Photos (something for almost everyone--from eagle rays to seahorses)

[cozcharlie]

Wow, coming from you and those shots that's quite a compliment, thanks!

But I entirely get what you mean re the wide angle wet lens--they're really heavy, even with a bayonet system it's not realistic to stow them on an arm, and then there's the vignetting. So I am amazed that you took the "wide angle" shots with no wide angle lens. Am I right, just the RX100 through the lens, no wet lens at all?

Thanks, this is really helpful.

Correct--Anything that isn't obviously macro is just through the lens and standard port on the Nauticam housing (no wet lens). I know I have never posted anything with my wide angle lens to date, but that may change next year. Given what it costs, I really should use it more, but as I said I am sure to see a herd of seahorses galloping by when I am set up for wide angle eagle rays

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Yeah, I saw the cost. Like most good uw photo kit (no, not British, just love the term), really really pricey. But if you can get shots like that with no wide angle, I'm thinking why bother? I'll just stick with my Inon. One of the advantages for me with that lens is that the Mark 1lens is 28mm so no vignetting at all! BTW, do you know if there is any vignetting/do you have to zoom in with the new Nauticam C lens? I would hope not given that it's designed for compacts but let me know. And how soft is it at open apertures? Do you have to stop down to F8-11 to get crips corners?

Thanks again.

 

[Kimela]

People love the TG6 for macro, so if you don't like your macro shots my first guess would be the fact that you are using a light as opposed to a strobe.

That’s my guess as well. I’m happy ‘enough’, for now, with what I’m getting - I don’t want any bigger profile a rig. I like keeping it small. I’m including a pic of my setup (a bit Frankensteinish). I may eventually get a strobe ... sigh. Thanks for the feedback.

Also including a macro of a fun slug, as well as a lobster that was unlike others I’ve seen. Curios if you know what type it is.

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Kimela,

I forgot to mention a couple of things while I was typing on the surface interval. People love the TG6 for macro, so if you don't like your macro shots my first guess would be the fact that you are using a light as opposed to a strobe. Don't know, but that would be a guess. Second point I was going to make is that I haven't been doing this for long at all. I basically started fooling around with non-GoPro cameras this summer (I carried a GoPro in my pocket starting last fall). I had a camera I had fooled around with on a couple of dozen dives 10 years ago, but hadn't touched it until this July. Bought the Sony camera in August.

Bottom line is that I am pretty certain I am not in the top dozen photographers in the Cozumel chatroom (and not in top 100 on scubaboard), so I would place the opinions of jlyle or Cicopo or one of the more experienced photographers way above mine. I get a fair number of decent pictures because I am in the water quite a bit, not because of skill or my deep knowledge of photography. I try to answer photography questions when asked, but I am definitely not an expert.

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention is that I do use Adobe Lightroom to edit photos, that may be a decent part of the differences you are seeing. Obviously no photo editing software will fix focus, composition etc, but it can help fix a lot of issues you may run into underwater (backscatter, white balance off, under/over exposed, photo looks better cropped etc). I am sure photo purists prefer 100% of the original image with no fixes whatsoever, but shooting underwater in current that is asking a lot. Just to be clear, I am not doing artistic double exposures, cutting and pasting from one photo to another etc--I am just trying to fix what I didn't get right underwater. As I had mentioned, the picture of the 4 eagle rays was really awful as shot since I definitely wasn't set up for low light from a distance--probably had to make 20 different adjustments to fix what I had screwed up underwater. If it had been a picture of 1 eagle ray and not 4 of I would have just deleted it.

BTW, wanted to say, not sure there's really any way to get the far-away-eagle ray shot (edit, see below)! First, you can't throw light that far. Second, you'd have to bump your ISO really (really!) high. And third, you still wouldn't have enough light. EDIT: IF IF you were shooting a D850 or an a7RIV or such, you could crank the ISO to like 100k and be good!!!

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

@Kimela I hear you!! But those are pretty darn good shots. Well done!!

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Oh, and the lobster is a Spotted Spiny Lobster: Spotted Spiny Lobster - Panulirus guttatus - Spiny Lobsters - - Caribbean Reefs

 

[ReadyDiverOne]

Here is one of my favorite lobster photos, such a cutie, shot it in Dominica, we were among the very first divers/visitors there after Maria (what devastation, oh my); locals called it a Candy Cane Lobster! Technically, Red Banded Lobster:

 

[deeper thoughts]

Great eagle ray face!

 

[Kimela]

Oh, and the lobster is a Spotted Spiny Lobster: Spotted Spiny Lobster - Panulirus guttatus - Spiny Lobsters - - Caribbean Reefs

Thanks for the ID! I wonder if I've seen these and never noticed the difference, or if this was the first one I've seen. It's really a pretty lobster. So is that Candy Cane lobster ... and sort of Christmassy!