My wife and i did a week in Komodo a month ago. Apart from a handful of dives, it was my first experience with my tokina 10-17 fisheye. As I mentioned in a Lembeh gallery I posted earlier, this is my first trip with a DSLR. In Lembeh I got a lot of macro practice. This was my chance to try some wideangle. At different times, I experimented both with strobes and magic filters. I found wide angle composition much more challenging then macro, particularly when shooting reefscapes. I think I got some decent photos, but I would love to hear from anyone that has a critique or advice.
Looks like a great trip. What a variety of subjects and Shannon did a nice job modelling for you. Be sure to share some of your best with the Wetpixel Flickr Group. I noticed you're using Lightroom to process the files. There appears to be a little variation in the white balance settings that's giving you a wide range of "blues". When you get a chance, experiment with modifying the WB temp and tint sliders. This can make a big difference with the filter shots. Once you get a setting you like you can save it as a preset and apply it to the whole group.
Here is one of your originals
On this one I dialed back the temp and tint, to show a little different water color. It helped the contrast a little too. I'm not suggesting this is the "right" color". Have fun with it!
I'm very jealous, Komodo is high on my "wanna dive" list. You did a great job capturing the sense of the place.
Cheers,
Steve
Thanks Steve,
The whaleshark pics are actually from in the Philippines where I am now, not Komodo. My flickr photostream is a little bit ahead of my completed sets.
You are correct that I varied the WB settings from picture to picture. On most I was setting for an 'accurate' foreground, often at the expense of the water color. I also, don't know if that is the 'correct' choice; but it is what i went for. Since uploading those I have been playing around with Hue/Saturation/Luminance and camera calibration settings to try to get the best of both. Still a work in progress. I just got Lightroom a few weeks ago and I am still figuring it out.
On most I was setting for an 'accurate' foreground, often at the expense of the water color. I also, don't know if that is the 'correct' choice; but it is what i went for.
Lucas,
I think "correct" is what ever you want it to be. Everything I've read on LR suggests the workflow should begin with getting the WB close then work your way down the tools. They have done a nice job of presenting them to us in the right order. You don't have to worry about it though because the algorithm will apply the processing to the raw file in the "correct" order anyway.
If you haven't seen it check out The Lightroom Tutorials here. Take a look at no. 7 color corrections. Matt does a great job explaining the program.
