Exposure Problem when shooting upwards

[Indigo Scuba Africa]

Hi all

I am using a Canon S95 camera with 720HD video capabilities. We do a lot of scuba diving with seals and I have a problem when they come zooming by and then swim straight upwards...

Apart from battling with the low vis factor sometimes, I find that when I am following them with the camera (panning with the camera upwards), I can't adjust the white balance and the picture goes completely white. I lose all definition of the seals.

The focal point is set to 2.8 on the video and I adjust white balance manually. I use Pinnacle Studio Ultimate for editing. Here is a video I took at the weekend and you will see what I mean.... YouTube - Indigo Scuba and the Seal Divers

Should I be using a wide angle lense or some sort of filter?

Anyone have any idea how I can prevent this from happening? It is so disappointing :depressed:

Thank you.

 

[ronscuba]

Neutral density filter will help with the over exposure when looking up, but will make the other scenes dark. Tough situation recording seals.

 

[Tienuts]

That's not a white balance issue, that's an exposure issue.

I'm not sure what you mean by focal point, I assume you mean you're shooting aperture priority, and you have it locked into f2.8? If so, when you aim up, the camera cannot compensate enough for the increase in light. I don't know what it is offhand, but the camera will not go above a certain shutter speed when in video mode. Probably no higher than 125th of a second. When higher speeds are used, the action or movement in video footage will appear more choppy or 'stuttery.' At f2.8 and 1/125th of a second, you can't shoot up without getting blown out.

As stated above, it is tough to pull off that dark to light transition so quickly. Best to either switch to an automated mode, or better yet, do multiple shots at different exposure settings and edit them together. Makes for much nicer video when you edit, you're viewers will thank you.

 

[sharksdelight]

You may not be as aware of your surroundings as you should be. Where is the sun when panning upward. You should always try to keep the sun behind you so that your image is not blown out. Keep your tilts slow to give your auto exposure a chance. It is not always easy to adjust exposure on the fly though it can be done.
Steve

 

[Indigo Scuba Africa]

Thanks for the feedback!

I didn't even think about where the sun was situated but am more aware of this now as I start to delve into the world of underwater photography and f-stops!

Thanks again,