First time out with the s100

[climbak]

I only got to take the setup out for one short dive on the Ruby E in San Diego because I was taking the wreck diving class so I wasn't able to take any pictures on the other 4 dives of the weekend. This was my first time with a camera underwater and the surge was pretty bad. Being a pretty new diver didn't help matters either so there were a lot of throw away shots, but here are the 4 that came out the best. The 2 of the spanish shawls aren't fantastic and need a little photoshop to remove the backscatter, but the other two I think turned out pretty well. I wish I could have gotten closer to the subjects to take better pictures, but the surge made it really difficult for me to get in real close. I'll hopefully get to try it out again soon in a spot with less water movement.

My setup is the s100 in an ikelite case and a YS-01 strobe.

 

[maria munn]

Hi there,

I think you've done super well for a first time outing, particularly being a new diver too.

As you said, getting closer would definitely help to bring out the gorgeous features of those nudibranchs, but thank goodness you were okay in the surge.

Well done again and look forward to seeing more.

Maria

passionate about everything to do with compact cameras

Ocean Visions - Tailor Made Underwater Photography Courses by Maria Munn

 

[Gilligan]

Ya did good. Throw away shots are the norm. I keep 10% or less.

Try cropping that last shot in PS so that it almost fills the frame before you reduce the pixel size. You may get a very nice web size pic at 72dpi and maybe at 700 or 800 pixels X ?

Some zooming in may compensate for your lack of getting very close. I use some zoom in macro mode on almost all my shots so as to get better strobe lighting which you may not get if your on top of the subject. The type of strobe arm may also dictate how close you can get.

 

[climbak]

Thanks for the tips. The crops I have definitely make the images look better when you shrink them down. Right now I have the ultralight tray with a 5" arm so I may need to get another 4" or 5" arm to give me more flexibility on where I can place the strobe. Next time I get out hopefully the water will be relatively still so I can get in nice and close.