Lumpsucker feedback

After a drowned strobe and a dry spell I was able to take my Pana 8mm for a swing again. This time on the coast of middle Norway, where I met a really cute lumpsucker. As usual, I shot in aperture priority mode with -2EV on the ambient, TTL flash. If I try to shoot manual, I end up using my time fiddling with the dials rather than nailing the shot, and this girl was a little coquettish - or perhaps shy. If I'd shot manual, she'd probably gone somewhere else. Anyway, since she was a bit skittish I had to crop a bit in post, so the composition isn't fixed. The picture was processed as usual in LR5, with moderate amounts of clarity. I brushed the rock a bit darker since it was a bit overexposed, the rear part of the fish a little lighter, and as usual pulled the black slider until the shadows just started to blow. As a finishing touch, I added a -0.5EV graduated filter to the lower left corner. Here's the result:

Is there anything I could - or should - have done differently? I was wondering if it's work better in 3:2 aspect ratio instead of the 4:3 ratio my EM-5 gives me.

Storker,

you are right that fiddling with dials and knobs can scare the fish away and this is the main advantage of using TTL instead of manual exposure control.

On both cameras i own i use up to 3 INON Z-240 strobes in s-TTL mode either in A or S mode, depending of what i am shooting.
To get dark blue (green in your case) backgrounds i use f/11-32 and 1/250 in manual mode and the INON s-TTL mode will adjust the strobe power.

This works in most of the cases, except shooting a few fishes in to the blue where TTL usually works not very well.

For the image, it is generally better to take a picture from either front, back or diagonally as photos from the side or top look "flat".

Chris

Lovely image - but I think this is a male lumpsucker!

For the image, it is generally better to take a picture from either front, back or diagonally as photos from the side or top look "flat".

I know. The picture was actually taken slightly from below to get the gradient in the green background, but the wall wasn't vertical. It was slightly overhanging, and I wasn't able to get far enough below to get the apparent not-from-the-front perspective. That's actually a challenge for me since I dive dry; if I go below the subject to shoot upwards, my body posture becomes vertical, my DS valve starts to vent and I become negative...

Lovely image - but I think this is a male lumpsucker!

By Jove, I believe you're right!

(cue shower scene from The Crying Game)

"my DS valve starts to vent and I become negative..."

Get an adjustable dump valve fitted! Seriously: I remember this problem very well when I had a cuff dump on my suit, but since fitting an adjustable valve many years ago this is no longer a problem.

Get an adjustable dump valve fitted!

My dump valve is adjustable, I didn't even know they came in different flavors. I prefer to dive with it just a couple of clicks away from open. I wear thick undergarments, and the suit air vents rather slowly, so I've found that chicken winging with an open valve works best for me. Also, since I want to be able to vent both my suit and my wing simultaneously if I get seriously light, without letting go of my rig, I can't see that closing it is an option.

The disadvantage is that I have to remember to close it if I for some reason want to stay vertical, and then open it again when I go horizontal, and that I have to be a bit careful about my trim when I'm shooting. I can live with that.