Your questions about colour:
As previous posters have said: you'll have less colour problems the closer you are to your subject, and the closer you both are to the surface. There's a lot of underwater colour info on the net, and this great post by Alcina mentions colour briefly:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/un...techniques-rebates-deals-look-here-first.html
Many point and shoot cameras let you choose between a few basic colour modes. Mine has "underwater" mode, but I prefer to use "sunny" near the surface and "cloudy" down deeper. Good cameras allow custom white balance settings (you take a white card underwater and set the white balance at each depth), but that's not a good idea for a photography newb on vacation - too busy playing with camera and not enough time enjoying the fishies!
More expensive cameras enable you to shoot in RAW format, which gives you more ability to adjust the colour balance afterwards. There is a third-party firmware "enhancement" called CHDK that can enable RAW format for many cheaper cameras (like canon A-series). Problem is that the button needed to enable it isn't necessarily accessible through the housing, so research thoroughly if you plan to rely on this solution.
The reason external strobes are good:
Are there cameras for which the internal flash suffices at depths of 10 feet (3 meters) or so and under? I don't fancy swimming around with camera-plus-strobe, on the surface amidst gentle waves, if I don't really have to
Remembering that you should be as close as possible to your subject, many ?most? cameras have flashes that are "strong enough" for tropical snorkeling. (Depending on your photography style - internal flash not so good for specialist stuff like wide-angle landscapes or extreme macro). BUT for many people the strength of the strobe isn't the main attraction of an external strobe - we want them because they produce less backscatter than the internal flash.
Internal flash: The light comes from the same direction as your camera, so it lights up the front of all the silt / particles.
External flash located to the side: Most of the light falls on the
side of the particles, so your camera doesn't "see" them very much. Also you can angle the strobe so that it only lights up the subject and stuff behind it, avoiding shining light on the water between your camera and the subject.
So... a new strobe for your vacation, or not?
For optimal snorkeling photography - both image quality and ease of taking photos - I definitely think both a strobe and a focus light are highly recommended (though I don't yet own either). BUT only you can decide whether it's wise to buy a strobe so soon before your vacation, because image quality is only part of the issue.
These sorts of things lean towards "no strobe for this trip":
- Sunny weather and shallow, calm, CLEAR water.
- If your priority is just enjoying yourself snorkeling, and photography is less important.
- If you haven't yet mastered your brand new camera.
- If you'll get in trouble for paying more attention to your gear than to your wife.
- Difficult and/or unfamiliar locations where you'll be already using a lot of brainpower staying safe. (Assessing currents, avoiding rocks etc)
- If you have limited luggage weight and space.
- If either you or your wife will worry about thieves a lot. (Eg: insist on taking your gear to dinner etc.)
- Very tight budget.
- If you're happy to spend time using photo-editing software to improve colour and remove backscatter.
- If your photos are already so bad that the strobe is the least of your worries.
In this case use your vacation to master manual settings; experiment to see the different effects of fast-shutter-speed-with-wide-aperture vs slow-shutter-speed-with-small aperture; improve your buoyancy and trim; improve your breath-hold time so you get more shots of each subject; etc
The following things lean towards buying a strobe for this vacation:
- If the water will be very silty and also you'll need to use a flash. (Cloudy weather; Too deep; Or even in bright light if you have fast currents or fast critters - any time you need faster shutter speed & smaller aperture than the natural light allows.)
- If photography is a key part of enjoying snorkeling, and you care about image quality, and lighting is the limiting factor in your photography.
- If you're already familiar with how to use external strobes (quite a complex subject), or you have time to learn before your vacation.
- If you can practice using the strobe (and ensuring there are no faults requiring a replacement/repair) before you leave.
- If you're a confident snorkeler and don't have difficulty maneuvering without your hands.
- Easy/safe locations (don't want to smash gear on rocks, don't want to struggle with new gear while doing a dangerous drift snorkel).
- If there's space/weight in your luggage.
- If no-one will get annoyed with the extra time and effort you spend preparing and washing your gear.
- If neither you or your wife will worry about taking expensive and/or heavy gear.
- If you don't want to spend much time editing your photos to improve colour and remove backscatter.
- If you wear a suitable harness etc to hang your gear from.
- If it won't bother you if you don't perfect using it.
- If you've got access to lots of info on how to use a strobe. (internet access, or take printouts)
Like you I was making this decision 2 weeks before my last vacation. I decided to wait and buy a strobe
after that vacation and practice at my local snorkeling sites, so I'll be prepared in time for next year's vacation. Although I'd have had a wonderful time learning how to use a strobe during this year's vacation, I knew that would spoil our "romantic" relaxing getaway. I made the right decision
for me - although I'm not happy with the quality of my vacation pics, they're good enough for snapshots and critter identification.
I'm interested in seeing a few photos from your last trip.
