Don't be put off by all the techie info!

[pjones]

I was surprised to see a fish eye photo in there. Did you use the optional wide angle lens for that shot? (Sail boat)

I see a lot of reds have shown quite well in your photos too. I'm still trying to decide if I should get a flash for where we are going to be shooting. Would you be able to remember an average depth that you were taking your photos at to better give me an idea of what to be expecting?

 

[Wossa]

I did use a seperate wide angle lense on some of the pictures which another diver had on the boat and he let me try it out as we had the same camera. The guy said he paid around £500 for the lense so it is not a cheap option, but it did work really well.

Majority of the pictures were taken around the 15 to 20 metre mark, with a few taken to a max depth of around 40 metres. The viz wasn't the best though as it was bad weather when we was there, not much sunlight, so in better conditions I would expect brighter pictures.

I was reading loads of stuff before I went to the Maldives about should I get a strobe or not, everytime I was getting different information. In the end I went into Cameras Underwater in London and spoke to the guys in the store, and to their credit they were really helpful.
They quickly realised I was a complete idiot behind a camera and suggested that I got to grips with the basics first before I start complicating the situation with strobes. They went through setting my manual white balance and a few basics and off I went. I kept it simple and enjoyable and I was pleased with what I come back, with little effort really other than set my WB and shoot.

I am going back to the Maldives in March and I don't think I will spend out money on strobes, but I think I will invest in a wide angle lens though !

 

[mudchick]

Wow! These photos are fantastic! I'm a photo newbie also and pics like yours is what I aspire to. Thanks!

 

[furby076]

Wow...great shots. For a person who is a "complete idiot behind a camera" or just anyone in general the shots are great.

If you didn't try already you may want to use a white balance adjuster in programs such as lightroom. It can be used to remove some of the blue in the shots and allow you to see the more natural color of your targets...this also depends on how you shoot the picture (raw?).

Anyhow - nice shots!

 

[Wossa]

Thanks for the tips furby076....I have heard about lightroom, do you know if it is ridiculously expensive and difficult to use ? I did shoot these images in raw and used canons own software to adjust, wasn't really sure what I was doing to be honest but just played around a little with the colours.

 

[fab50diver]

Lightroom is under $200. If you or your child are a teacher or student, you can take advantage of the educational discounts offered by Adobe. I use Photoshop, but, it IS expensive and Lightroom is a good choice as well.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Love Lightroom. I hardly ever edit in Photoshop any more. In fact PS has become a mere plug-in for Lightroom. Beyond the powerful yet totally non-destructive image editing in LR is the DAM.

 

[Wossa]

Thanks for the advice, I will look into Lightroom.

 

[xariatay]

Wow, so nice!!! Particularly envious of the numerous manta in the same frame! Where is/are the site/s? Looking at the map, looks like just in Male atoll?

 

[Wossa]

Hi Xariatay

The majority of my Manta pics were taken at a place called 'Lanken'.....there was always between 5 and 12 Mantas every visit.