First Pictures Underwater 2

Hi guys,

I came across this cleaner shrimp in an anemone in Curacao. I took a quick snapshot and it came out pretty good! I didn't do any postprocessing. Again, any constructive criticism is welcome.

Greetz,

Edwin

Edwin,

From 1 amateur to another, it appears you're shooting with ambient light. If you truly want those colors to explode onto the scene you'll need to get a strobe. Some basic thoughts come to mind about the composition. Try to shoot on a horizontal plane or angled up. Try to get a composition (view) of your subjects from the front. The top view looks like a snorkeler's perspective. PS enhancement is fine but the strobe is the way to go.

Gary

The real issue is the correct lens and equipment, the shrimp being the main subject is only a small fraction of the picture, the sand should not be seen. Here is a crop but the detail and colors would be better getting close. The #1 most basic and important tip for UW photography is to "Get Close" Use auto levels in Photoshop to get better pop on the color.

Thanx for the critique guys! Using a strobe would definitely improve my pictures, but my financial means are limited. I'm hoping to get one next year. By then I would definitely like some advice on the type.

The post prossesing looks pretty good like that Photobeat. I'll fidle around with photoshop to give it more color.

I shot the picture in "P" mode. White balance was set for underwater and I used the vivid effect. I had the feeling that when I used the "macro" setting on my camera (powershot s80) it would not focus properly. I had this experience a couple of times. Could this be that I was too close to the subject??

Meanwhile I have another photo which I would like your opinion on too. This one went through photoshop before I dare to show it!!

Edwin

When I usually have problem focusing in macro mode its because I'm either too far away or the subject is moving too much (swaying in the current) for my camera to get a lock. If your camera has a manual focus mode, try that.

Yikes man - This is just too hot. The water is almost white, the whole thing is over exposed or you made it too hot in the photosho. Re-post the original and lets take a look. Composition is not all bad you filled the frame nicely, I am not familiar with your camera does it have an arperature priority or manual mode?

Yep you're absolutely right, too much light. But I liked the composition so much that I just had to get a picture of it!!

The camera has everything, manual, Av and Tv. I didn't use any of those settings because I am still learning how to really control the camera. This was my first time using it underwater and I wanted to start out easy by keeping the focus automatic.

The original photo looks like this:

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g287/EdwinV/IMG_0405.jpg

Also see attachment (smaller of course!!)

And yes I admit, I really don't like to postprocess much. I think a good photographer captures the shots and not makes them with photoshop. That's why my photoshop skills are very limited as well...

Thanx again for the feedback guys. I'm heading of to Egypt somewhere in autumn so I want to try and learn a lot before I make the same mistakes!

Greetz

Edwin