need help with black sand

[fishmother]

DH and I will be in Indonesia this Feb. we are diving in Lembeh Strait ie black backrounds. we plan on practicing in the pool against a black trashbag before we go but would like some advise on what is most effective in this situation ? It's a long way to go NOT to get GREAT pics !!
we have a Sea and Sea DX1G and a YS 27 strobe plan to buy YS 110A before we go
Suggestions ????? Thanks

 

[Where2Next]

My experience with the black sand there was it was more of a brown/gray sand. The colorful corals really stand out. The area in particular I am thinking about looked like a fairytale - seriously! There were even little bubbles coming thru the sand to the surface - like a Lawrence Welk show. I remember not taking pictures because it was so amazing, I was just looking around. Unfortunately the few photos I did take, my camera housing had fogged up - but here is a crappy photo that gives you an idea of what the sand looks like.

Enjoy your trip, I loved the area - especially the Komodo islands! Amazing!

 

[fishmother]

what would you change about your set up or technique ? also I have heard from many people that they wished for more time in Lembeh and less in Bunaken ? where did you travel ?

 

[Where2Next]

what would you change about your set up or technique ? also I have heard from many people that they wished for more time in Lembeh and less in Bunaken ? where did you travel ?

You may be more advanced than me, so I feel odd telling you my set-up is more of a point and shoot LOL. I have an Olympus Stylus 1030SW. It was in underwater mode, so it helps with the colors. Honestly if my housing had not fogged up (hence the white haze & spots over the photo) I would have been satisfied with the color in this photo. The lay out of the photo stinks, I would have gotten lower and more towards the front of the Lionfish, but that is a whole other story. Here are the auto set-up specs for this image...
F-stop: f/3.5 Exposure Time: 1/250 sec Focal Length: 5mm Max aperture: 3.61

Hopefully that helps a little. - I would say it is more about trial and error with some educated guessing. I posted the photo more so you could see the blacksand is not as dark as a black trashbag.

I look forward to seeing better photos than mine when you return and post. I have only done a few underwater photography dive trips; however I am already chomping at the bit to upgrade! Good luck, have a wonderful trip!

Here is a map of where we dived (the Lionfish photo was taken at the first Day 10 spot - I think)....

 

[AbyssalPlains]

There is nothing special about black sand. If you were shooting available light only, then you cam might be thrown off-kilter when measuring for exposure and you would have to correct the exposure by under-exposing a half-step or so, but since you will be shooting strobes in macro mode, you are adjusting your exposure to fit the strobe light ONLY and available light doesn't matter. Just set your exposure/shutter combination to whatever you would use for macro anyways and fire away.

 

[Wisnu]

Lembeh is not totally black sand.
All these pictures were taken at Lembeh with G9 Inon D2000 strobe, full manual mode, for makro typically small aperture f8, high speed 1/250 - 1/500.

Flounder camouflage with Lembeh sandy bottom

Not all sandy bottom

But here without strobe/natural light, RAW.

 

[Where2Next]

uhh, yeah. Those pictures are a little better than mine.

Did you see this thread on a similar topic in the Tips and Techniques forum? http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/tips-techniques/312151-shooting-black-background-macro.html