Filters for digital cameras 1

[jwlast]

Got a question about filters for digital cameras. I shoot a few photos around 100ish feet where obviously all the reds are lost in the photos (see attached), leaving just the blueish hue to everything in the photo. I recall reading some previous threads (which of course now I can't find) about utilizing filters that don't replace the lost colors but soften (?) the blues.....at least thats how I recall what was in the threads which I can't find.

Don't think I'm confusing this topic with "software" filters but I could be wrong. Second attached photo (next thread) is from the same wreck, shot at the same depth (taken by another photographer, see www.oahudivecenter.com Photo Page link). Question is.....how do I go from my overly blue photo to a more natural appearing photo as least as far as the colors are concerned? Filter, software "filters," combo of both?

Any "before" and "after" examples and techniques would be welcome and greatly appreciated!

Thanks
JT

 

[jwlast]

This is the second photo I mentioned in the post above.....

 

[Dee]

I haven't used filters in a long time. If you're shooting out of strobe range, such as the photo of the diver you posted, a red filter isn't going to help much help with the blue. You need to realize that nothing you do without a strobe is going to give you natural colors as you know them. Underwater at depth the reds are gone...period. If you are within 3 ft or so, a strobe will replace the full spectrum of colors but farther away than that and you're going to have blue tones, filter or not. Sometimes a red filter just makes everything look lavendar!

In that second photo you posted, it looks like it was manipulated in Photoshop or similar software rather than by filters. The blues have been replaced with greens, making the yellow more intense and giving everything a green cast. Contrast also looks to have been bumped up quite a bit.

Bottom line....IMO filters are a waste of money that seldom give satisfactory results underwater.

 

[norcaldiver]

Man, there is a big diff there. If they're at the same place, same depth, and it looks like pretty close to the same distance. I would almost say the second pic is touched up, but if it is, it's done really well - I can't tell there was touchup done from a quick look.
#2 doesn't have the look of a strobe flash-you'd think that there would be some shadow or some un-even-ness at that distance, unless this guy is a master photographer.
Could it be that the water clearness has a part? #1 looks more cloudy that #2.
I can say pretty confidently that just using a red filter did not make the yellow tanks stand out nor the green of the wreck stand out. It would have just made them less blue, but not true color.

 

[SimonJ]

For what it is worth and IMHO a strobe and a copy of photoshop are your best weapons. Have spent no more than 2 mins tweaking your image in Photoshop...and I am no graphics artist, but seems OK to me....



Simon

 

[SimonJ]

Here is an alternative

 

[norcaldiver]

neat, ya got the tank. now, about the green/brown of the wreck and the fleshtone of the divers legs...

 

[blacknet]

jwlast,

What iso and settings did you use on the 2nd photo?

Ed

 

[Grajan]

norcaldiver,
I had a fiddle with the first image and could not recover flesh tones in the diver's legs (although I may have got a little closer);

You were a long way away and in relatively poor vis so the color info is simply lost by absorbtion.

This means that the software cnanot distinguish the 'blue' of the diver's legs from the blue of the water so any changes you apply to the whole image will change both equally.

Short of selective tinting there is not much you can do. A physical filter would not have helped as the color info is not getting to the camera. It would have just darkened the whole image by suppressing the blue/green.

 

[Grajan]

Here is a fiddled with wreckdivers.

I got the over-exposure down (probably a little too much...) and corrected the color a little. still the flesh tones are not great. Again, without selective adjustment you will be lucky to get better. Next time you are in the pool look at the change in color of your leg in just an inch or two of water - it is remarkable.

NOTE: making adjustemnts to and resaving jpg's is normally a no no as information is lost - always save and manipulate a tiff or other no-loss format.