Photography Without A Strobe

[MXGratefulDiver]

Have a question I am going to Grand Cayman in August and might not be able to afford a strobe setup by then. Right now I currently use a cannon a570is camera and an Ikeilite housing. I am wondering if I will be able to take decent pictures in the caymans without using a strobe. If I use a strobe I get more color right??? any help would be appreciated thank you

Depends on what you mean by decent. I managed what I consider decent shots on my recent Indonesia trip using only a basic point-n-shoot with no strobe. Not great ... but good enough to share with friends. Here's a sampling ...

To my concern, for the majority of recreational divers, good buoyancy control will make a far bigger difference in the quality of your picture than the equipment you're using ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Rickg]

Yes, it is possible to get some pretty darn nice pictures either natural light or your camera's internal strobe. I use a Canon A720IS (almost a twin of your A570IS). Here is a link to my pictures (the good, the not so good and the bad) that were all taken with either natural light or the camera's internal strobe.

Picasa Web Albums - Rick - Sipadan Islan...

The plus side to not using an external strobe is it is less to pack. The down side is you'll miss some shots that you could have gotten with an external strobe.

And here is a link to a recent thread by Bora_Horza with pictures he took with the A570IS without an external strobe.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-photography/234126-pulau-weh-photos-canon-a570.html

 

[Rickg]

Bob,

That is a wonderful Mandarin Fish photo.

 

[jonix]

yes i did it for over a year before i bought my strobe. as mentioned by previous posters manual white balance is the key.

here are some of my photos taken without a strobe MV Anilao Photo Workshop - August 2006 - a set on Flickr

 

[friscuba]

As mentioned earlier, get to know your camera. If you go to my blog and check through the archives you'll find upwards of 400 underwater pics, none taken with an external flash and most are relatively OK for lighting. Ive been using just point and shoots with the onboard flash or manual white balance.

I just picked up an AF-35 from Adorama... they sent us a return (package torn and taped, and one of the adapters was already glued into place) when we paid for new, we just received it so we're calling them in the morning to raise heck. We haven't had problems with them in the past. The AF-35 packs a lot for the price, you should be able to find it for about $402 or so online. The Inon strobe mentioned earlier is great, but I think it's just the strobe and doesn't include tray or other necessary items that will add on a bit of dough. The AF-35 is everything you'll supposedly need, but don't count on it to light up things beyond 3 feet or everything in the frame if you use an add on wide angle lens. I'll know more about the strobe once I actually use it, 'til we get this issue resoved with Adorama it's sitting on my desk.