Sea Tiger...say what you think! Trying to learn.

I took these yesterday while diving the Sea Tiger off the south side of Oahu.

Both shot at 17mm with Canon 17-40 lens, 1/90 @ f8, YS90 @ full

Comments wanted...

Hi, Bill. I like the shots. I'm not really a wreck photographer, so I'll let those people add comments about the actual image. But I do find the "frame" border really distracting, especially with such bright colors in them (even though the colors were picked out of elements of the image)...

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your comments. They are certainly appreciated. I kinda like the background borders but I agree the yellow border may be a bit much. I may try to tone it down a little. I do like the maroon in the second picture though.

You are a tremendous inspiration. I enjoy your web page (echeng.com) and wetpixel very much. Thank you for all you do.

Thank you, Bill. It's been obsessive lately. I'm looking forward to getting everything here ironed out. Please thank the co-administrators and moderators as well. They have also been putting in a lot of work to keep things running smoothly!

I do not like frames either, they tend to narrow the field of view, and in real life there would be a mounting border between the picture and the actual frame.

Good wreck shots tho' and I think you did a good job on lighting them; never easy on wrecks.

Beautiful shots. I am a beginner, myself, but I wonder if the first shot wouldn't've been even better with a stop less of strobe so that the the gruntesque schoolmasterlike fish were less prominent and more ambient?

I think that they are very good shots. But both cry out one word to me - DIVER! I think that good use of a model in these shots would give you pretty much perfect wreck images. I'd like to see a diver coming in from the left on the top one, and a diver looking in through the window on the bottom one.

Alex

Old Cliche'

Fair point!

I could see adding a diver in the second shot, maybe coming around the far right corner if that's a passageway. On the first though, I like it as is. The lack of human presence has it's own message, like the only thing left on the wreck are the fish.

Great shots...

I think divers can represent 'Scale' in a carefully planned wreck shot, but for me most legitimate wrecks or wreck sites are solomn places, and 'no divers' helps bring that across. Another thing is what they have become since hitting the bottom - Havens for coral & marine life, and this adds dynamics and colour, contrasting with the formal outline. This is why the first shot is the 'Image' and the second a record.

Well said Bob.

Karl

I think divers can represent 'Scale' in a carefully planned wreck shot, but for me most legitimate wrecks or wreck sites are solomn places, and 'no divers' helps bring that across. Another thing is what they have become since hitting the bottom - Havens for coral & marine life, and this adds dynamics and colour, contrasting with the formal outline. This is why the first shot is the 'Image' and the second a record.

Damn, I'm going to have to agree with Bob on this one. I think the wreck without the diver conveys a different artistic impression. One that I usually feel when I first decend upon a wreck with no other divers on it yet.

they're both very good, though the bottom one is IMHO better. Mostly because it's more unusual and you've done a beautiful job with the exposure. I agree with alex, a figure would have made both shots even better (esp the top one).