Underwater Photography "Presets"

[Nemrod]

The TG being fully automatic with no manual control of aperture or shutter, what settings does it even have?

I would suggest not wasting money on some sort of cook book settings guide on faces book and instead, just purchase a camera, the TG has been suggested, and start taking photos. The resulting photos will tell you what you need to do from there.

UW photography is not easy and not cheap, not even with a simple camera like the TG. In order to get much more than blue-ish/green-ish colored photos you will need a strobe. Possible exception being some macro with the internal flash. Some divers do have decent results using a good video light head instead of a strobe.

Not to start a war but there has been peer reviewed studies of the effects of strobe flash and video lights on subjects. The general findings, broad brush here, are that strobes do not generally and unduly stress creatures but the constant, though lower intensity, light of a video light head can and does. What really bothers creatures is touching them, forcing them to move so they align with the camera lens or invading their space excessively altering their natural behaviors and routines. Part of being a good UW photographer is knowing how to get shots/videos without disturbing the animals and of course sometimes knowing when a shot simply is not yours to take .

 

[TostitoBandito]

Yeah I'll echo just find a decent camera/housing/strobe (the strobe part is critical) setup in your price range and jump in. You can find lots of info online but honestly you're going to need to figure it out for yourself through trial and error. What software you use for your RAW workflow is secondary to that, and there are many options.

Back in the early 2000's I started on a 4MP Olympus manually white balancing and shooting jpegs with no strobe (just an internal flash), which was good for learning some fundamentals even though manual options were very limited on it. Then I went crazy and jumped from that to a Canon 5D SLR with a strobe and multiple lens options. Shooting manual on an SLR with a strobe was very different to be sure, but I figured out the basics of exposure and was taking great shots with it within just a couple dives. Nowadays it's different cause there's so much (both good and bad) info online for almost every conceivable camera setup, in addition to the cameras themselves being much more capable. I'd advise looking online only as a starting point, and then developing it into what works for you by just diving with it.

And yes it's an expensive hobby. As a rule of thumb you can expect to need to pay at least 2-4x the cost of the camera for housings, strobes, and other accessories that you need to complete your setup to actually be able to take decent pictures. A lot of people getting into it for the first time don't really account for this, and then skimp on critical things like strobes (or good lenses/ports for mirrorless) cause they just dropped however much on a camera and housing already.

 

[tarponchik]

Do not buy presets. Not because they do not work, sometimes they do. Problem is, each photo needs special treatment.

Here is my preset "Basic-1" that I wrote for my LR-5 to edit underwater photos. It does very few things that I apply to all pictures taken:

1. Auto lens correction by profile.
2. Shadows up to 50.
3. Whites up to 50.
4. Highights down to -100.
5. Clarity up to 30.
6. Vibrance up to 25.
7. Noise up to 20.
8. Color noise up to 100.

After applying Basic-1, I do very few steps:

1. Adjust color balance.
2. If there are some overexposures, I drag the Whites slider while pressing ALT to the left till they are gone.
3. If the photo looks too dark, I drag the Exposure slider to the right while pressing ALT till some appear but barely. Noise reduction may be increased if needed.
4. Drag the Blacks slider to the left while pressing ALT till some underexposures appear.
5. Remove spots if needed.
6. If the photo looks too colorful (this happens when the flash is bright, e.g. at night) I drag the Saturation slider to the left a bit, maybe to -5 or -7.
7. If there is some backscatter, Shadows slider goes back to zero.
8. Very few pics need individual color adjustments; e.g., if there are bluish-green shadows, I reduce Aqua and/or Blue saturation or use the Brush option to desaturate the shadows and make them grey.

This is it.

 

[davehicks]

Do not buy presets. Not because they do not work, sometimes they do. Problem is, each photo needs special treatment.

Here is my preset "Basic-1" that I wrote for my LR-5 to edit underwater photos. It does very few things that I apply to all pictures taken:

1. Auto lens correction by profile.
2. Shadows up to 50.
3. Whites up to 50.
4. Highights down to -100.
5. Clarity up to 30.
6. Vibrance up to 25.
7. Noise up to 20.
8. Color noise up to 100.

After applying Basic-1, I do very few steps:

1. Adjust color balance.
2. If there are some overexposures, I drag the Whites slider while pressing ALT to the left till they are gone.
3. If the photo looks too dark, I drag the Exposure slider to the right while pressing ALT till some appear but barely. Noise reduction may be increased if needed.
4. Drag the Blacks slider to the left while pressing ALT till some underexposures appear.
5. Remove spots if needed.
6. If the photo looks too colorful (this happens when the flash is bright, e.g. at night) I drag the Saturation slider to the left a bit, maybe to -5 or -7.
7. If there is some backscatter, Shadows slider goes back to zero.
8. Very few pics need individual color adjustments; e.g., if there are bluish-green shadows, I reduce Aqua and/or Blue saturation or use the Brush option to desaturate the shadows and make them grey.

This is it.

Honestly, this is too much. And it treats every photo the same. If using lightroom there are easier ways for basic edits.

1) Import photos
2) Crop your photo as desired
3) In the basic panel hit the "Auto" button (This sets most global sliders spot on, except exposure)
4) It will overexpose 90% of the time. Lower exposure comp to a lower value that looks decent on the subject. (+0 to +.20 is often a good range)
5) Mask your subject and brighten, darken, saturate, increase clarity and texture as desired.
6) Mask the background and lower exposure to emphasize the subject.

That will create a great image 90% of the time. You can spend more efforts fine tuning, but that's the outline of the process I typically follow. With larger scenes you likely need to white balance as well.

 

[tarponchik]

Honestly, this is too much. And it treats every photo the same. If using lightroom there are easier ways for basic edits.

1) Import photos
2) Crop your photo as desired
3) In the basic panel hit the "Auto" button (This sets most global sliders spot on, except exposure)
4) It will overexpose 90% of the time. Lower exposure comp to a lower value that looks decent on the subject. (+0 to +.20 is often a good range)
5) Mask your subject and brighten, darken, saturate, increase clarity and texture as desired.
6) Mask the background and lower exposure to emphasize the subject.

That will create a great image 90% of the time. You can spend more efforts fine tuning, but that's the outline of the process I typically follow. With larger scenes you likely need to white balance as well.

If you read your text carefully, you'll find out that your steps (5) and (6) hide at least the same volume of work that I do, so there is nothing "easier" here.

 

[grantmac]

Yeah I'll echo just find a decent camera/housing/strobe (the strobe part is critical) setup in your price range and jump in. You can find lots of info online but honestly you're going to need to figure it out for yourself through trial and error. What software you use for your RAW workflow is secondary to that, and there are many options.

Back in the early 2000's I started on a 4MP Olympus manually white balancing and shooting jpegs with no strobe (just an internal flash), which was good for learning some fundamentals even though manual options were very limited on it. Then I went crazy and jumped from that to a Canon 5D SLR with a strobe and multiple lens options. Shooting manual on an SLR with a strobe was very different to be sure, but I figured out the basics of exposure and was taking great shots with it within just a couple dives. Nowadays it's different cause there's so much (both good and bad) info online for almost every conceivable camera setup, in addition to the cameras themselves being much more capable. I'd advise looking online only as a starting point, and then developing it into what works for you by just diving with it.

And yes it's an expensive hobby. As a rule of thumb you can expect to need to pay at least 2-4x the cost of the camera for housings, strobes, and other accessories that you need to complete your setup to actually be able to take decent pictures. A lot of people getting into it for the first time don't really account for this, and then skimp on critical things like strobes (or good lenses/ports for mirrorless) cause they just dropped however much on a camera and housing already.

I'd also add that a very good system which is 5 to possibly 10 years old is likely to produce amazing images now, easily better than the TG series for similar money.
Case in point I've got a GH4 in a Nauticam and set of Z240s which I'm into for under $1500. Just need to keep your eyes out.

 

[Nemrod]

I'd also add that a very good system which is 5 to possibly 10 years old is likely to produce amazing images now, easily better than the TG series for similar money.
Case in point I've got a GH4 in a Nauticam and set of Z240s which I'm into for under $1500. Just need to keep your eyes out.

I am not a TG fan. No manual controls, limited resolution and importantly limited dynamic range due to the itsy bitsyest of sensors possible. Throw away housing. The sensor is just too tiny. It is a beginner level camera that basically decides for you what you are going to get. Yes, it can produce images and it is particularly good at macro. And it is about the lowest $ entry point for something that can be called resembling a camera. It does shoot RAW but I am not sure why, well, I guess? I would not own one but then occasionally I am tempted to get one, conflicted!

Unfortunately the Canon S and G series cameras appear to be gone forever, killed off by cell phones leaving only the Sony RX with full manual capability, huge in comparison one inch sensor and available housings still. Just not a lot of choice left in this segment.

My Canon/FIX S90, purchased in 2009 and still going strong in 2025:


Photo by D.Haas

 

[TostitoBandito]

Unfortunately the Canon S and G series cameras appear to be gone forever, killed off by cell phones leaving only the Sony RX with full manual capability, huge in comparison one inch sensor and available housings still. Just not a lot of choice left in this segment.

Yeah it's an interesting time. Don't get me started on the many major issues with cell phones as underwater cameras, but it appears they aren't going anywhere and they've killed many of the affordable point and shoots for the most part. The "real camera" entry point nowadays is increasingly stuff like the smaller sub-$1000 APS-C bodies which aren't as expensive to house as full size mirrorless systems, but are still quite a bit more involved than dropping $300-600 on a housing for a new point and shoot. You've got to get lenses, ports, etc... At least if you want the newest and hottest stuff. If you buy used you can get some steals as always in the underwater photo world since cameras and housing depreciate like crazy, you just have to be ok with compromising on features, resolution, etc...

 

[davehicks]

If you read your text carefully, you'll find out that your steps (5) and (6) hide at least the same volume of work that I do, so there is nothing "easier" here.

The point is that the Auto option makes targeted adjustments rather than fixed boilerplate.

5 and 6 are entirely optional and not even considered in your formula. Targeted adjustments are more effective than global ones.

 

[tarponchik]

The point is that the Auto option makes targeted adjustments rather than fixed boilerplate.

5 and 6 are entirely optional and not even considered in your formula. Targeted adjustments are more effective than global ones.

I'm not going to argue, to each his own.