Sharing my album with those in the office

[Snoopy]

Showed my u/w photo album to some colleuges today. Especially the selected shots which I enlarged to 8R =-)

Wahhhhaahaha.....they don't believe that those are my photos.

"Too professional" was one comment. Another asked which website I stunn those photos from.... Another asked if I took the photo off the Finding NEMO DVD !!! One even describe the jellyfish as a used condom !! Wahhhahhhaa

A few of them OWD divers. None did u/w photography before.

I am innocent.... :wacko:

 

[DivingGal]

sharing them with us?

 

[Snoopy]

DiveGal

Er... I like to do that.....

But please please don't laugh...

logical & fair comments are most welcomed. Like to know how to take a better pix.

Enjoy

My Album

 

[Dee]

What camera are you using? No external strobe, right? You've got some really good pictures in there but most of them are just a bit soft focus, I didn't see many that were very crisply in focus.

The Lionfish and Dwarf Seahorse pics would have been great if in focus.

 

[DivingGal]

Laugh? Not I! I could show you some of my first pics... or even some from just a couple of weeks ago. But I don't want you laughing!

As Dee has pointed out, the amount of blue in your u/w pics is a sign you probably are not using sufficient light.

Though many of the u/w ones were not in "great" focus, you can recognize what you were taking a picture of!

I guess you'll just have to go diving, and practice more.

 

[conchnclyde]

Hey Snoop, the pics are nice, looks as if you are not far from really having some great shots. The subject matter in these photos (even pics on land) were wonderful. The fruits and veggies were pretty creative as well.

Snoop, could you expound on your camera settings, set-up, man. vs. auto, White balance, etc... I am a newbie and just curious at to your camera preparations. I will be shooting without an external strobe, and would like to get some pics this nice out of my shots.

Dee & Gal,
What is the key to getting those pictures into the right focus? Any tips that would help me on my first u/w pics. Also, can the software for enhancement be used for touching up pics slightly out of focus or with the blue tint? Do you hold your breath when you are prep'd for pushing the shutter button?

thanx,

Clyde=-)

 

[Dee]

BTW Snoop, I didn't mean to sound so negative! You've got some great pics in there, you just need to keep practising!

conchnclyde once bubbled...
...Dee & Gal,
What is the key to getting those pictures into the right focus? Any tips that would help me on my first u/w pics. Also, can the software for enhancement be used for touching up pics slightly out of focus or with the blue tint? Do you hold your breath when you are prep'd for pushing the shutter button? =-)

The key depends on whether you're using a fixed focus camera (film) like a Nikonos, S&S MMIIex, MX-10, etc. In that case, it's a matter of proper focus distance. Learn where it is and how to just it underwater, it's usually 30-36". Fixed focus is one of the biggest reasons for upgrading to digitals!

If you're using a digital camera with auto focus, see if your camera has a pre-focus on it. On the Oly cameras, you half-press the trigger button until the pic comes in focus. I depend on the small green light near the viewfinder to light up. When it does, I know it's in focus and I press the button the rest of the way down.

Housed SLR cameras are different and I have no personal knowledge of them.

No, unfortunately you can't correct bad focus with an program. We'd all be working for National Geographic if you could! Sometimes sharpening a LITTLE will help but more times than not it just makes things worse.

Bottom line...practice, practice, practice!

 

[Snoopy]

Wow.... :whoa: I am now speechless & sleepless over the positive comments received. An :icecream: for Dee, conchnclyde, DivingGal & David (who mentored me for the shots)

Yeahhhh... No more "used condom jokes" on my jelly fish...

My humble setup is the Canon S40 with housing. Nothing else. Shot at max resolution, 4.0mp, in case I need to crop.

The most recent album that you have viewed. Some have be cropped for composition sake, as the subjects like nudibranch are way too small for the macro mode to fill the screen. hence the "digital zoom" effect as a friend commented. Esp that Pgymy seahorse is less than 1cm tall. Grr....took over 45 shots to make these few photos. I think the no. of flashes in that 30mins with it, must have semi-cooked it.

As for the soft focus. I am still wonder what to do about it. Put the manual settings to "sharp +". White Balance is Auto, I supposed. What setting would you use ?

Also, for the purpose of displaying on the web, I have reduced it to 1024 / 640x480 before uploading it. Then there is another reason for the "almost sharp" photos. When I get the green OK, it took a while - that few nanoseconds. During that, either I moved or the subject moved. Rendering the out of focus. The former could be due to bouyancy control. have discussed this with David, was thinking if adding another weight helps to let me sit still. Overweigh, could also mean poorer air consumption and trim.... I will try this on the next trip.

Noted about the blue. That was the 1st few things that I realised when I started, the flash distance is greatly reduced once u/w. Hence, subsequent photos are macro. Took a bit to under that some fishes run all over that by the time the shutter is released, it is gone !!!

This would be my 5th trip u/w. 4 of them in Bali (averages about 100 shots per dive) , one in Tioman Malaysia (bad vis, only 50shots made in total).

"you just need to keep practising!" Yup, I love taking photos. Am a film buff on SLR year ago. Just that I had picked up motorcycling and scuba over the years and has sideline this, until the u/w pix interest. Will do that more often as my bank account can afford me to do so. Thank heavens for digital, otherwise it will be another liabilty to the bill that will bankrupt me.

Must thank you all for the encouraging words. Please feel free to look at the other albums as well.