Would love your feedback on my UW Shots as a novice with my SeaLife 1400 in Cozumel

[wench]

Wow, I'm actually quite amazed at the white balance quality just using the blue 25+ setting! Around what depth were most of those taken? And these were without manually setting the WB or using any editing software color correction? (Sorry, I wasn't quite sure what you meant in the original post) I haven't been on a dive trip since SeaLife updated the DC1400's firmware, so I'm hoping this is a result of that.

Hi Pillpusher, in the picture right above your post we were probably between 60-65 feet UW and no, I didn't manually set the white balance - just used the > 25 feet feature. The series of pictures that were originally posted were no deeper than 50 feet. We planned that dive specifically for shooting - counting on the ambient light. The only retouch on these are the auto and contrast levels using Elements.

I must say, using the 1400 for my FIRST TIME UW w/o a strobe, I am pleased with the outcome of the 1400 for giving me real and true colors.

---------- Post added March 11th, 2013 at 08:12 AM ----------

Get closer (as advised by brianthediver) and ignore the impulse and advice of many people to post process to make your photos perfect. Photoshop does not fix broken. Ignore it until you are good enough to need it! I am not there yet. Take lots of shots. Then on the next dive take more. Then look at them. What could you do better? What did you do wrong? What do you not understand. Why did it go wrong? Ask questions! Form a plan of picture variations before your next dive, execute the plan, look at the results. Toss the crap. Do not beat yourself up.
Learn on every dive. (or dive trip if you are a slow learner like me...) I had a great mentor when I started land photography and he beat me up pretty bad. I wanted to get into advanced darkroom stuff and he pointed out that I was clearly incompetent behind the lens. With his advice I became very happy with my motorsports photo ability and got lots of awesome shots that I am very proud of.
Macro scuba photography has made me very humble. I am still learning. Long way to go to before I become competent. But I use the same learning principles. Make a plan, execute the plan, review, learn, adjust.Oh: and use the law of large numbers: if you take a very large number of shots, sometimes you will get an awesome keeper. But do not depend on this...

Thank you giffenk for your input. I definitely agree with take a lot of shots and then take more shots. (I do a lot of photography above water)

Because this was my first time "ever" shooting UW, I kept it in infinity mode and want to get comfortable with using it before progressing to the next level. Once I feel comfy with what I'm doing and after I get my wide angle lens I may be ready for trying Macro shots. I'm in no rush realizing it will take practice, practice, practice.

Without using a strobe and completely depending upon the ambient light, I am pleased to of had a few of hundreds of shots turn out descent and thus far, pleased with the outcome. Thanks again for your time in answering my post and offering your advise.

 

[wench]

I think, with some judicious cropping, some of these could be quite nice. For example, the one of the school of fish . . . the story there is "wrong way Corrigan", and cropping to put him at one of the focal points makes for a more dramatic photo (I played with it, but I can't figure out a really simple way to show you my results). The camera does a fabulous job of capturing the colors -- play around with some cropping to give the pictures a central focus and I think you'll have some nice ones.

Would still like to see what you came up with. Secondly, now that we're back in the states and have more time (for cropping, etc) , I've played around with some of the UW shots and what a difference.

 

[SailNaked]

Very good, I would put one or two on my wall.

maybe see what happens a little closer, not a complaint, just another idea.

 

[Oldbear]

Very nice photos...

When I was in fast current in Thailand with my DC1200, I just used the video and it turned out really nice...flying over the coral reef.

 

[wench]

Very good, I would put one or two on my wall. maybe see what happens a little closer, not a complaint, just another idea.

Thank you Sail, I was shooting in "Infinity mode" and after looking at the pictures on my surface interval, right away I realized I needed to get closer... practice practice! I appreciate your suggestions. I am amazed at the true color of the DC1400.

 

[Saltwater Junky]

Subjects in a few of the images are blurred due to motion and slow shutter speed. Using a strobe will stop the action. Enjoyed viewing your images, keep shooting.

 

[Tailspin]

Nice pics!

I am amazed at the quality you got by using the built in dive mode at those depths. I have never had that kind of results with my unit and usually go the manual WB route when not using the strobe.

Looks like you had good ambient lighting in the shots you posted. That is probably a good part of the nice results.

I was in Hawaii recently and opted to just take my camera and leave the strobe home to save packing weight ... Big mistake!

I played with it a bunch in the pre-set, internal flash, and manual WB modes, and got nowhere near the results you did, but I didn't think the ambient light was anything special, especially in the lava tubes.

 

[wench]

Very nice photos... When I was in fast current in Thailand with my DC1200, I just used the video and it turned out really nice...flying over the coral reef.

I didn't plan on shooting video, my DH has the new GoPro black so I really didn't read up on the video, I just got the DC1400 a week before our trip to COZ... so here I am drifting along and what do I see in the distance coming right at me??? Yes, a Sea Turtle, so I put it in video mode and get right at a minute of awesome video! Couldn't wait to get back to the villa to check it out... come to find out, I had it in video mode but didn't activate it! DUH! lol I'll get that shot, just not on my first round. Thanks for responding!

 

[wench]

Nice pics! I am amazed at the quality you got by using the built in dive mode at those depths. I have never had that kind of results with my unit and usually go the manual WB route when not using the strobe. Looks like you had good ambient lighting in the shots you posted. That is probably a good part of the nice results. I was in Hawaii recently and opted to just take my camera and leave the strobe home to save packing weight ... Big mistake! I played with it a bunch in the pre-set, internal flash, and manual WB modes, and got nowhere near the results you did, but I didn't think the ambient light was anything special, especially in the lava tubes.

Yeah, we weren't diving deep in these photos - had planned dives for these shots. I did shoot deeper when diving Palancar Horseshoe between 60-75 feet and definitely need a strobe shooting in those depths. That'll come later when we return to COZ this summer. Thanks for your comments.

Saltwater Junky -- I realize some were blurry but I posted them anyway due to the colors popping. Thanks for posting.

---------- Post added March 16th, 2013 at 11:57 AM ----------

Tailspin this is what I got at approx 65-70' w/o a strobe

 

[DiverGirl82]

Well I'm no professional photographer; barely even a beginner, but I think your pictures are great. Especially for using the camera for the first time. I just started diving last year and I really want to get a camera but I'm having trouble making up my mind. I originally thought I wanted to get an underwater housing for my dslr but I would have to save up for quite a while for that. My dive instructor has tried to talk me into the sealife 1400 but the reviews I've read on it are mixed. It seems like people either love it or hate it. I tried using hers once and just got a bunch of blurry pictures of fish swimming away. But it was my first time using any kind of underwater camera and I was still learning to control my buyuoncy and all that. Your pictures make me think perhaps I should reconsider the sealife.