First DSLR Pics - Channel Islands

I went diving at Santa Cruz Island this last weekend. The vis was 50 feet which is excellent for this area. It was so beautiful that I had to remind myself to put the camera down to enjoy the view despite my excitement of trying out the new toy.

I received my Ikelite housing for my Canon 20D last week. People on this board make shooting look really easy. It's not. I'm finding it very difficult to aim the strobe properly as well as to dial-in the exposure. I'm having problems with the casting of shadows. Perhaps this is due to only one strobe? I took about 150 practice shots and threw all of them out except for the surviving 12 posted at:

http://www.pbase.com/wychen/uw20d1

Comments and helpful hints are welcomed.

Hi wchen,

I like the photos you posted very much. You'll notice that the photos you like are the ones that your system (20D w/ 50mm lens) is capable of. As you do more shooting, you'll learn that there are certain shots where one lens is better than another, etc. You've got some very good lighting - so no, you don't need two strobes to take good shots. Shadows can and will be your friend - as they add contrast.

If you want to soften the shadows a bit, try adding the diffuser to your strobe if you haven't already.

Cheers

James

Gee wchen, if I had 12 shots like that from the first outing with any camera/strobe system, I'd be feeling pretty pleased with myself. 12/150 is a bit less than 10%... I remember the good'ole'days when a 1% keeper rate from f*lm made me happy

(perhaps I just suck at photography )

As James says, the ones you're happpy with are all pretty good examples of subject matter that will work well within the confines of a 50mm lens. You have quite flat lighting in most shots, which is an appropriate outcome when using a single flash. If you try to get more modelling with a more oblique angle (like on your cowrie shot) then your shadows will tend to drop to deep black, which can be distracting if there is a lot of shadows. I think the seastar shot would have benefitted from some more modelling to distinguish the seastar from the background a little, but I would have been happy with it if I had taken it as it is.

Your blackeye goby shot is slightly backfocused, the plane of sharp focus is in the middle of the fish near the start of the dorsal fin. Generally speaking it is better to have an animal's eye in sharp focus, this gives the viewer a better feeling of "engagement" with the subject. I know how hard it is to see if you've got sharp eye focus in a dSLR underwater... were you using a single focus point, or all of the AF points? When shooting fish and other animals with eyes, it is often a good idea to use a reduced number of AF points to selectively focus on the eye, then recompose.

Very nice pics... the colors are nice... my favorite is the octopus shot...

Which area did you dive? And which day? I went out just cruising around on Sunday... and my wife and I ended up in a huge pod of dolphins, probably around 5,000 or so, for a good hour... ended up getting a few decent shots... if interested in seeing them, go to http://www.seancbrady.com/

go in and click on the 'new' link in the upper left corner... you'll see them...

- Sean

For a beginner, your shots are pretty cool. As you grow with your photo endeavours, you will see other peoples' work, analyze your own and keep asking , " how can I improve?" Being a kaizen practicioner, I am always looking for ways to uniquely compose my shots that will make them stand out over other shots. You will learn to get close, and when to back off, and how to create depth to your images. You have a wonderful start. When you are diving the Channel Islands, it's not easy to walk away with keepers, so I'd say you did quite well. Just keep shooting and learning and practicing. And just when you think you are happy with an image, you will find yourself shooting the same animal the next time you come across it. Why? Because deep down you know there is an opportunity to get an even better shot than the one you are already happy with. For example, here are two shots of garibaldis that I like a lot, but I won't give up until I think I have exhausted all of my opportunities.

Happy diving!

Joe

Joe - I like that first picture... very nice... nice composition!

- Sean