S95 example photos from the Red Sea

[paulandbecs]

Hi

New member alert! I used lots of the posts on this forum when making up my mind to get a S95 a few weeks ago, and thought that it would be useful to post some example pics taken with it for other people looking into getting one.

Pics were taken on the "Project Shark" itinerary run by Blue O Two (basically Daedalus and the Brothers). The photos are on Flickr - I can't post URLs (yet) but our user name on Flickr is "paulandbecs" or google paulandbecs to find our blog (or our page on Flickr) which also links to the pics.

As you will see we were blessed with plenty of sharks, but for the closest oceanic encounters I was focussing on the shark and not the camera, so no massively up close shots!

Shots are taken with just the camera, no strobe, in the Canon housing. The pic of the feather star is with the inbuilt flash, the rest with natural light. Used Aperture priority mode mostly, with custom WB (changing every 2-5m of depth) rather than use the "underwater" WB mode, as this only was any good in 0-5m.

Shot in JPG format. Post-production was a little bit of colour and contrast adjustment using the tools in Picasa 3.

Our previous underwater photography experience was with a Fuji F11. The Canon is an unbelievable improvement! Our other cameras are a Nikon D90 and a Panasonic FZ50.

Comments and feedback welcome.

Cheers
Paul

 

[Uncle Pug]

Nice pics Paul. How do feel the S95 with close focusing? Did you have any other light to use our was all of this (except the feather star) done just using ambient?

 

[mantababe]

great pics cant wait to try mine underwater

 

[fab50diver]

Loved, loved the giant clam and the Christmas tree worms!! So happy to see results like that without a strobe! I'm sold...S95 is on the Santa list!

 

[Indigo Scuba Africa]

Awesome photos! Can't wait to get my S95 in the water!

And can't wait to go back to the Red Sea again next July!

 

[paulandbecs]

Nice pics Paul. How do feel the S95 with close focusing? Did you have any other light to use our was all of this (except the feather star) done just using ambient?

Thanks.

I was pretty impressed to be honest. The focal range above water is ridiculous (ridiculous in a good way!), 5cm or so. As you'll know, getting that close underwater is tricky but for subjects when you can (clams, coral, etc) it does a great job. I only took a max of 3 shots to get it right, and more often than not just one shot. Where I took 3 attempts, the main issues were with my own balance or position rather than the camera; I touch no coral under water and look for bits of exposed rock with just surface sponge/algae on to grab on to - usually just with finger tips - so positioning takes time.

All the shots (other than the feather star) were done using ambient light. Usually in the 5-15m depth range, and always with good sunlight - so a fair amount of ambient light was available.

Paul.

 

[diver 85]

Thanks Paul for posting, very good pics.....I'm in the same boat---sort of-- right now ie have shot the A570 for almost 4 years in the Canon housing with no strobe & have the S95 in hand right now, wanting to go WA with a Z-240 strobe on it...-----btw, here's your site linked....

Project Shark, November 2010 - a set on Flickr


EDIT:..btw again, if you'll get a PS Element 5.0(should be real cheap now that the 7.0 is out), you can get any & ALL backscatter out of any pic.....I do the same right now for editing ie edit in Pacasa 3 then run them thru Element 5.0 for mainly reducing any backscatter(I've found the de-backscattering program in Pacasa 3 does not work too well)...Anyway, great pics & a (cheap) hint on how to improve UW pics....good luck in your future diving.....Joe

 

[pedrodefig]

Impressive! This will definitely be my first UW camera, although I guess it takes some skills to achieve this kind of photos.

 

[paulandbecs]

Hi Joe

Thanks for tip about elements. I'll grab a copy. I don't really do enough diving to justify a strobe which will set me back the cost of the camera+housing, but would love to have one!

@Pedrodefig - imo the main skills are being confident enough in the water to get the right positioning, and knowing "what works" (something you learn over time!). Other than WB setting the camera tends to look after itself.

Paul.

 

[diver 85]

Impressive! This will definitely be my first UW camera, although I guess it takes some skills to achieve this kind of photos.

Same as what Paul said plus I try to be as STILL as possible when firing the trigger---try for no movement, @ all.......which sometimes is hard to do UW---lol...