Monday's Maui Dive Photo

[Gilligan]

Sharing a photo from Monday's dive in South Maui.
Click Here for photo
Olympus C2040Z in a PT-010,
ASM mode on A setting @ F5.6
ISO @ 100
Macro - off
Optical Zoom utilized
Internal flash on at plus 2.0
Quality - SHQ setting
Adjusted in Photoshop 7.0 on "Auto levels"
Optimized in Image Ready 7.0

 

[Dee]

Nice!

 

[billyfrank]

Very nice photo,
What mega-pixel is that camera rated? Is that photo utilizing the optical zoom? if so that is outstanding.
Thanks,
Billy

 

[Gilligan]

Thanks for the compliments on the pic. That camera is the older 2.1 megapixel. I did use the optical zoom on that shot. As a result of experimenting I am finding that their is a quality cutoff point between using the macro versus the optical zoom somewhere in the 18" range. Not sure about the other Oly's after mine but there is no zoom on my macro. The zoom has to be all the way out to use the macro. The macro forces me to crop more in Photoshop to bring the subect to the forefront if I shoot at about 18" to 31". That sometimes tends to blur the photo. If I use the optical zoom at about 18" to 31" as in this case the photo seems to be clearer with the subject already more in the forefront. I have to boost the internal flash settings if I use the optical zoom. I put the specs on the thread in case it's of any help for those wanting to experiment with the manual settings on their Oly's instead of the all Auto settings. I am definetely getting better results on the manual settings.
:shades:

 

[friscuba]

I'm curious, was the hawk in the open or was this under an overhang or some other darkend situation. I've been trying to figure out what setting to use on my Oly D-40 to get the flash strong enough to overcome ambient light. I've had pretty good luck under overhangs, very cloudy days and other darker situations. If that was at 18"+ in open water your flash does a good job of overcoming the ambient light.

Guess I'm going to have to practice some more, I'm gradually getting my figured out.

Nice pics you've been posting. I liked the dwarf moray pair, I see them quite frequently, but have never seen two together.

Aloha,

Steve

 

[Gilligan]

Aloha Steve,
Your right as that Hawkfish was not out in the open but partially in under a ledge. Overcoming the ambient light is near impossible here with the built in flash from my experience. I have learned to avoid those shots as they do not come out as well as the darker areas I shoot as with the Dwarf Eeels. They were in the center of a "V" shaped nook. The built in flash has its limitations but I live with them as I will not buy a strobe for this older camera and housing. That translates to my staying at a very amateur level which is okay by me.
ps: Those were the only pair of Dwarf Eels I have seen together in my 10 years of diving here.
:shades: