would be bad, even when the camera has only one thing in the entire field to focus on (like the shark shot). I shot RAW most of the time, so I can fix a lot of the balance stuff, but I'm hosed on the focus stuff. With the amount of time that RAW takes between shutter lag and writing to the XD card, I doubt if I'll be using it much any more - by the time you take a shot and wait for all the lags, whatever you were shooting is long gone.

Anyway, thanks for any ideas you may have, or even for just talking me off the ledge.

Cheers!

David

Hey David sorry to hear about your woes. You know I went through something similar. My 3rd trip with my camera was super disappointing and I was ready to drop kick my rig. I just needed to figure out how to dial in my setup. Once I did that with a few practice dives and figuring out how to get my strobe to fire properly I was pretty stoked. I have no idea what your camera is like so I can't really comment on the focus issue but a focus light might help. If you have them, have you tried different focusing modes?

Good luck and don't give up!

Billy

First let me say: Venting is good! Because we all need to get the frustration off our chest before we can move on and make some real progress. I had a similar experience when I moved from my housed C-7070 to a DSLR with two external strobes and the whole shabang. I had sunk 5 grand into my new set-up when I took it to the Keys and brought home about 1,500 photos, only to discover that 1,480 of them were ruined by backscatter!!! Turns out I didn't know how to position the strobes right, on top of getting used to the whole thing in the first place. I think it really comes down to practice and what you are willing to put into it. I know that the SP-350 is capable of awesome stuff, so as long as you are willing to invest a little in learning, the rewards WILL come. On the other hand, if are not willing to accept 30 suckies for every 2 or 3 keepers, then maybe you will always be frustrated. I wish I had that kind of ratio! If I get one really nice pic per dive, I'm more than happy. For me that means 1 shot I am happy with per 100 or so. As far as "enjoying the scenery" goes, I know exactly how you feel. My girlfriend does not take pictures and she sees the cool things that I don't see, always, on every dive. If I feel like I'd rather not miss anything, I leave the camera on the boat and enjoy the dive. I can't do both. I feel almost like I'm working when I set out to take (good) pictures. Taking really awesome shots and enjoying the scenery is mutually exclusive in my opinion. It just depends on what you want. If you can be happy with so-so souvenir shots, than you can do both. If what you are looking for is really good stuff, you have to give it the practice and attention it deserves, just like with everything else (playing an instrument, learning a language etc.). It's not you, nor your ability, it's how much you are willing to invest in a pursuit. And only you can make that decision. Sorry -- didn't mean to get philosophical

On a more practical note, maybe there IS something between your cam and the strobe you are using that is not quite right. Hopefully somebody who uses your kind of set-up can help with some input.

Keep it up!

One does not need a strobe............see my pics in my sig, all done with ambient lite or internal strobe only.......trust me.......

diver 85:

One does not need a strobe............see my pics in my sig, all done with ambient lite or internal strobe only.......trust me.......

Click to expand...

Dude already has a strobe. Internal strobes don't always work the the camera/housing combo. My first camera and housing created major backscatter and was completely useless. A Strobe will undoubtedly help your pictures too. Try it an see.

Billy

I agree with Pteranodon, if I get one good shot in 100 I am happy. The beauty about digital cameras is that you can get a ton of shots and only keep the best. the shots that I keep are a constant reminder of what I saw and that is vastly better than my memory. Regarding backscatter, you can take that out with editing software like Adobe Photoshop elements. Stay with it, your pics will get better as you learn to use your camera. Everything is new now and you will learn from your mistakes. I also agree that a strobe is needed if you take pics below 30 feet since a lot of color is lost. I can also recommend a few online underwater photography courses that I took and found were very helpful. Check this website: The Underwater Photographer, Underwater Digital Photography Classes: Improve your underwater photos. I have taken two of their courses and really enjoyed them.

Hi Davil!

Don't be too upset or disappointed with your shots. It's a learning process. It's better to taste the bitter first and then the sweet. Learn, practice and practice more. I would suggest that you get familiar with your camera and strobe settings more. Just have fun and don't give up yet. You'll only get better!

Attend one of the UWP workshop. There are quite a few here! Check out the PPD, they constantly have mini or more advanced workshops. You can learn more!

Looking at your shots, the focusing was a bit out. Try pressing the shutter button, half way down and wait for it to focus (turns green), before pressing it all the way. This should give you a better focusing!

Just my 2 penny worth!

Ed.

Get in a swimming pool and practice, practice, practice. Put things in the pool to take pictures of - rocks, toys, swimming kids. Take pics during the day and night. Try different settings to see what they do. Try different strobe positions. If you have a local freshwater dive site (lake, quarry, whatever) take a leisurely dive or two where you can concentrate on taking photos of things, even boring things like plants or rocks, until you feel comfortable. Try to get your basic skills practice out of the way at home instead of on your trip.

Where did you see the shark in Maui? I'm heading there in four weeks. Which dive op did you use? Any memorable shore dives?

David

Hey David,

sry bout the bum shots while diving here. On the shot of the eagle ray was it dark or were you at the aquarium (Miss Piggy from the MOC it looks like) I'd say your issue was focusing on the glass of the aquarium, instead of the subject. Can't say the same for the others.

Keep practicing and posting them here as there's lots of help around. I rarely shoot for artistry, just saving basic memories from my dive, that's how I keep the camera from running the dive for me. But as you've got a decent camera rig you might as well make the most of it.

Maybe you just need a few more Maui trips eh?

Aloha, Tim

The strobe has nothing to do with the focusing...get a focusing light to help the camera focus. You gotta help the camera out here, give it a break or get a Canon A series with a Canon housing. Their focusing system rocks! Which ever way, get a focusing light, this also applies to land photography as well.

Also why is the background so dark? Were you shooting at night? If so, open up the aperture to let more light in.