Underwater Photography "Presets"

[RobPNW]

Full disclosure... I don't know squat about underwater photography and don't even have a camera. With that said, I will probably get a point and shoot setup at some point. On Facebook, my feed is getting pimped by people selling "presets" to be used as "single click" color corrections for diving photos and videos. Are these a scam? And if not, what's the scoop? Thanks.

 

[davehicks]

Mostly scam. Don't bother.

 

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah, shoot RAW and get lightroom classic (or a comparable competitor) and learn how to use it. It's not difficult. If you end up shooting lots of video you might want to spring for something like Davinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere at some point but that's probably a ways off.

 

[grantmac]

Honestly to get started you can do a LOT of processing on your phone. No you won't be cloning out individual pieces of backscatter, but you also are going to learn how to get the best images possible out of your camera.

 

[BoltSnap]

I have seen ads for them and always wondered about them. Don't they have a money-back option? Try them and let us know how they work for you to decide if they are worth it.

 

[Blackcrusader]

Yeah, shoot RAW and get lightroom classic (or a comparable competitor) and learn how to use it. It's not difficult. If you end up shooting lots of video you might want to spring for something like Davinci Resolve or Adobe Premiere at some point but that's probably a ways off.

Olympus Workspace is free and has features lightroom classic does not have.

 

[BoltSnap]

has features lightroom classic does not have.

Such as??

Olympus Workspace is free

But requires that you own an Olympus/OMS camera and need to have its serial number, isn't this correct?

 

[MB NZ]

I tried a phone app for colour correction and it was pretty good. All of the backscatter removal tools that I found required ownership of Photoshop or are pretty expensive in their own right. The new "Clean up" tool on iPhone is impressive. It's not a tool for removing backscatter, rather removing large objects. I'm sure Android has something equivalent if not better before anyone gets their knickers in a twist. Regardless, the best option remains to take a good photo or video in the first place. Technology can enhance a good photo, but it can't make a bad one good.

 

[justinthedeeps]

Get an OM System TG 'tough' series (+ dive housing) and get familiar with the 'one touch/custom white balance capture' function underwater. Anything gray or white will work (rocks, fins, a tank)

With the right on-camera white balance and exposure compensation setting (usually -0.7), you won't need to do much editing. It can be a pretty quick and fun WiFi > phone > post experience

Darktable handles ORF (RAW) files if you need to raw edit. Just up the input saturation (flat boost on 'color zones' also works) and maybe some local contrast and sigmoid or filmic rgb

 

[DreadnoughtNH]

I went through a similar journey when I got into photography: I didn't want to go nuts or spend a fortune on gear, I didn't really want to go the video route, I wanted a simple P&S that shot solid micro/macro and ok widefield without having to fuss around much in post processing.

The OM TG-6 (now TG-7) (~$500) is close to perfect for me. I recommend getting the PT-059 housing (~$300) for it, as well as an external flash module (I've really fallen in love with my S&S YS-D3 Duo (~$800)) with fiber RC connector. Finally get a simple tray with arms and a physical shutter trigger (~$150). All in, you're looking at $2K for a good setup that is great for macro/micro and small reef wall scenes. It isn't great at distance shots, but I've gotten some lucky shots.

Now to settings: personally, I found most online setting recommendations -- including Backscatter's -- to be at best worthless and worst frustrating.

Your best bet for settings is to spend the money on a class. My best teacher remains Mickey Charteris at Cocoview resort on Roatan. Pay attention to EVERYTHING he says. When he gives you settings setup instructions for your TG6/7, write them down. During above water practice shooting, pay attention. If he tells you to take 50 photos of a rock, you make that rock a Vogue model. My photographs went from a polite 'that's nice' to 'holy crap, did I take that shot??" in the span of 2 days.

Good luck! You're successfully making your expensive hobby more expensive.