Feedback on these shots please?

[Ants]

Hi,

Shot these on a Canon Powershot A710 (in Canon housing), with the hack to save as raw, with an old slave strobe triggered by the flash built into the canon; then processed in Lightroom 2. This is my first real set of underwater pics using this setup.

I should add I dont have many dives under my belt so have to concentrate on that 1st and taking pics seconds, so some of the composition isnt 100%, but I am very interested to know what you think of the post processing, do they look too 'overdone' etc?

ScubaBoard Gallery - Great Barrier Reef Aug 2008

Thanks!

Anthony

 

[Jim Ernst]

I think you did a really nice job, Your pictures are nice!

I wish my first pictures could have been even half as good as yours are, So keep on shooting and you will get better and better, Are you using Manuel settings or the auto set on your camera?

 

[Ants]

Are you using Manuel settings or the auto set on your camera?

Thanks

To be honest it was mainly on program mode, so auto but ability to tweak such as force flash on all the time and bump the exposure up or down etc. I'd love to play with manual but I didnt have the time as it would have held others up, and I also need to better improve my bouyancy to be able to hang aorund still for a while without damaging the reef or getting in the way.

Just getting some half acceptable results is good enough for me at the moment to encourage me to try again, but I dont dive here in UK, so can't shoot more till next vacation, but just wondering if there was any improvements on the post processing I could try till then.

Thanks,

Ants

 

[mikemath]

I should add I dont have many dives under my belt so have to concentrate on that 1st and taking pics seconds, so some of the composition isnt 100%, but I am very interested to know what you think of the post processing, do they look too 'overdone' etc?

Caveat that I'm a very amateur UW photographer myself. The post-processing seems fine--I don't notice color artifacts or over-saturation of reds, so it's not overdone in my book. I always crank up the reds to the edge of oversaturation/artifacts to add depth to the shot. I think some attention to composition will do a lot of good. I'd advise getting lower/more level with the subject, so that you've got open water in at least some portion of the shot--the vivid blue adds so much context to an underwater picture, as you can see in shot CRW_0806 in your set. You'll also want to work on framing your subjects better with the surrounding coral. The coral in these shots looks bleached, so you may want to relocate to a more vibrant reef for future photographs.

In summary, the equipment seems fine, I'd suggest focusing on location and composition on your next shoot to see how much that changes things.

 

[smellzlikefish]

I agree with Mikemath on the composition. For now, I would concentrate on getting shots of fish from on-level to a little under them looking up. That will give you the best contrast against the blue. Also, instead of grabbing whatever picture you can of the animal, wait until the fish is facing the camera at an angle (45 degrees or so seems to work well). This gives a little impression of personality. You hit it on the head with the Monotaxis sp. shot. Parrotfish (and related wrasses) are difficult to get a good shot of. Sure they have the vibrant colors, but the lack of composition opportunities will render lots of crappy shots for one decent one. I would start with easier, more stationary fish as they can yield some neat pics as well.

 

[bvanant]

Without seeming too tough on you, I think there is a bit of room for improvement. The clown trigger is nicely exposed, but you get some motion blur and his eye is a bit too dark. A faster shutter speed will help there and a bit closer so the strobe does a bit more. THe same is true for 0857, a bit more light on the face to get the eyes to pop. Get as familiar with your camera setup as you can on land. Shoot some flowers in your kitchen and play with manual, it isn't hard. Your post processing looks fine. One piece of advice is to get a bit closer than you think you should then get a bit closer still. As for composition, I think that mostly these are OK, work a bit on getting backgrounds that are interesting. 0806 would have been a killer picture if you had moved a bit to your left (I know there was a big rock there which means you couldn't ) and gotten the fish against the coral without the blue negative space. In any case, I don't mean to be harsh, everyone I know first attempts were way worse than this, I know mine were. Keep shooting, have fun.

Bill

 

[Ants]

Thanks for the tips, I think its a valid observation that I go for the difficult / bad composition shots just because they are colourful fish, rather than other maybe less interesting fish that are perhaps better positioned. Hopefuly the composition will also get better as I become a better diver and am more able to put myself in the right spot and hold there.

Can't wait for next vacation to try it all out again.

Ants

 

[wildoceanphoto-dotcom]

Just to add a suggestion here, you may want to try to decrease the impact of the backgrounds in your shots, to help you emphasize the subjects. You can do this in several ways, but in general, try and keep distracting backgrounds out of the shot. I once read that a great photo has everything it needs in the frame, and nothing it doesn't. Hope that helps!

 

[Sas]

Just to add a suggestion here, you may want to try to decrease the impact of the backgrounds in your shots, to help you emphasize the subjects. You can do this in several ways, but in general, try and keep distracting backgrounds out of the shot. I once read that a great photo has everything it needs in the frame, and nothing it doesn't. Hope that helps!

Yes I think all of the photos could be cropped to remove some of the background. Such a large background is unnecessary imho and distracts from your subject.

Try not to shoot the critters from above but get slightly under or at the same level as them.

Photos can look great if you focus on the eye/eyes of the critter as it makes the pictures more personal and people respond better to those ones I have found.

CRW_0806 is the best shot imho and might look even better if you cropped some of the background out

CRW_0857 seems to have a few backscatter spots on the fish towards the head you might want to fix.

CRW_0819 shows the fish blending in too much with the coral. I have not much knowledge about post-processing so not sure how to advise to fix that sorry!

Anyway, your post processing looks natural I think, not overdone at all and I think it is a great first effort

Sorry no tips on post processing from me - I am limited to Picasa Retouch and I'm Feeling Lucky buttons and have no idea about anything beyond that :blush: