Give me your feedback! !st time edting UW photos

[alashas]

I took these photos at Little Cayman in early Jan. with an Oly c5050, internal flash, and edited them with PE5. I know some of the pictures really suck, but I wanted to keep a few shots of the Wall just for the heck of it. Actually, looking back through the photos helps to remind me again of the great diving at LC!

I was pleasantly surpised that a few shots, such as this one:
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/126235568-M.jpg
and this one:
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/127931445-M.jpg
had enough natural light to give a half decent idea of divers taking a flying leap over the wall

Anyway, I'd really appreciate any tips and pointers of these photos: http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/2408079#P-1-15
I use a photo of the bottom or back of the boat to remind me when a dive ended.

The Sting Ray City photos were the first ones I worked on, and just didn't have a lot to work with because of the bright sun, but I wanted to keep some for the kids: http://honeymoon2.smugmug.com/gallery/2397480#125848466

Above ground photos and other albums I'm still working on are here: http://honeymoon2.smugmug.com/

Thanks, alashas

 

[DesertEagle]

You got some excellent results. Normally I expect blued out backgrounds. Not so in your case...

The first silhouette looks great.

The stingray city photos are a bit overexposed. Some in-camera exposure compensation would give you a little more to work with. It's the control I use most.

The grouper in Little Cayman is a classic fish portrait.

You definitely want to get a strobe. It will give you more control.

Your macro photos are quite good. They're as good as your can normally get with only a camera and housing. Try an Inon 67mm macro lens. It screws onto the front of your housing. It will allow you to get close enough to take photos of subjects the size of a dime.

Congrats!

 

[alcina]

I would expect far more feedback if you were to put your images in the post instead of linking them as sometimes people don't have a lot of extra time to click! If you are unsure of how to add photos, please see Post #8 in the Pink Link in my signature.

 

[29South]

Alasha..

A nice bunch of photos. I show in the attachments what 2 mins of post processing (in my case its Paint Shop Pro) can do to a couple of images.

In PSP I have simply done the following..

1. adjusted the white (colour) balance to compensate for the blue colour cast.
2. adjusted the highlight/midtone/shadows histogram and the tone curve to compensate for the flattening effects (loss of light).

hope this helps!

ian

 

[diverdowndh]

Now this is an interesting twist - I've never even thought about editing the pics once I take them. I'll have to get a copy of some program like PSP to try enhancing some of them.
On the strobe, does anyone have any recommendations for a strobe that gets its trigger from the normal flash of a camera inside a housing?

 

[diverdowndh]

BTW, very nice pics alashas!

 

[Zorrr2]

Just sent you a PM . . .

 

[Zorrr2]

Check out the line of INON STROBES . . . they have a good system that will work with your camera.

 

[Dr. Doug Ebersole]

Nice photos for no strobe. I agree with everyone aboe that a strobe would definitely help give more vibrant colors.

From a technique standpoint, I would recommend getting lower and closer as well as trying to shoot "up" at the subjects. If you look through your gallery IMO the best shots are those that are close and shot with an upward angle. The shots down at fish, etc are rather bland.

Looks like you had a great trip and I see Dottie is still there. Did she do her impression of a lettuce leaf sea slug for you? If so, I'm sure the image of her squirming around on the boat deck is burned into your brain forever!

 

[madmanuel]

First off, I've got to say, that I loved your shots... that particular one where the turtle is crusining along just a few inches from the coral wall..

Were you able to take any of these shots without using a strobe?

I'm considering taking a sealife Dc500 down to cozumel in may, but I'm hesitant to pick up a strobe this trip if I can live with out it... (the cost of a good strobe, I'd like to avoid this trip if I can...)