OK, Gimme the quick and the dirty on photography...

[THellURider]

Just got a Canon Powershot 7.0 megapixels with a Canon Housing and some giant strobe.

Never having done underwater phtography before I am going to Turks and Caicos in a week. (see sig)

I'm sure I'll get to figure it over the 6 days of diving. But any tips would be GREAT.

Thanks.

 

[alcina]

First and foremost you MUST learn this system before you head out on your dives or you'll be entirely frustrated with your results and the messing around underwater you have to do. So pop that bad boy in the housing and play with those buttons. Test the settings and get a feel for what happens in different situations. Hook up the strobe and do it again to get a feel for the light.

Check here for some other tips and cruise the board as there are tons of getting started tips.

Run out to your local bookseller and find a copy of Jim Church's Essential Guide to Composition. It is a must have for every uw photographer imho.

Have fun!

 

[THellURider]

I've been a land locked amateur photographer for a long time. Composition I've got. (I think )

I'm almost there with learning all the functions of the camera but I have not played with it in the housing yet. There you've got me.

Any tips would be great. I will have to find some time to browse the forum.

 

[alcina]

I've been a land locked amateur photographer for a long time. Composition I've got. (I think )
You're ahead of the game then...I still think that the book is an essential part of the kit. UW photo doesn't have the exact same aesthetic as land-based, I don't think. It will be fun to see your uw shots and some land shots - a great new perspective!

I'm almost there with learning all the functions of the camera but I have not played with it in the housing yet. There you've got me.
This is essential as underwater you are task loaded with limited time to fool around. And sometimes you forget which button does what!

Any tips would be great. I will have to find some time to browse the forum.
You'll find lots of tips here...let us know as you have questions!

.

 

[Tavi]

The three best tips that have helped me:
Get Close
Stay Low
Shoot Up

Looking forward to seeing your pics after the trip!!

 

[miketsp]

If you're just getting started I suggest you stick to wide angle settings (don't zoom in) and use a high resolution. This will get you a higher percentage of useful shots.
When you edit them in Photo-shop (or similar) later you will be able to crop them down and still have a useful resolution for printing. During the cropping you will be able to study how you really should have framed the shot for optimum results.
This will help you next time you shoot.

 

[herman]

A fee things that come to mind.

FIRST THING....test your housing. The best way is to have it pressure tested to depth by someone with a pressure pot, my LDS does it for me. It thats not possible, put some weight in the housing (NO CAMERA) and take it on a deep dive, moving all the buttons and knobs. Actual failure of the housing is most likely going to happen fairly early in it's life.

Pay close attention to your Orings. It may be overkill but I will only open/close my housing in my room. I inspect the Orings and mating surfaces with a magnifying glass before closing it up.

Get close, get even closer and when you think you are too close, your about right.
The internal strobe is only good for maybe 2-3 ft at best.

Don't use zoom as a substitute for getting close, use a wide angle setting and actually get close.

Shoot manual, most programmed modes just don't cut it UW. Use Fstop and strobe power to control subject exposure and shutter speed to control backround color/exposure.

Depending on your diving skills and those of your buddy, I would highly suggest you take the first few dives to get your buoyancy and trim adjusted and to get back in the diving mode. Even for experienced divers, adding a camera adds a huge amount of task loading and we (myself included) tend to focus more on the camera than the diving and our buddies. I'm luck to have a couple of good buddies who are good divers and don't take a camera. While I shoot, they keep an eye on the dive and look for things to shoot. If you have 2 photographers, it's not a bad idea to trade shooting and spotting duties. You would be amazed at how much you miss while behind the camera.

 

[fdog]

The quick and dirty of keeping underwater cameras alive:

>It's only in the rinse bucket if your hand is attached.
>You cannot be too obsessive about o-rings.


and about shooting images:

>Think before you shoot.
>Get close.
>Great photographers think just as much about the background as the subject.
>If you can't be good, be weird.

All the best, James

 

[Chris Bangs]

lots of good advice above

one more thing, do whatever you can to get familiar with the camera in the housing BEFORE you go on the trip. I agree, manual is the way to go but you should have a general idea as to what works before you start shooting for keeps.

chris

 

[mjh]

Some of the best advice I got here is:

"Shoot till your finger bleeds"

So buy the biggest memory card you can afford because as I am learning "even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then"