Finally I am posting here:)

I am opening with a few from Cape Town (my local waters)

I have learned so much from this site and marveled at the many many great images, to all a BIG THANK YOU for the education.

I am looking forward to take my education to the next level and would appreciate all C&C.

Thanks for looking and I am looking forward to all the advice.

Geo

Maybe in the next round;)

Nice clear images Geo. From a compositional perspective I like #2. I think in the remaining images you should either try to get the whole animal, or alternatively crop tighter in front of the animal, in each case I find the subject too far back in the image. If you take the eye as the central focus and use the 'rule of thirds' the eye will tend to fall further forward forward in the image cropping out more background in front and above the animal in 1, 3, 4 & %, and in front and a little below in #6.

To me this will result in more pleasing portrait compositions.

I like #2 very much.

Thanks Loftus, i will play in PS with your suggestions. Although familiar with the rule of thirds I liked the negative space in 4 & 6 but will still play around to see. Not looking for excuses on the other, but the minimum focus distance on my 18-70mm i find a bit limiting at times. Anther aspect i am still getting use/learning is top predict where to put the focus point in the camera. What I have notice so far, is if i leave it in the centre I tend to end up with photos like #1 with the eye close to the center and not resulting in a great composition. Any advice on how best to approach this would be great!

Thanks Bigeye Bubblefish!

Hi Aqua! I like the first (great lighting) and last shot (looks like it's whistleing)

Like Loftus allready mentioned - nice and clear images.

Cheers

Karel

What I have notice so far, is if i leave it in the centre I tend to end up with photos like #1 with the eye close to the center and not resulting in a great composition. Any advice on how best to approach this would be great!

I'm not sure what type of camera your shooting Geo but you should be able to half depress the shutter to focus then recompose to take the shot. On DSLR's like my 40D you can setup a button on the back to focus then recompose and hit the shutter. Makes it easier if you're wearing gloves.

In addition to Jeff's recommendations you might want to tweak the white balance of shots 4 & 5 just a touch to bring out the blue a little.

Cool shark, what species is it?

Cheers,

Steve

Something like this;

Have fun,

Steve

Hi Aqua :-)

I am super super SUPER novice when it comes to photography, so I have absolutely no technical knowledge and can only offer opinions. That being said, I really like the negative space in #4 and #6. To me, it looks a lot more natural than a tighter crop would give it. I like the white balance as it is in #5 - to me it looks like a nice representation of what stuff actually looks like in temperate waters. The water colour was never supposed to be blue! I really like #1 and #2.

I am so glad for getting a conversation going, thanks to all who is contributing and thanks for the compliments.

I Steve I am now using the D300 and operate if exactly as you descripted with reference to focusing. I think where I need much more practise is in the re-composing. In our water (well at least in the shore dives i do most often) there is a fair amount of under current to work with. So even for stationary objects I find it hard to get that which i what to be in focus, sharp if I re-compose. In the time it takes to do that I will in most case have been move by the wave action. How do you deal/compensate for that? Had when it come to moving objects its obviously much more difficult. So lets take the that shark photo you have edited. Say I wanted to re-compose that shot by moving the camera slightly to the right and tilting it down so that the eye would be more in the top left corner. How would you do that to give you the best chance to keep the eye in focus?

As for the white balancing, I agree with aquaplane. We do get some blue water, but its rare. So even when the viz is good the water tends to be green and I prefer to protray it like that. I would love to have some deep blue backgrounds but for that i need to travel;)

Steve these are Seven gill Cow Sharks. As you might have seen in some other threads here, we are pretty lucky down here to have a site which can easily be dived as a shore dive and find these beauties there on a regular basis.

Karl, I also noticed the shape of the lips, but you have described it perfectly:)

Aquaplane, i think compositioning can be a very personal taste (that being said there are times when i think most will agree what is a good composition and what is not) Personally I would have loved to had beter compositions for 1, 3 & 5, but I am farely happy with 4 & 6.

Still I can't stress how i value all the feedback as it helps me too not only take a second look and see other aspects, but also gives me insite in what other think.

#2 is great... actually, they are all great... but #2 is the best. I love the colors!

Thanks Phil!