Sunball - how do I stop the blowout

I took both the below shots within an hour of each other can someone tell me why the sun has blown out on one and not the other? I was using a D200 with a Tokina 10-17mm in an Aquatica housing with an 8' dome and a single Sea &Sea YS90DX strobe.

Above taken at 10m depth, camera at F16 & 1/200, lens at 10mm. Water was very milky.

Above taken just below surface, camera F16 & 1/125, lens at 17mm. Same water quality.

Is it the angle of the sun, the water quality or my camera setting that has blown out the sun in the first picture (self portrait).

Regards

Gary

I took both the below shots within an hour of each other can someone tell me why the sun has blown out on one and not the other?

Regards

Gary

Hi Gary,

To me both look blown out. The top one more than the bottom one. Because digital has a narrow dynamic range (linear) there are some tricks that will help you get it right more of the time. In shallow water it is difficult to get it right with strong sunlight and flash. This is because of the relative slow synch speed of most digital cameras. You end up blowing out no matter the f-stop. Low sun (early morning/late evening) works much better. Make sure you have a fast shutter 125-250.. since this will freeze the rays. Longer shutterspeeds will give the impression of a diffuse ball.

The other tip is to go deeper and retain fast shutter this works best, especially when you can light the primary sunject with flash.

Good luck!

Espen

The main thing that affected the difference is the depth. The deeper you shoot the more cyan you get (well, I guess this does not work at 100m! ). When you are close to the surface there is not a lot of water in between you and the sun and is like shooting the sun outside of the water (never getting any cyan)

The main thing that affected the difference is the depth. The deeper you shoot the more cyan you get (well, I guess this does not work at 100m! ). When you are close to the surface there is not a lot of water in between you and the sun and is like shooting the sun outside of the water (never getting any cyan)

Jupp,

The more waterdistance the light travels through the more is it difracted(?) and spread so that it's intensity is diluted over a larger area. You get more even plume that fades as you go from the center that is usually blown out.

With fast shutterspeeds you freeze the waves of light so that it doesn't form a even ball. But rather you get a more uneven plume that atleast to me looks better.

Espen

(pardon my inadequate english)