Hello all. I just got back from a WONDERFUL trip to Cozumel with my new Canon S100 (no strobes). I normally don't work with RAW, but have been disappointed with some of my colors in the past. Well...I'm stumped!
I shot in RAW+JPEG. Every few minutes I'd reset the white balance using a grey card or white card. Occasionally, I'd shoot with the standard underwater white balance for comparisson. Well...I have to say...the standard underwater white balance often seems to produce a more dramatic "pop"- particularly near the surface. My custom white balance shots (95% of what I shot) sometimes have better colors on the reef and fish, but have an overall dingy and dull feel to them- ESPECIALLY when there's a lot of open water in the frame. The water just doesn't look very blue, and I really want those deep blues as well as the other colors. I figured with RAW I'd be able to do this, but I just can't get it to work. I wind up with something that looks either like the default underwater white balance shot, or like the custom white balance jpeg, but I can't seem to combine the best aspects of both into one amazing photo, which was my goal.
Does anyone have any advice on how to make this work? Any kind of standard work flow? Is there any way to automate the process, or will I have to do them individually since depths were changing?
I'm at work right now, but tonight I'll try to find a few pics that show what I mean.
I shot in RAW+JPEG. Every few minutes I'd reset the white balance using a grey card or white card. Occasionally, I'd shoot with the standard underwater white balance for comparisson. Well...I have to say...the standard underwater white balance often seems to produce a more dramatic "pop"- particularly near the surface. My custom white balance shots (95% of what I shot) sometimes have better colors on the reef and fish, but have an overall dingy and dull feel to them- ESPECIALLY when there's a lot of open water in the frame. The water just doesn't look very blue, and I really want those deep blues as well as the other colors. I figured with RAW I'd be able to do this, but I just can't get it to work. I wind up with something that looks either like the default underwater white balance shot, or like the custom white balance jpeg, but I can't seem to combine the best aspects of both into one amazing photo, which was my goal.
Does anyone have any advice on how to make this work? Any kind of standard work flow? Is there any way to automate the process, or will I have to do them individually since depths were changing?
I'm at work right now, but tonight I'll try to find a few pics that show what I mean.