Advice please... (green photos)

[lhpdiver]

Let's call yesterday my first serious attempt to take photos with my (our) new 5050. As was suggested to me in another post I set the camera at 1/100 and F4.0. I left it that way for the entire dive. Seems like the flash went off most of the time. Sometimes I think I didn't wait long enough between photos. The dive was a drift with a strong current. There was alot of particulate matter in the water. Viz was about 40 feet. Depth about 50-60 feet. My self criticisms include a) I wasn't close enough b) I took too many photos pointing downwards c) I need to pan more with the fish.

Of the 30-40 photos taken I wouldn't waste the paper to print any of them out. I'm attaching a cropped jpeg for one of the better shots. As you can see its way too green. What would you pros have done to adjust for this.

Also - what software do you guys use to edit / touch up / print your photos (Windows or Linux).

Thanks

 

[jlyle]

I assume that you do not have an external strobe; is that correct? The camera's flash is only going to help you get some color into your images from less than two feet away from the subject. You say, the image you posted was cropped; obviously you weren't close enough. You will want to force the flash for all pictures. Next time out, use "P" mode and, after the dive, look at the EXIF for those images that look good and then set up the camera with those settings under similar conditions.

PhotoShop can help.

DSAO

 

[lhpdiver]

Nope - no external strobe. It looks like this Inon D180 strobe is preferred here. From briefly poking around the internet it looks like the strobe and parts cost more than I paid for the camera. Think I'll try and get closer to stuff for now. P mode is a good suggestion. Thanks.

 

[Dee]

Sorry but I disagree with using P mode. It consistantly gives you slow shutter speeds, sometimes so slow that sharp focusing would only be possible with a tripod. I'd start using A or M mode to control at least the aperture, which effects the shutter speed, or us full manual to control them both. Starting in A mode is very easy, a simple turn of the jog dial and looking at the monitor when you take the photo to know whether to adjust it or not.

 

[Boat]

I have a C4040, and an "ordered" housing that hopefully will get here soon. You might find some good info on this website about u/w image editing. I used the guidelines it sets forth and attempted a fix to your "green" pic.

(this is the "housing" site but has good info)
http://pt010.da-kine.info/


http://www.jaytreat.com/Diving/Photography/Camera_use.htm

 

[jlyle]

Sorry but I disagree with using P mode. It consistantly gives you slow shutter speeds, sometimes so slow that sharp focusing would only be possible with a tripod. I'd start using A or M mode to control at least the aperture, which effects the shutter speed, or us full manual to control them both. Starting in A mode is very easy, a simple turn of the jog dial and looking at the monitor when you take the photo to know whether to adjust it or not.

"P" mode will work very nicely in clear water and sunny conditions, try it. But, as Dee points out, in low light, the camera will often choose shutter speeds that are too slow. When I first got my camera/housing, I used P mode until my strobe arrived. You can see some examples here: Avalon

The alternative is to use "S" (shutter priority) and set the speed to 1/60 sec or 1/100 sec for bluer background. Using "A" (aperture priority) will result in the same problem that you can experience in "P" in low light, shutter speeds that are too slow.

 

[Dee]

Jim's right...in low light A mode is a bad choice, I only use it in clear water. for the local waters, I use either M or S.

 

[Wildcard]

So took some more pics today and had theame green problem, sort of. I noticed my amera had shifted to "A" from P. Most of the fish pics were blured. Is this from slow shutter?

 

[Dee]

Probably.

 

[Wildcard]

Thanks. Long learning curv here but teh input from this board has helped lots! Thanks..