Newbie First Photos

[brizzolatti]

Hi, guys - be gentle with me!! Attached is one of my first underwater photos from a recent trip to St Lucia. All I was aiming for was to try out the camera and the housing and to get an impression of the underwater environment. I was surprised by the quality of the image (technical quality of the camera not my technique etc!) and am looking forward to developing a set of new skills. There are all sorts of things that I realised are issues below water compared with above. Buoyancy and associated camera movement being one, also the delay factor in terms of pushing the buttons on the housing. The getting close to the fishlife, too, is a major challenge. I have some of fish but they are not close enough and those that are are not quite sharp enough.

I was using a Canon A40 with underwater housing on automatic settings with flash switched off. I haven't touched up these pics though I'm sure I could do something with them. Anyway, just thought I'd post so I can look back when I achieve some of the great results that you guys do!

 

[Dee]

Unless you are within 2-3 ft, your internal flash isn't going to do you much good and in lots of cases just hightlight backscatter. So for this elkhorn coral shot, you were right.

 

[montereydivemas]

I used to have a digital canon and am thinking about getting another one and fitting it with an underwater housing, how do you like yours as far as ease of use and options, if you dont mind my asking how much did you pay for it .. I just moved to cancun from california 2 months ago and would love to have an underwater record of my stay here

 

[brizzolatti]

Hi, Montereydivemas. I got it from Cameras UNderwater in the UK. Bought it online for about £140. www.camerasunderwater.co.uk.

I think it's an excellently made housing. It feels solid and robust but it is not too bulky. Of course, it is buoyant. You have full control of the camera when it's in the housing so can do whatever you want just as on land. It's easy enough to operate although you need to get used to pressing the buttons a bit harder. A fun thing is that on the Canon you can use the video facility for short videos with sound. It's nothing fancy but it suits me fine just as a memento.

Hope this helps.