BHB Seahorse

This, my first seahorse photo attempt, was taken at Blue Heron bridge recently.

I really like the photo but I think it would be better with the background darker and softer. I keep finding myself distracted by the bright background.

New to PS4 so I have yet to learn how to perform the task, Martin Evening book on order.

Tried some different setting in Lightroom but

If I had the shot over, I think I would use a smaller f-stop and brighter flash to darken the background.

What is your opinion of how to improve it?

Hi Dave,

What were the camera settings for the shot?

Steve

Hi Dave,

What were the camera settings for the shot?

 

Steve

ISO 100, f3.2, 1/60, 28mm, two Z-240's set on 8" arms.

This was my first dive with the G9 and so was so excited, forgot to change the settings from P for a while.

we just came from diving there the other day. Nice shot, I agree, needs to be darker and more focus. Hey, you found the guy, there's always next time. Good job on the find!

ISO 100, f3.2, 1/60, 28mm, two Z-240's set on 8" arms...

Ah ha!

I'm not familiar with the G9, but I think that most people would shoot at F18 or higher with a macro lens, or no wider than f8 (f5.8 usually doesn't look very sharp) with a wide lens up close.

You might want to have one strobe (I would have chosen the right for this image) about four times (2 stops) brighter than the other to create contrast on the seahorse and bring out its texture more dramatically. If more of the light comes from the strobes then the background is darker, but you need manual camera settings, even if the strobes are working in TTL. Your seahorse seems to have been taken pretty close up, so half or even quarter power on the lead strobe may have been sufficient.

Tim

On my monitor it does not need to be darker. It needs more contrast.

The horse is facing away from you, so it's not that great even though it's a cool looking seahorse.

Try shooting it vertically next time. I try to shoot seahorse both portrait and landscape and choose the best result.