Just returned from Riviera Maya Mexico

Hi, ten days has past since me and my wife returned from Playa del Carmen Mexico.

We spent 7 of our 12 days there in an "Intro to Cave Diving" training, so only had one day for the reef.

We went to Cozumel and did two dives in the reef.

We were really tired after the Cave training, that's why we didn't went to dive more.

With only two dives these are a few shots I was able to take:

The first four pictures are from the first dive, the mayor mistake I made was with the background, too much light in the background.

I didn't notice it immediately because the screen of my camera is not too bright, so I noticed it in the vote.

With the picture above I tried to darken the background, but I'm not satisfied with the amount of light of the strobes.

I wasn't really close to the subject, in the second dive we had more current so was really difficult to get close to anything.

Nothing special in this picture but I was playing with the strobes and the background color.

This is what happens to my camera when there is too much red in the frame, it simply gets nuts.

It took me several shots to be happy with the background and the light in the foreground.

But when I saw it in my computer I noticed the dark spot in the middle of the coral.

This coral was really small, no more that 15 cm.

This is a crop, I was with the current and using the back kick I was able to stop for only a few seconds. My camera takes ages to save the pictures.

And the last acceptable picture of the day.

You can see all the pictures here: Diving in Cozumel - Oct 2010

Hey guys, comments are welcome.

Maybe because I didn't explicitly said it in my first post.

You are welcome to criticize my pictures in any way you want, I just want to learn.

I have my family to tell me that my pictures are beautiful, but they don't know nothing about photography and less about underwater photography.

But please don't give me just silence.

BTW: All pictures were taken in manual mode, shots of the first dive were taken at 23 mts aprox and the second at 20 mts.

Hi Andres,

I liked your photos- beautiful colours. My only comments would be that in a couple you could possibly have placed the strobes slightly differently to get even lighting on the foreground subject and avoid shadow, and also that when you have the diver or boat in the background you could maybe improve the composition slightly.

Eres el unico Chileno en Wetpixel? Yo pase tres anos en Valdivia, y bucee muchas veces en el Rio Calle Calle, rio cruces y en el mar por ahi. Me acuerdo del frio y la visibilidad de 2 centimetros!

Saludos

Fergus

Hi Andres!

I like #6 - the shot You told is nothing special I think it's a nice reefshot and lighting is good. The last two allso stand out from the rest IMO

But the other images... they dont have that WOW effect on me.

First one would maybe work if You would be a bit farther from the coral and the diver would be fully visible and maybe a little bit closer. At the moment the composition is not really working for me on that shot.

p.s. Mexico and Cave diving - I'm jealous

Cheers

Karel

Hi Andres,

 

I liked your photos- beautiful colours. My only comments would be that in a couple you could possibly have placed the strobes slightly differently to get even lighting on the foreground subject and avoid shadow, and also that when you have the diver or boat in the background you could maybe improve the composition slightly.

 

Eres el unico Chileno en Wetpixel? Yo pase tres anos en Valdivia, y bucee muchas veces en el Rio Calle Calle, rio cruces y en el mar por ahi. Me acuerdo del frio y la visibilidad de 2 centimetros!

 

Saludos

 

Fergus

Hi Fergus, nice to know that you know and lived in Chile. Valdivia is one the most beautiful cities in Chile. The south of Chile is just amazing.

I have never dived in Valdivia but maybe one day I will.

I searched for other chilenos on wetpixel sometime ago, I found two but I think they don't post here anymore.

You are right about the shadows, I'm thinking about practicing strobe positioning in a pool, I'm still struggling with them.

I also agree about the composition, it was my first time trying to get the surface in the frame and I also was trying to get better background color.

Next time I'll need to work in my lighting technique and with the composition.

Hi Andres!

 

I like #6 - the shot You told is nothing special I think it's a nice reefshot and lighting is good. The last two allso stand out from the rest IMO

But the other images... they dont have that WOW effect on me.

First one would maybe work if You would be a bit farther from the coral and the diver would be fully visible and maybe a little bit closer. At the moment the composition is not really working for me on that shot.

 

p.s. Mexico and Cave diving - I'm jealous

 

Cheers

Karel

Thanks for the comments about the first shot.

About cave diving, it has been one of the most demanding and at the same time the most incredible things I've done so far underwater.

I pretend to come back to Mexico to dive the caves and get more training.

Hola Andres

Your pictures are nice , my only suggestion is to wait for some fishes to swim in to the frame ; that will make your shoot more dinamic . But i know that sometimes is not easy to remain still at Cozumel because of the currents .

Also , as was said above , take more than 1 picture at the same spot and try different positions of your strobes .

We have some really nice caves here at DR , so if someday you are around let me know.

JA

Hola Andres

 

Your pictures are nice , my only suggestion is to wait for some fishes to swim in to the frame ; that will make your shoot more dinamic . But i know that sometimes is not easy to remain still at Cozumel because of the currents .

 

Also , as was said above , take more than 1 picture at the same spot and try different positions of your strobes .

 

We have some really nice caves here at DR , so if someday you are around let me know.

 

JA

Nice to hear about DR caves.

I will definitely let you know if I ever go to Republica Dominicana.

It is always enjoyable to see some nice pictures of places we have been. Your photos and discussion brings back pleasant memories of diving Cozumel and the Cenotes on the mainland. I also recall 'blowing in the breeze' of the current and the difficulty in composing shots and obtaining optimum lighting conditions. Adding your being tired to this only makes it more difficult. You have done well in generating photo's that give some of the look and feel of the diving there.

While there is no disagreement with comments by others regarding divers or fish locations for improved composition, I also recall the experience. One is often required to 'see' the photo coming up, set your body and the equipment in the proper angle/location as you approach, get the exposure settings on the camera/strobes for the effects/lighting you anticipate, and then take your one shot at the photo as you breeze by.... often with no chance for a second try. While challenging, this also increases the feeling of reward when you have obtained a photo worthy of sharing here with others.

thanks for sharing

Dave