Photoshop underwater correction for deep freshwater diving

[ArmoredDiver]

Hi photo experts, I'm looking to glean some knowledge here. I'm a technical wreck diver in the Great Lakes who is starting to get into photography. I've recently bought a used Canon 20d, Ikelite housing and a pair of Ikelite DS 160 strobes. I generally use photshop to edit the red/blue in my shots using the underwater action that I downloaded from the adobe site. Here's my question, while I'm no expert in taking the pics to begin with and clearly have a ot to learn about using my camera (generally shoot in auto mode), when I use the underwater correction action it seems that this is designed for use in seawater where the water is much "blue-er" than the water in the Great Lakes. Generally the water here has a more "green" tinge to it. Does anyone have any pointers on reducing the green? I generally stick to wreck photos using wide angle 10-24mm or 17-40mm lenses and will include a recent untouched example. Thanks in advance to everyone!

 

[EastEndDiver]

Pic



Hope this is attached.Used Levels.Lighting and color correction.Took about 3 minutes.

Hope this helps.

 

[daz88]

Shoot in RAW amd you can adjust the White Balance on your computer after the dive on your computer. that will get all the colors where you want them. Also learn how to set the WB and set it when you get to depth(when not using your flash). and lastly....take the camera off AUTO mode. You can't use too many of the settings the camera has when in AUTO mode. At the very least shoot in "P" mode, still auto but you can changes settings on the camera. When using your flash set the WB to "FLASH", when using natural lighing set it to custom and "set the WB". real easy to adjust set the WB on the camera. But really easy to adjust the WB on the pix on your comuter if you shoot in RAW. And yes....there's a lot to learn about taking pix underwater. A very large learning curve! Practice, Practice, Practice! And get away from the AUTO modes, you really will get better photos with a little practice.

get an after market "how to" book on your camera if you're unsure how to use all the settings. something like this.
Canon 20D Instructional DVD Camera Guide Manual | eBay

good luck, have fun, and don't forget to look at you air once in a while while taking pix.

 

[LanceRiley]

Hi. Im a new diver. But have been taking serious photography for some time

maybe this will help....

Green - Magenta (Opposite colors. Magenta negates green and green negates magenta)
Red - Blue (Red Negates Blue)

 

[DevonDiver]

I wrote an article on PS for underwater pics; it's equally relevant to fresh or salt water.

5 Minute Photoshop Edit for Underwater Photographs

Here's the pic; it doesn't look great, but the one you posted was only 17kb... so not much to work with. If you want to post a higher res version, I'll show you how it can turn out...

 

[mddolson]

DevonDiver,

Nice little tutorial.
I would like to copy & print it (in my tips & techniques binder) but the way it's posted, I cannot copy the text into word.

Mike D

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I haven't use PS for a while, but I remember some tutorial said you could use a eyedropper to indicate a location where it should be reference as white, then an auto white balance will take place. I didn't have that on my version so I reverted to some other way, which got so tedious that I stopped using PS and try to do white balance in the camera.

 

[Pdouble0k]

Try Nik Color Efex Photoshop Plugin.. =]

 

[bvanant]

As mentioned above, shoot in raw and then adjust later. Here in Los Angeles we don't have much "blue" water it too is quite green but if you shoot in raw mode (even in automatic) then you should be able to get there pretty easily.