stiebs Posted December 18, 2023 Share Posted December 18, 2023 The last time I took out my macro I made the stupid mistake of mounting my 55-200mm telephoto instead of my 80mm f/2.8!! They are very similar size, but the macro is a lot heavier. I though it a bit odd when I got underwater and it just wouldn't focus on anything! I thought I may have left the focal range limiter on the wrong setting. Was also a bit odd that the front of the housing was a bit floaty. They say you should only make a mistake once, so hopefull this was it 🙂 This time I was even more certain to mount the correct lens, and also to ensure that the aperture ring was on A, and the focal limiter set correctly. All of these settings can only be done before closing the housing, and any of them being set wrong will result in a dive carrying around a useless housing! Anyway, on to the photo haul for the dive. I don't seem to take as many photos in a dive than I used to. And I seem to have the same number of keepers per dive. Hopefully that means I'm getting better 🙂 Any critique on any aspect - composure, framing, lighting, post-processing is welcomed and appreciated Equipment Fujifilm XT-3 in Nauticam NA-XT3 housing 2x Inon Z240 Fujinon XF80/f2.8 Macro For most of these shots I kept the camera on ISO320, SS 1/60, adjusting aperture and flash output / positioning. Most of these photos are between f/7.1 and f/10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Ross Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 Some nice shots there, some similar subjects to what we get in Sydney. As far as critique goes, I would suggest adjusting the black and white points in to meet the edge of the histogram, it gives the images a little more punch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiebs Posted December 23, 2023 Author Share Posted December 23, 2023 Thanks @Chris Ross .. thanks for the feedback. I actually think I usually over-edit my photos, so in this post I've gone for a more conservative effect . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimG Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Yep, nice! My suggestion would be to shoot up as much as you can rather than level or shooting down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooley Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 (edited) A nice set, and the reposts are definitely moving in the right direction. I'd try and keep a closer eye the white balance - I had a play with a couple and needed to do WB alterations each time. The ray shot is just a white balance adjustment, then moving the blacks slider further along. I don't mind the background losing details on this occasion, just make sure you don't block any details on the actual subject. With the following shot I did a WB adjustment but greens and cyans remained in the sand so I used a selective saturation adjustment to remove them. Set black and white points, used a dodge and burn technique to lighten the sand then boosted the colours a little (maybe too much) These are only pointers, not the be all and end all by any stretch, but maybe something to look at Mike Edited December 23, 2023 by Pooley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pooley Posted December 23, 2023 Share Posted December 23, 2023 Sorry for the autocorrect spelling errors! I can only seem to edit the shots and not the text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimG Posted December 24, 2023 Share Posted December 24, 2023 Mike, if you click on the 3-dot ellipsis on the right hand side that should offer you a menu which includes Edit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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