Backscatter

[kwickert]

I went to Beaufort NC a couple of weeks ago, and the shots further than a couple feet away had alot of backscatter.

I have seen a couple threads on manual white balance recently, would this, coupled with maybe turning off the strobe, help correct the problem?

How about baseline settings, f-stop ect.. when dealing with backscatter?

Thanks
Ken

 

[alcina]

kwickert - turning off your strobe will lose the backscatter and using manual white balance will help you get those colours right. The only way to add more colour and reduce/eliminate backscatter is an external strobe that you can adjust the angle on (the fixed one on say the MX10 won't help a lot with backscatter).

Getting as close as possible and shooting against a background that isn't solid blue or black (or green depending on your location!) can reduce the signs of it.

Don't know what system you are using but if you post it someone with the same rig might be able to point you in the right direction!

 

[cdiver2]

I went to Beaufort NC a couple of weeks ago, and the shots further than a couple feet away had alot of backscatter.

I have seen a couple threads on manual white balance recently, would this, coupled with maybe turning off the strobe, help correct the problem?

How about baseline settings, f-stop ect.. when dealing with backscatter?

Thanks
Ken

Ken I dont know if the links below will take you to the page's if not put them into the address bar top right on your screen.

http://www.divernet.com/photog/tencs598.htm
http://www.daveread.com/uw-photo/strobes/aim.html

They have some very good infomation on uw photography.

 

[kwickert]

Thanks alcina and cdiver.

I didn't have too many problems with the closer shots, just the ones that were more than a couple feet away. http://allenhost.com/albums/wicksdivepics/abe.sized.jpg

I had several close encounters with sand tiger sharks on the trip, but was definately disappointed in how my pictures turned out. :17:

I hope to do better next time.

Thanks again
Ken

 

[Zorrr2]

Ken,
With just a little help from Photo Shop you can probubly eliminate most if not all of the backscatter from your image. Would be willing to doctor one of your images for you just so you can see what can be done . . Mark

Thanks alcina and cdiver.

I didn't have too many problems with the closer shots, just the ones that were more than a couple feet away. http://allenhost.com/albums/wicksdivepics/abe.sized.jpg

I had several close encounters with sand tiger sharks on the trip, but was definately disappointed in how my pictures turned out. :17:

I hope to do better next time.

Thanks again
Ken

 

[chippy]

I've always found that the best method, especically in our crappy, green water, 3m viz plankton "soup", is to position the strobe at a 90 degree intersection to the line of fire.

In other words, imagine a line coming out of the camera to the subject, then position the strobe at 90 degrees to it (anywhere in the 360 circle around this line can be used). Although this could be considered extreme lighting, it's only really noticable if it's directly from either of the sides - left/right or in fact below. If it's positioned directly from above, you'll get an evenly lit picture with a natural looking shadow below the subject - many of my macro's are shot this way.

Sometimes, despite the your best efforts, you'll occasionally end up with a stray few specks here and then. That's when it's time to dig out the clone tool (or healing of you have PS CS)!!

 

[justleesa]

The back scatter in the picture that you posted could be erased with the proper processing software. here a before and after processing pic:

 

[justleesa]

Jinx Zorrr2!....lol...

 

[chippy]

Lol.....

 

[kwickert]

I would definately enjoy seeing what could be done with the picture.

I have paint shop pro 7, but still need to learn my way around it.

As I mentioned, I had some great close encounters with sand tigers including one that swam straight at my head :11: and then went between my legs!!! I am sort of ashamed to show this one as it was sooo dark, but what an amazing experience!http://allenhost.com/albums/wicksdivepics/abb.sized.jpg

Thanks for all the help.
Ken