bonaire day 2. how can i make these better next time

hey ive been taking some pictures under water for a while now, however i just got a case and a strobe for my cannon d20. wat can i say its frustrating. please critic these and explain the tequnics i can use to make them better. some of them where taken with natural light and but most are with the stobe. they are all taken with a 100mm lens because i really like to take pictures of blennies and small little guys. goodluck and i wish you all the best with your next dives

ive attached acouple of them, the rest are in my gallery. please take a look and leave your critisims if you have time.

thanks again and sorry for the crappy spelling

***edit***: all pictures are uncropped and unedited simpily cause i have no idea how

Hi Turbo,

Looks like your having fun! It helps quite a bit to spend a few minutes to process your files. Definitely worth the time to learn. Sorry I didn't see where your gallery is located so I just could look at the images you posted. I really like the shot of the three fish, multiples seem to always have more power visually for me. Here is a version of the shot with about two minutes of processing work with Lightroom. I increased the exposure about a half a stop and bumped the contrast with the tone curve. Biggest change was modifying the hue of the blues to get close to a nice blue background. I also cloned out the little worm and did a little crop. See what you think. You can do better than this with the RAW file.

My best advise is to try and get the blue water exposure right in the camera. Try shooting a few shots just to get the background exposure so you get the blues you like, (you can check the histogram) then adjust the strobe power to light your subject correctly with that base exposure. Lots of fun to play with!

Shoot RAW and shoot lots of images. You're doing great.

Cheers,

Steve

If you're blues don't look right on the LCD after a few test snaps, try a quick manual white balance off the sand. On the blenny shots, try and get a nice side shot angled slight upward...or a direct head on shot...sometimes those are remarkably great shots.

You are off to a good start. Try to get an upwards angle. Meter for the water.

There are many photo pros in Bonaire. Spend some time with one. It will be well worth the investment.

I believe that the major problem with your pictures is the lack of contrast. As Steve shows, that is easily corrected in post processing. With regard to the blennies, I would suggest that you get closer to the fish. With that said, with the 100 mm for good shots of blennies, you might consider adding a dioptre in order to get the fish large enough on your sensor. However, as others have written, certainly a good start.

regards

Bent C

Hi Turbo,

Looks like your having fun! It helps quite a bit to spend a few minutes to process your files. Definitely worth the time to learn. Sorry I didn't see where your gallery is located so I just could look at the images you posted. I really like the shot of the three fish, multiples seem to always have more power visually for me. Here is a version of the shot with about two minutes of processing work with Lightroom. I increased the exposure about a half a stop and bumped the contrast with the tone curve. Biggest change was modifying the hue of the blues to get close to a nice blue background. I also cloned out the little worm and did a little crop. See what you think. You can do better than this with the RAW file.

 

 

 

My best advise is to try and get the blue water exposure right in the camera. Try shooting a few shots just to get the background exposure so you get the blues you like, (you can check the histogram) then adjust the strobe power to light your subject correctly with that base exposure. Lots of fun to play with!

 

Shoot RAW and shoot lots of images. You're doing great.

 

Cheers,

Steve

man photo editing is not fun\ very frustrating, wat do you guys think of these

man photo editing is not fun\ very frustrating, wat do you guys think of these

Sometimes it is difficult, more so at the beginning, in pushing corrections a bit too far. Sometimes it is better to dial it down just a notch. For me the redone images are a bit too saturated and forced on the blues. It takes a bit of practice, but once you get the hang of it. Also each person will do something a bit different. Here is a quick version of the same photo (I would work a bit more on not blowing out some of the highlights and perhaps change the water a bit more in this one, but it is from a JPEG to give you an idea. RAW will give you more to work with)