Your best beginner tip - post it! :)

[Larry C]

Good point, Catherine. I've started doing the same thing. Oh, and on an earlier vein, check your air and your compass now and then. He who shoots and swims away, lives to shoot another day. Thankfully, my dive-buddy (wife) is a good navigator and gets me back to the boat when I get lost in getting one more close-up of that nudie under the rock.

 

[RonFrank]

anybody want to slip me cs 2??? shhh....

I'm sure some hack has found a way around this, but IMO buy these types of programs ESPECIALLY if you sell images.

I'll create a thread titled PS on the cheap for thost interested...

 

[RonFrank]

While this is a good list of suggestions, some are incomplete, or just not necessarily correct in many situations. I've responded with some comments.

I would encourage people to UNDERSTAND why most of these suggestions are good rather than assuming that they are RULES as they are NOT and that is what seperates those that know exactly what they are doing and why, from thost that must rely on technical luck.

I'd also add that these seem to be targeted more towards PnS especially those discussing focus technique.

To make your background lighter or darker adjust your shutter speed, for black backgrounds use a high shutter speed (less light).

This only applies if one is using a strobe as the primarily light. When shooting under natural light adjusting the shutter impacts the entire exposure.

To make your subject brighter increase the strobe intensity

One is not making the subject brighter, but rather increasing the exposure on the subject. This can be done in several ways. These are Increased ISO, Increased Strobe, Opening up the aperture with or without using a strobe, decreased shutter when not using a strobe.

Don't limit yourself to just one method of increasing exposure.

Always take your pictures in manual mode.

I'd say that most professionals topside do NOT shoot in manual mode. I shot a lot in shutter priority UW with my S70. I used aperture priority and manual as well. In any mode keep an eye on all settings to make sure they are what is wanted.

I do NOT use program mode topside or UW. But the various modes S/Tv, A, and M all have thier place, and it's better to understand what is going to work in a given lighting situation with different subjects and lens choices vs. having a hard fast rule like only shoot manual.

Keep in mind these options are tools, and if you choose to ignore the tools available do so because you feel those tools are not appropriate for a situation rather than to just has some Rule that you follow blindly.

Press shutter halfway to get ready, expect shutter lag, if you pre-focus (press halfway) you cut down your shutter lag time

This technique is definatley worth while when using a PnS, but recognize that if you or the subject moves after you have locked focus, then you are no longer in focus when you fire.

With a lot of DLSR's out there this technique also works, however it's highly dependent upon what focus mode one is using.

Do not use "autofocus on" because it drains battery life

Applies currently only to PnS models that has the autofocus on option.

For macro subjects always try a higher F stop, the higher the F stop the greater the depth of field (but less light comes in)

Higher F stop is misleading. Open up = larger aperture (smaller number). Stop down = smaller aperture (larger number).

Max DOF is highly desirable in a large number of macro shots, but certainly not all. In addition with a DSLR the lens does not perform at it's best at the smallest apertures as it results in defraction. One must also have the strobe power to use small apertures, so that will impact what is possible.

For macro: get as close as you can first then zoom, but when you zoom, you lose a bit of depth of field

Most true macro lenses on DSLR's do not zoom. I'd say this is also highly dependant upon the subject you are shooting as getting as close as possible may result in the sudden disappearance of the subject.

Don't slow down your shutter speed too much or your pictures will be blurry

Shutter needs to be adequate to stop action, and to prevent camera shake. This will be based on the subject movement, and the lens used.

The rule one is looking for is that the shutter should be the reciprocol of the 35mm eq focal length used. IOW's if shooting a 30mm lens, the slowest shutter recommended is 1/30. For digital some suggest adding in the focal multiplier, but I think this is largely based on what camera is used. This is also based on personal experience with hand holding camera's as some are able to hold still better than others.

the max distance where your flash is effective is about 3 feet

This is really dependent upon the aperture used, and strobe. Also keep in mind that anything closer to the camera then the main subject will be subject to more strobe/exposure.

For wide angle: smaller F stop than macro (need to let more light in since flash has less impact)

Smaller F stop really means larger numbers, confusing. A better way to state this would be when shooting Wide Angle use a larger aperture to increase the exposure when necessary. Once can also increase the ISO, or decrease the shutter.

Look and aim at blue water the camera will tell you the exposure: +0.3 means 1/3 stop overexposed, -1.0 is one stop underexposed - choose about -0.3 to -0.6 when you see the blue you like

I can not say if this works, but it's going to be based on water clarity, depth, and lighting conditions topside (cloudy/sunny). A better solution to setting expousre maybe to carry a white card or grey card as it would be more consistant.

#1 pick aperture for subject
#2 Strobe intensity
#3 adjust flash angle (objects appear closer than they are)
#4 adjust shutter speed

I assume this is some order in which to adjust settings? I generally do a few test shots, and then chimp, and adjust what is appropriate as necessary.

If you get a hot spot from your focus light, increase your shutter speed

Decreasing the ISO or stopping down the aperture is just as effective.

Do not shoot into the sun

Unless you want to.

If you have green water use manual white balance, use a white slate to set it. Adjust it again as you change depths. If you are using the flash then correct white balance with the flash.
[/LIST]

White balance should be based on the primary light source. If it's flash, then one should be using a daylight WB that matches your flash (5500K for many strobes).

If you adjust the WB based on the ambiant light, and then use the flash as the primary light source, than your results are going to be rather off.

Wow, that took some time.... I hope people take the time to understand the reasons behind these suggestions rather than making a list of rules.

To be quite honest, I could never memorize a list of RULES like this. It's easier to just understand light, aperture, shutter, ISO, and the strobe. With digital we have a HUGE tool in the histogram, and post view of the shot. If you need to, chimp and adjust as necessary. Every digital shooter including every pro I've met chimps!!

 

[Larry C]

Thanks for all the great thoughts, Ron.
As a newbie to digital UW, and a first time owner of a camera with a histogram, I understand what a great tool it is but I have no idea how to use it. What will it tell me about my lighting, WB, etc. and how do I adjust for it?

Larry

 

[alcina]

Larry -

Look at the spikes on either side of your histogram. If you are spiking to the right, you are blowing out highlights; spiking to the left you're losing detail in your shadows.

Sometimes both or one may be desirable but for the most part, as a guideline, a nice grouping in the middle is better

 

[RonFrank]

Thanks for all the great thoughts, Ron.
As a newbie to digital UW, and a first time owner of a camera with a histogram, I understand what a great tool it is but I have no idea how to use it. What will it tell me about my lighting, WB, etc. and how do I adjust for it?

Larry

A histogram is a 256 line bar graph that represents the colors in a shot. I generally leave my histogram on in post review mode so when I hit the play buttom I automatically get the histogram up with the image.

The histrogram displays black on the left, and white on the rigth. All the colors from dark to light fall inbetween. The higher the vertical bar, the more pixels of a given color.

There is no *right* histogram as it's just showing the colors in a given shot. However as Alcina has indicated if you have spikes to the top of the display on the right you are blowing out highlights, and a similar spike on the left means blocked blacks/shadows. If you have spike on both ends, then you are shooting a scene that is beyond the ability of the sensor to capture, or your strobe is too hot.

If a histogram has the majority of the bars to the right with little on the left, decrease exposure, reshoot and review. If the opposite is true increase exposure. If the histogram is very flat it means that there is not a lot of color or contrast, and increasing the exposure is a way to try and solve that. However if there are is not a lot of various colors in a scene, then a flat histogram maybe OK, generally with some spikes where the color falls.

One problem with many histograms is that they are based on the green channel. However there are two other channels, and red (topside) sometimes gets blown out even when the histograms tells us everything is fine. Some higher end cameras like the D200 can display all three channels in the histogram review.

I strongly recommend when chimping use the histogram. It is the best tool one has to evaluate exposure after the fact, and I'm always amazed how many don't even know it's available.

 

[arenny]

Ron,

I would like to clarify that this was never meant as a list of "Rules" that's why I named them "Tips" - yes, they were based on P&S camera. Taken from books and previous posts here. This is not for someone to memorize and the tips are not by any means set in stone. They were meant as collection of tips for beginners, a starting place for those of us who still get a little confused here and there. Thank you everyone for your input.

 

[RonFrank]

Arenny,

First I think the list is a good starting point, and it is a good post.

In additions the "Tips" are not presented as such, but they are stated as the way one should shoot.

"Always take your pictures in manual mode."

"the strobe should be pointed 45 degrees horizontally and vertically from the lens"

"Do not shoot into the sun"

Beginners may read this and take it to mean that this is what must be done to get good shots. My post was intended to ensure that people do realise that these are suggestions, and in fact not always the best approach as well as to give a little more detail to why the suggestions were likely posted or published in the first place, and some alternatives where appropriate.