Need help improving photos

[divebrasil]

Hi all,


Just returned from my first Liveaboard spending a week diving around the turks and caicos area aboard the Explorer II. Before the trip I had considered buying a new dive housing for my DSLR but the cost discouraged me. So I brought my old P&S (with manual controls) Olympus SP350 with my Ikelite housing and DS-50 strobe. Most dives were pretty deep in the 25-30ft range what made it pretty dark, specially on the wide shots from a distance.


In the past I have used photoshop for post work but don’t have it on my current machine so this time I used Aperture. Although I achieved some improvements, it’s been hard to work on the wide shots. Difficult to bring some of the red back while keeping the blues, well, blue, specially on the background water. On photoshop used to be easier to select and separate elements in layers.

I usually do most of the adjustments in white balance, exposure, enhance, highlights & shadow and sharpen. What should I be paying attention to?


Here are some of the pictures. I am also attaching a couple of pics in the original form (sharks)so you see what I am working with. Would be great to get some advice on how to improve my photos.

Looks like the board compressed the hell out of the pics, so here is a link to Flickr

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk76ayDu

Thanks for the feedback.


divebrasil

 

[Ran Mozaik]

First of all, these are nice pics! They are well exposed and technically pretty good.
What they are lacking is better composition and angles.
The 3 best tips I can give you are:
1. Get closer! With uw photos there is no such thing as too close. Whether you are shooting macro or wide, getting as close as you can to your subject will always be the best course of action.
2. Learn about Composition. Good and creative composition is eventually the difference between an "OK" photo and a "Wow" photo.
3. Shoot RAW. Shooting RAW allows you infinite options when post processing and is especially important for ambient light shots, where you need some considerable color correction on post.

Hope this helps!

If you're interested in going back to the Turks with some more personal guidance, we will be hosting an underwater photography expedition there aboard the explorer on May 2017. Details here.

 

[divebrasil]

Hi Ran,

Thanks for the advice. I do try to get as close as I can and mind the angles, but it's easier said than done when the subjects are many times moving away from you. I like to try interesting angles or composition such as the one with the sting ray, and that crab "looking down" the wall. But it's hard, specially with the sharks which are sometimes very shy. One I saw that hammer head, I barely had time to take 2 pictures before it got scared with the rest of the group and turned around.

Do you have any specific advice to improve the wide shots (the 2 shark pictures) in post?

Thank you very much

---------- Post added April 28th, 2015 at 04:36 PM ----------

Here is the updated link to Flickr that works

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk76ayDu

 

[PatW]

The shots are really pretty good.

I will echo Ran's suggestion. For underwater photography, always shoot RAW. RAW allows you to adjust white balance in post processing without penalty. RAW also gives you more latitude in adjusting shadows and highlights and exposure.

Also, I agree with RAN, get close. Long range in Underwater photography is 5' or 1.5 meters. The closer the better.

i would also suggest that you never shoot down on your subject. Always strive to be on the same level or shoot slightly up.

I am not familiar with Apeture, in that I have not used it. I use Lightroom which allows you to adjust about 8 different light channels.

Also, equipment will only get you so far. I shoot with a DLSR with much stronger strobes than you have. But I have not gotten close enough to a reef shark to have my photos look much different than your shark photos.

i would suggest that you consider getting Underwater Photography by Martin Edge. One of the things I learned from his book is to recognize more often that the subject is there but it is not possible to get a decent shot.

 

[divebrasil]

Thanks Pat. Although my current camera allow for RAW, it takes about 10 seconds to process between shots, so not really very feasible.

On lightroom, do you work on channels separately? What are the most common adjustments?

Thanks

 

[Diver Dave1]

The price of a DSLR system is indeed depressing. And as they improve, we want to upgrade...equally depressing. But MANY people take GREAT photo's with a point and shoot.
Regarding shooting RAW, are your storage cards recent? Perhaps you have slow cards from when you bought the camera? You might try a test with a newer, faster version. Smaller storage ones are pretty low cost these days. You simply must find a way to make shooting RAW work for you, with this camera or an updated point and shoot model. You do not need a DSLR to make that work. Your camera is 10 yrs old. Plenty of used P/S ones for sale at good prices that are newer, if that is what is needed but maybe you just need better cards.

The thought of taking a photo of a crab looking down the wall is interesting but in the end, we do not identify with it so well. It just looks like the top of a crab but your thinking is creative. Perhaps a change in direction for your creativity? Your photo 009 is far more interesting, in my opinion. Imagine if you were below the crab in 009, shooting UP - low enough that the background above the crab is either all blue or black. Then the background would not be distracting and all the visual focus would be on the crab.
Similar with the seahorse photo you share. They let you get close most of the time. Try laying on the sand carefully so not to flatten the grass or puff up sand, and shoot up to the seahorse as best as possible or at least get even with it.
Often, shooting UP will add to the photo. Your very nice shark photo 012 shows the point. The shark has no distraction around/above it. Its a lovely photo. Easier to get the more pleasing separation from the background when below the subject.

You mention subjects moving away from you. When I have not been diving for a while, I tend to move too fast and see subjects of interest due to their movement - usually away from me. When I slow WAY DOWN, I find subjects that are more stationary and some of them let me get close for a photo. One of the most powerful statements by Martin Edge is his great book says that when watching others select a subject and he attempts that same subject, he does not capture it much better than they do. He mentions they spend time on the wrong subjects and pass by one's he sees as having more potential. A powerful statement for us to consider. What if you got BELOW the crab on that wall and shot UP at him. Perhaps more interesting.

I spent 2 weeks on Bonaire recently. As time passed and I spent more and more time moving less and less, I found I got better photos. I would spend several minutes with a small subject with me on my knees in the sand or nearly stationary and when I would take my eye from the viewfinder and look around without moving, I was amazed at the larger creatures that were around me and the smaller creatures that had come out of hiding. If I moved slow enough, few of them moved away.
For example, I like your puffer fish. I find those to be really interesting. Sometimes you find one that is resting/stationary and they let you nearly touch them. Here is an example. I spent quite a bit of time with him. When I saw him, I did not rush in for a photo. I used Martin Edge's THINK AND CONSIDER approach. From a bit of distance, evaluating what is the best angle for approach and lighting. Then setup the strobes and settings BEFORE I got close at all. Then inch into position for a photo. He just sat there letting me creep in and was still there when I left.
Bonaire - shiningseastudio

I realize your puffer was moving by and that is how I see most of them too. You snap what you can and hope for the best. That happens to us all. Its the 'other' creatures that need more of our attention.
If you have not tried it yet, read Martin Edge's book. You will find far more than what people can share here and it will serve you better than any equipment upgrade at far less cost.
Hope that is some help.

 

[Stoo]

When I run photo workshops, I emphasize three things right from the beginning:

1) Get close
2) Stay low
3) Shoot "up"

It's amazing what a difference that makes. As Ran pointed out, your shots are well exposed, but in almost every case, there's a ton of vacant space around the main subject. It isn't always possible to get close, so consider a longer lens, skip the shot, or simply crop...

I would also recommend this book... it's invaluable, no matter your experience level...

Amazon.com: The Underwater Photographer (9780240521640): Martin Edge: Books

 

[Stoo]

I should add that I, and I suspect everyone else here, has many shots, just like yours. Your shark shots are typical of vacation diver snapshots... "See a shark, take a picture". I have tons of similar images. A shot taken with a WA lens with the shark is 20 feet away results in shots such as these. If the beasts are skittish, and won't come close, consider a longer lens like the 60mm. To fill the frame shooting with a 10mm pretty much requires the shark be right in your face. The other advantage of it being close is that your strobes will have some effect, giving your subject some colour. Sharks have evolved over the years to blend in to their environment, and they do it very well!

This image was taken with a 60mm (on a D7100) with the shark being about 5' away...

 

[Nemrod]

With some exceptions, any photo taken at a distance of about more than five feet is going to be a waste and really I would say three feet. At least you are only burning electrons (and me too) and not silver halide.

Your photo does record for your memory that you encountered a hammerhead--good job.

You know, most dive operations and again, a generality, diving with a buddy, you will simply never get to spend the time to get THE SHOT. The dive operations drop you and an army on a reef, everything runs and hides and you get tons of pics with fins sticking awkwardly into the frame and debris illuminated by your strobe. Here is an example of mayhem typical of group diving:

Those photos you see of a single ray highlighted by the sun in crystal water, not going to happen unless they take me/YOU alone and drop me/you ALONE and then we might have a chance.

I have much better luck when a dive operator will allow me to go solo and put me on my own spot. Then they go drop the "army" out at another place, all the fishes run like hell and sometimes run right into me. Or if I can access the spot on my own and the implications there are vast, my own boat, a kayak, or sometimes a really long swim.

If there is no subject matter, there is no shot. And most of the time, there is no shot.

The RAW, yeah, but I can tell most of the shots I see posted are forced, even fabricated, I will always miss the smoothness and natural detail of film.

What is your objective?

If it is to simply record and document your dive, you accomplished that.

If it is to show a slide show that rivets an audience to their seats or get a million likes on Faceblather, you have a whole 'nuther task at hand. You will need additional/different equipment and a whole new perspective:

1. Close (wide angle or macro lenses)
2. Light (two strong strobes)
3. Low (shoot up)*
4. Dive Skills (fins only)

*Stay off the coral please, never, ever touch. A one finger push off is okay but an accomplished diver should rarely need that, it can all be done with your fins. None of this directed at the OP but just general statements.

N

 

[Divealpha]

I would try to get a used Olympus Pen camera, gives very good results for the money. Or, if your wallet agrees, the USD 1250,- offer for the EM5.... I recently did a course with an instructor/buddy/friend of mine, and my photos improved a lot. But he still uses a Canon G12, and gets some incredible shots with it.
Here are some samples shot with an Oly Pen PM1 and one Inon S2000 after the course. If you think you are close enough, get closer! The first taken with 9-18mm, did not dare go closer...

Camera upside down into a "artificial "cave, lucky shot.
And a close up: