Manta & shark--Newbie looking for suggestions

I took the the manta ray shot off the coast of Oahu and the shark shot during a trip with Stuart Cove's in the Bahamas.

Both were shot with a Nikon Coolpix 5000 in a Tetra housing;

1/125 @ f4.4, YS90 @ full.

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm using photoshop elements v2.0.

I'm a newbie trying to learn....

Very nice pictures.

One Point : (this is really personal preference) I hate digital Framing. A black border to get a color contrast effect may be ok but the blue frame "imprisons" the pictures IMHO.

Simon

I'm not a frame lover either and in this instance it's very constricting, I feel the crop a little too harsh also.

Great IMPACT this shot has, the expression is so natural.

Few slight adjustments recommended to remove the fog and add a little more dimension. Levels and selective colour tweeks.

Great job!

Thanks for the comments.

Cybergoldfish, I like the changes that you made...do you remember what you did? I'd like to try them on my original.

As for the frames, it seems like most people posting to this site don't like them and I'm not too sure why. I kind of like them. I think it presents the picture as most people would display them on a wall or somewhere else. Am I wrong in my thinking?

Or is it because in "Photo critique" we are only concerned about the picture itself? Please let me know. My website www.deepdiscovery.com has all of our pictures framed. Do you think I should change them to frameless images? Comments would be appreciated.

First of all, if you are a truly a new u/w photographer, you have done an excellent job in both the images you posted. The shark portrait is "in your face", nice and tight. And, even more, the manta ray is well composed. Mantas are usually a very difficult subject to capture properly.

In terms of borders, it is a matter of taste. All of my prints are laminated, borderless and mounted on gatorboard. There are no frames. I like the way the prints seem to float away from the wall in 3D. Also, the images stand on their own with no accenting frames. On the other hand, most of my paintings are framed. So, it is a matter of taste.

For the web display, you need to think of your primary purpose for displaying the shots. Is it for your own pleasure, to share with others, to sell prints and/or to present to editors. Editors, in general, would prefer no frames. And, you might turn off potential buyers simply because they do not like your frame and either can not or will not try to picture the image without the decoration.

Again, your shots are good.

Scott

Hi, glad you liked the changes... Nothing much done really - Levels, tweeking to remove the fogginess and adding contrast. Selectively adjusted various colours, such as cyan, blue and yellow to bring back the correct colour to the sharks skin. "tweeking" means just a little nudging of the sliders as you would when mixing sound. Experimenting with various combinations and saturation levels produces REAL colour and not bizarre popart.

Frameless, especially for critique and competition entries, allows the viewer to see just 100% image.

If YOU like frames, that's perfectly ok too for display but I recommend that you tone them down to a thinner surround in a colour that contrasts with the imagery.

I think Bob's change added to too much reddish brown on the snout of the shark. Somewhere in between is probably more natural looking.

Great shots, though. Much better than those of other self-proclaimed "newbies" I've seen.

I think they're great shots. I agree with Eric there's a bit much red in the cybergoldfish version - if it's not resized, you could layer them together and blend to taste.

Bob, you mentioned decreasing fogging in your workflow. Did you just mean with levels contrast adjustment, or do you have another trick?

Unfortunately there is only so much you can do with a low res small file without having to start masking things off, and this leaves visible scars there is little to blend into. I had not the luxury of the big one, and there is the danger of blowing out the mouth detail. The important thing was the technique involved in getting rid of the fog, and getting the colour and detail on the shark. Cuban/Brac Reef sharks are redder, more coppery,. this was one on holiday. As it it does do the job of springing the shark out of the dim background. I'll have another go with the blending option later after I get some sleep :|