Wake Island, USA - Newbie - Critique me please

Scorpionfish Close by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Grey Reef Shark 2 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Octopus 3 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Turtle by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Full disclosure, I have been using Lightroom for about 3 weeks, these shots are all with a TG-6, I am getting a Sony A6600 setup next weekend. Tips, tricks, what you liked, what you didn't like. I need constructive criticism please.

@Spizeck I started out with a TG-4 myself, nice little cameras to start out with I think.

Getting constructive criticism is hard... at least I've found that to be the case.  So I'll give you my 2 cents, full disclosure I'm not a pro, so take it with a grain of salt.

Are you using a wide angle lens for these shots?

1) I've found scorpionfish to be hard to shoot at least to get good shots, I've never found one that allowed me to get a good angle so that the background worked well with their incredible camouflage.  Your shot is pretty good, the best shots I've seen of scorpionfish is when you are able to get low enough or the right angle to get water behind them vs reef since they blend in so well.

2)The reef shark is pretty small in the photo, and it's below you.  Fast moving subjects obviously make composition tougher, sometimes they'll swim "laps" around an area and you can try to predict where to be for a good shot, some probably aren't as cooperative.  If that's your first shot of a shark though it's pretty good.

3)This is my favorite of the 4.  Cool foreground subject, diver in the background, good elements for creating an interesting photo!

4)Who doesn't like sea turtles!  Sometimes turtles are very cooperative and make getting a face-on shot easy, some of the best turtle shots to me are CFWA ones where it isn't directly head-on but with a slight outward and upward angle.

The color in your photos look good, don't really see any distracting things like backscatter etc, for being a self-proclaimed newbie these are good shots!

Yes, I was using a wide angle for the shots. Took several of the scorp at different angles of zoom, just wasn't happy with the clarity of the wide shots. Appreciate the criticism!

Hi Spiezeck

A couple of thoughts:

- The shots are nearly all taken shooting downwards. This kinda flattens out the image and can often make it difficult to differentiate between the subject and its background. If you can get below the subject and shoot upwards it'd make a big difference. This is especially true of the scorpionfish.

- this is of course a counsel of perfection and you could not really have done that with the shark shot. But you have got it nicely against the sand so the background doesn't detract from the shape of the fish. Well done. If you can get closer (another counsel of perfection) that would be better yet.

- background can be a very confusing thing and distract the eye from the subject. Too much clutter and distraction. If you can find "a neutral space" and wait for the critters to enter it. A neutral space can be the blue or, say, a monotone piece of reef in a colour that really contrasts with your subject. It's a space, shape, or colour that makes your subject stand out. Think about for example the turtle. Would it look better if its head and front fins were against blue space rather than the reef?

- and then final thought: divers in the frame. They can look great and add to the picture telling story. Or they can detract as they have legs in weird places, equipment dangling down... etc etc. No criticism at all of the guy in your pic. Shooting divers in images is a great thing to do.  My experience has been that you really have to work with the diver so that they work with you to improve the image and not detract. Just "catching" them in the image usually results in the diver having a negative impact on the image. You want nice legs (!), bubble steam and then looking in the right direction.

I hope this is of some help. It's not a criticism at all of your pics. Just a suggestion for directions you might like to try.

1 hour ago, Spizeck said:

Yes, I was using a wide angle for the shots. Took several of the scorp at different angles of zoom, just wasn't happy with the clarity of the wide shots. Appreciate the criticism!

One thing I find is that with a WAL even when you think you are close you can probably get closer.  Typically the first dives on a trip compared to my last, I'm just not as close as I could've/should've gotten for a lot of the photos. 

Being close enough and being lower than the subject seem to me to be the first concepts to master with UW photography because the impact once mastered are huge.

Oh yeh, and super clear water with interesting subjects doesn't hurt either!

10 hours ago, Skeptic14 said:

One thing I find is that with a WAL even when you think you are close you can probably get closer.  Typically the first dives on a trip compared to my last, I'm just not as close as I could've/should've gotten for a lot of the photos. 

Being close enough and being lower than the subject seem to me to be the first concepts to master with UW photography because the impact once mastered are huge.

Oh yeh, and super clear water with interesting subjects doesn't hurt either!

Very true. Thank you for the input. Will work on that.

10 hours ago, TimG said:

Hi Spiezeck

A couple of thoughts:

- The shots are nearly all taken shooting downwards. This kinda flattens out the image and can often make it difficult to differentiate between the subject and its background. If you can get below the subject and shoot upwards it'd make a big difference. This is especially true of the scorpionfish.

- this is of course a counsel of perfection and you could not really have done that with the shark shot. But you have got it nicely against the sand so the background doesn't detract from the shape of the fish. Well done. If you can get closer (another counsel of perfection) that would be better yet.

- background can be a very confusing thing and distract the eye from the subject. Too much clutter and distraction. If you can find "a neutral space" and wait for the critters to enter it. A neutral space can be the blue or, say, a monotone piece of reef in a colour that really contrasts with your subject. It's a space, shape, or colour that makes your subject stand out. Think about for example the turtle. Would it look better if its head and from fins were against blue space rather than the reef?

- and then final thought: divers in the frame. They can look great and add to the picture telling story. Or they can detract as they have legs in weird places, equipment dangling down... etc etc. No criticism at all of the guy in your pic. Shooting divers in images is a great thing to do.  My experience has been that you really have to work with the diver so that they work with you to improve the image and not detract. Just "catching" them in the image usually results in the diver having a negative impact on the image. You want nice legs (!), bubble steam and then looking in the right direction.

I hope this is of some help. It's not a criticism at all of your pics. Just a suggest for directions you might like to try.

Appreciate the info. I have read a lot about the, "Shoot up" and will continue to work on it. I am getting my new camera rig (A6600), so I will finally have full manual settings. With the TG-6, I was having a hard time getting good exposure looking up. Any tips?

Good info, will keep that in mind. We get usually at least one or two sharks coming by to check us out every dive. Sometimes, we have a couple that will hang out the whole dive, but at a distance. Usually, when I'm focused on something small, I turn my head and BAM, shark 2 feet from my face, gone long before I get the camera up. One of these dives...

Again, good info. I really appreciate it.

Good info. I actually have that same shot without a diver as well. I tend to like the one without the diver better. Thank you again!

I've got two more to add to the list.

Eel in Anchor by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Eel under coral by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

On 7/19/2020 at 9:07 AM, TimG said:

Hi Spiezeck

A couple of thoughts:

- The shots are nearly all taken shooting downwards. This kinda flattens out the image and can often make it difficult to differentiate between the subject and its background. If you can get below the subject and shoot upwards it'd make a big difference. This is especially true of the scorpionfish.

- this is of course a counsel of perfection and you could not really have done that with the shark shot. But you have got it nicely against the sand so the background doesn't detract from the shape of the fish. Well done. If you can get closer (another counsel of perfection) that would be better yet.

- background can be a very confusing thing and distract the eye from the subject. Too much clutter and distraction. If you can find "a neutral space" and wait for the critters to enter it. A neutral space can be the blue or, say, a monotone piece of reef in a colour that really contrasts with your subject. It's a space, shape, or colour that makes your subject stand out. Think about for example the turtle. Would it look better if its head and front fins were against blue space rather than the reef?

- and then final thought: divers in the frame. They can look great and add to the picture telling story. Or they can detract as they have legs in weird places, equipment dangling down... etc etc. No criticism at all of the guy in your pic. Shooting divers in images is a great thing to do.  My experience has been that you really have to work with the diver so that they work with you to improve the image and not detract. Just "catching" them in the image usually results in the diver having a negative impact on the image. You want nice legs (!), bubble steam and then looking in the right direction.

I hope this is of some help. It's not a criticism at all of your pics. Just a suggestion for directions you might like to try.

Tim,

I put emphasis on your advise. What do you think?

Turtle 4 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Coral 3 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

Grey Reef Shark 3 by Chad Nuttall, on Flickr

I can see a REAL difference! Well done. You have isolated the subjects against the background and have found that neutral space (in this case, the blue). But more importantly that what I think, can you see the difference and do you like that better? That's what counts.

Minor suggestions now: the shot of the reef shark: timing. You have him framed really nicely against the reef. You have framed it so he's NOT right in the middle which enhances the illusion of him swimming into the image. Nice!

Now check out the divers. Do they add to the image? They really help tell the story: divers on the reef watching a shark. But one has his head cut off (ominous idea of things to come - hehehe); and the other is hanging out of the picture. As I said, photographing divers in an image is fraught with peril. There was probaly nothing you could have done as balancing the shark and the divers is really hard in one frame. There's a big element of luck involved. Quite possibly you could not have taken several frames or got the diver further into the image.

Given that, my temptation would be to..... edit the divers out. I think then you have a really nice shot of the shark. 

Turtle: nicely isolated against the blue makes him stand out. He appears to be swimming out of the image slightly. Compare this with the shark - where he seems to be swimming into the image. I think that looks better.

The reef shot: yeah, nice. I'd be tempted I think to have tried to get a bit closer to the central coral head and make that a feature and shoot slightly more upwards to draw the nice blue colour gradiation that you have got. Maybe worth trying a slight crop of the lower area?

Really nice work though and, for me, a huge difference with the fist pics you posted. Well done! I hope you like them 

15 hours ago, TimG said:

I can see a REAL difference! Well done. You have isolated the subjects against the background and have found that neutral space (in this case, the blue). But more importantly that what I think, can you see the difference and do you like that better? That's what counts.

Minor suggestions now: the shot of the reef shark: timing. You have him framed really nicely against the reef. You have framed it so he's NOT right in the middle which enhances the illusion of him swimming into the image. Nice!

Now check out the divers. Do they add to the image? They really help tell the story: divers on the reef watching a shark. But one has his head cut off (ominous idea of things to come - hehehe); and the other is hanging out of the picture. As I said, photographing divers in an image is fraught with peril. There was probaly nothing you could have done as balancing the shark and the divers is really hard in one frame. There's a big element of luck involved. Quite possibly you could not have taken several frames or got the diver further into the image.

Given that, my temptation would be to..... edit the divers out. I think then you have a really nice shot of the shark. 

Turtle: nicely isolated against the blue makes him stand out. He appears to be swimming out of the image slightly. Compare this with the shark - where he seems to be swimming into the image. I think that looks better.

The reef shot: yeah, nice. I'd be tempted I think to have tried to get a bit closer to the central coral head and make that a feature and shoot slightly more upwards to draw the nice blue colour gradiation that you have got. Maybe worth trying a slight crop of the lower area?

Really nice work though and, for me, a huge difference with the fist pics you posted. Well done! I hope you like them 

Agreed on the shark. I screwed up when he came around and hit the wrong button so I was stuck in playback mode and it wouldn't let me snap anymore shots! Was frustrating, but that spot seems consistent to getting big grey's to come say hi. Agreed on the turtle. I also agree with the reef shot. 

I am definitely pleased with the shots. Always trying to improve however, do you know any good resources you would recommend to help explain some camera features? Before shooting underwater, I have never owned a camera before.

6 hours ago, Spizeck said:

Agreed on the shark. I screwed up when he came around and hit the wrong button so I was stuck in playback mode and it wouldn't let me snap anymore shots! Was frustrating, but that spot seems consistent to getting big grey's to come say hi. Agreed on the turtle. I also agree with the reef shot. 

I am definitely pleased with the shots. Always trying to improve however, do you know any good resources you would recommend to help explain some camera features? Before shooting underwater, I have never owned a camera before.

I know that hit the wrong button issue! As you use the system more, that’ll become less of an issue and the Gary Player quote kicks in: “the more I practice, the luckier I get”. 

Resources: couple of recommendations: Martin Edges’s book on u/w photography. It’s very good and has just been updated. And then Alex Mustard’s u/w photography masterclass which is relatively recent. Its also worth poking around the pages of guides on the Reef Photo website. They’ve got useful stuff. 
 

Really glad you are happy with the results. They are a definite improvement.