What do I need to work on?
- Thread starter Burner
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First, resize it to something like 800x640 so we can see the whole thing without scrolling.
Second, we need more into. Could you list your exposure info? What camera? Strobe or internal camera flash?
I'll take a guess....From the backscatter I'd say you were using the cameras internal flash. If the fish in the background was your target subject, I think I would have passed or waited to get it in the open more. Hidden behind the starfish and that red algae (?) it's no longer the main subject. The whole photo has a soft focus that could have been sharper but it depends on your aperture setting.
This is totally a wild guess without further info.
Second, we need more into. Could you list your exposure info? What camera? Strobe or internal camera flash?
I'll take a guess....From the backscatter I'd say you were using the cameras internal flash. If the fish in the background was your target subject, I think I would have passed or waited to get it in the open more. Hidden behind the starfish and that red algae (?) it's no longer the main subject. The whole photo has a soft focus that could have been sharper but it depends on your aperture setting.
This is totally a wild guess without further info.
Gilligan
Contributor
Aloha Burner,
I am only an amateur photographer and I took the liberty of downloading your photo and messing with it in Photoshop 7.
Click Here
Like Dee said in her post, tell the board what kind of camera, flash etc. you were using.
In Photoshop I first resized the photo by making it smaller then I used the clone tool to remove the white spot off the fish, which was likely backscatter from the flash, and some of the same on the reddish algae. Not an expert job by a longshot. There are still other backscatter spots that I did not remove for comparison purposes. I also adjusted the curves, brightness, contrast, hue and saturation. I just experimented with those adjustments and don't know how the pic will look on your monitor or anyone elses.
:shades:
I am only an amateur photographer and I took the liberty of downloading your photo and messing with it in Photoshop 7.
Click Here
Like Dee said in her post, tell the board what kind of camera, flash etc. you were using.
In Photoshop I first resized the photo by making it smaller then I used the clone tool to remove the white spot off the fish, which was likely backscatter from the flash, and some of the same on the reddish algae. Not an expert job by a longshot. There are still other backscatter spots that I did not remove for comparison purposes. I also adjusted the curves, brightness, contrast, hue and saturation. I just experimented with those adjustments and don't know how the pic will look on your monitor or anyone elses.
:shades:
Thanks gilligan you made the picture look much nicer.
Do you find that you generally have to that much work in photoshop?
The camera is the A70 with an internal flash. I don't want to deal with strobes, I'm just taking a few shots if I see something neat.
I'm just using full auto mode, and don't really plan on shooting in manual, so I was looking for more composition.
The main subect I wanted to get was the orange stuff on the right (algae?) I was also hoping to get a more striking color difference between the fish and the algae.
I don't think letting the fish swim out was really an option, I only had about 1 foot of clear water between me and the wall when the surge sucked all the stuff back. Do I have to have strobes to get good pictures in low vis?
Here is another picture I cropped and resized of trying to get the algae. It would have been great if the algae was in front of the blue rock, and it was in focus.
Do you find that you generally have to that much work in photoshop?
The camera is the A70 with an internal flash. I don't want to deal with strobes, I'm just taking a few shots if I see something neat.
I'm just using full auto mode, and don't really plan on shooting in manual, so I was looking for more composition.
The main subect I wanted to get was the orange stuff on the right (algae?) I was also hoping to get a more striking color difference between the fish and the algae.
I don't think letting the fish swim out was really an option, I only had about 1 foot of clear water between me and the wall when the surge sucked all the stuff back. Do I have to have strobes to get good pictures in low vis?
Here is another picture I cropped and resized of trying to get the algae. It would have been great if the algae was in front of the blue rock, and it was in focus.
James connell
Contributor
the orange 'stuff' on the right is the feeding end of a 'burrowing sea cucumber ' - there's a weird looking critter on the other end of that!!! the cuk has 4 double rows of sucker feet al along it's body that it uses to hold itself in to cracks with.
what is causeing the 'backscatter' is the flash being close to the lens - it lights the crap in the water from the front. an external strobe moves away from the lens and lghts the floaties from the side so they don't reflect back - they're sitll there you just don't see them as highlites. a pair of strobe moved out and closer to the subject helps in bad vis. the overall clarity of the shot isn't going to get much better in that vis however. go dive point lobos!
what is causeing the 'backscatter' is the flash being close to the lens - it lights the crap in the water from the front. an external strobe moves away from the lens and lghts the floaties from the side so they don't reflect back - they're sitll there you just don't see them as highlites. a pair of strobe moved out and closer to the subject helps in bad vis. the overall clarity of the shot isn't going to get much better in that vis however. go dive point lobos!
Gilligan
Contributor
Aloha Burner,
No, I don't have to adjust my photos that much in Photoshop but I do adjust contrast and brightness on all of them. I am not familiar with your camera as I have an Olympus. I am sure there are similarities between them. The Olympus has a diffuser attached to the housing in front of the flash to minimize/prevent backscatter as shown in this photo See Photo. Does your housing? I don't use a strobe either, only the built in flash on all my photos and for that reason you must stay close to your subjects.
As for not using the manual settings, you are cheating yourself. I found the manual settings get much better photos underwater. I will admit that being retired allows me to dive all the time so I can experiment with the settings more often.
I keep my internal flash at its maximum setting, The aperature on manual, the shutter speed on auto, and adjust the F stop and Exposure Value from there. I use the macro if I am within about 12". After that I try and use the zoom feature as I will get more of my subject in the photo w/o having to crop the photo. If too close, the zoom shot will blur. So take both zoom and macro shots. I sometimes take 10 to 15 shots of the same thing at different settings, subject permitting, and pick the best one. That's why I love digital. Digital = Delete. If you are going to stick with the mindset of not getting a strobe, as I have, then get the most out of your camera with what it has to offer.
:shades:
No, I don't have to adjust my photos that much in Photoshop but I do adjust contrast and brightness on all of them. I am not familiar with your camera as I have an Olympus. I am sure there are similarities between them. The Olympus has a diffuser attached to the housing in front of the flash to minimize/prevent backscatter as shown in this photo See Photo. Does your housing? I don't use a strobe either, only the built in flash on all my photos and for that reason you must stay close to your subjects.
As for not using the manual settings, you are cheating yourself. I found the manual settings get much better photos underwater. I will admit that being retired allows me to dive all the time so I can experiment with the settings more often.
I keep my internal flash at its maximum setting, The aperature on manual, the shutter speed on auto, and adjust the F stop and Exposure Value from there. I use the macro if I am within about 12". After that I try and use the zoom feature as I will get more of my subject in the photo w/o having to crop the photo. If too close, the zoom shot will blur. So take both zoom and macro shots. I sometimes take 10 to 15 shots of the same thing at different settings, subject permitting, and pick the best one. That's why I love digital. Digital = Delete. If you are going to stick with the mindset of not getting a strobe, as I have, then get the most out of your camera with what it has to offer.
:shades:
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