Exposue and focus limitations with available light

I am still quite new on Underwater DSLR. I am trying to shoot manually to have full control but as a freediver and available light fan I have some limitations

First I like to tell you the kind off photos that i like to shoot are most off the time in clear blue water (Mediterian and red Sea) with good visability.

The photos are WA (10,5 & 16mm Nikon lens) of freedivers, spreafishers dolfins and big mamals (If I see one :-) )and background only the BIG BLUE or some rif

Normaly with Strobes this will be not a problem. Manual exposure - spot metering the background use the strobes for the subject.

But without strobes i have follow problems

If I use spot metering (background water) my subject may be unterexposed

If I use spot metering on the subject the background water will not have the RIGHT color

Is it better to metering on the subject and use Fstops to archive the color of the background water?.

Then we have Focus. I still dont know if i will use AF-C & AF-S or AF Area Single , Dynamic

The only think that i know is that I like to use the shutter to look the exposuse. But if I whant to re-frame the shot only AF-C focus work.

Peters Schulz manual focus trick is a good solution but i havent test it very mutch

and I dont know if its work with the 16mm Nikon.

May I am wrong or I miss something but any tips and suggestions are welcome

There is something that work great!!!! White Balance (Yes I shoot RAW but stil i think that correct whtie balance help alot)

Auto & Manual white balance with the nikon D70s is very easy. If i have not some sand to doit, I use a grey card or I put a pair off fins where i have paint the one white :-)

Lambis

Hello Lambis, the thing with available light is just that, it is what is available, at one point you have to decide which way to go, silhouette again'st blue water or well exposed diver on lighter blue water, the trick is to learn to position yourself where you get the most of the situation, with the less damage to the exposure, with your choice of lens you should be able to get close, at least that will help a lot. you have to condition yourself to feel the light and not just throw a hundred shots at it. but i'm confident you will have it soon if not already, you look to me like you are the obsessive type

For focus, I'm old school especially with camera like yours and mine, I use AF-S with the center focus target, press halfway, reframe and shoot. when or if I get the D2x (I'm married and D2x are not as sexy or shinny as diamonds) i might change method but for now it has served me well.

White balance, since your subject matter is a known factor, do it before. But between shooting a subject and fiddling with white balance, you have to get your priority straight at one point <_<

Cheers

Jean.My prioritys are many when I freedive

First I must freedive. TO go up and down to 10-15 meters, stay there and take photos is not so easy. AIR is the problem - SW blackouts common problem to

Then Bouancy. I must decide before where I must be neutral

White Balance is easy and with 10 & 16mm lenses and Alexs filter i will get the colors that I whant and the light that i need.

BTW I use the Perfect Picture Gray Card

Great card and no porblems with sea water

I have read somewhere that if you have higher speed 1/250- 1/200 the bacground color is going to be more blue and saturate

about focus. Using AF-S with the center focus target, press halfway, reframe and shoot works if it is clear water. I have test it in SWEDEN with my Nikon 10,5mm and hte camera wont focus.

Lambis

P.S. What is the special with the focus off the D2x??

P.S. What is the special with the focus off the D2x??

it's fast, precise and grabs the subject like a upset pitbull, what we have my friend is a turtle what the people with D2x have is a dolphin.

free diving does'nt look like a pleasant experience from what you describe but i'm confident you will nail your technique pretty fast. There is a lot you can predict from a little experience. In my opinion you just need to get in the water and feel your camera, after a while it fall into place by itself and you know the what and not what to do.

grabs the subject like a upset pitbull

I whant one off thoses.!!!!

Freediving is a lot off fun and you can stay the hole day in the water from 0-15meters no scuba gear etc...

Back to the topic.. In 2 weeks I am in Greece. There i will test my rig and try to lear and control it.

Its funny. Normaly I work with Digital video. Day in Day out I film teach and cut films. But underwater I see that you can tell a better story with just one picture that with a movie. I will never catch the dynamic off a freediver in a movie like I cutch it in a picture.

But some day I plan to shoot a short film (NOT Documentary) underwater. Manusscript, Storyboard etc are finish.

To be serius Photografy is more dificult that filmmaking. One photo must tell all with Movie I can "fool" with cuts Sound & music. Photo is more clean more

DOGMA , like freediving

Way out off the topic......

All has to be said in 1/125 of a second and if it's good you can put it on the wall!

Try that with video... <_<

All has to be said in 1/125 of a second and if it's good you can put it on the wall!

I dont get it

You dont have 30 images per second to tell the story! only one very short exposure and its good or crap.

Hi Lambis,

I'm not a freediver, doubt if I ever will be. But, had an opportunity to shoot Dolphins in the Bahamas without scuba. This was done with mask, snorkle and fins. I really didn't think I'd have any success as my breath hold ability is not good. And, I'm, Uh, very bouyant.

Anyway, what I found worked best was to watch the histogram, and choose settings while floating on the surface and pointing the housing straight ahead. Held just under the surface.

Since the Dolphins move fast, the shutter was easy, 1/125 to stop the action. Then, set the aperture and shot some of the other people and used the histogram to check my exposure. Shooting raw gave me a few stops + or - to play with after the fact. Used AF-C and closest subject priority. But these choices were specific to what I was shooting.

Here's a favorite: f13 @ 1/125 15mm AF-C Closest subject priority, no strobe.

If you're not using a strobe, then I'd concentrate on exposing the water properly and let the subject go black. It's just as easy to set W/B afterwards so I shoot auto W/B.

You're shooting digital and as you say, can dive all day. Good luck.

Rand

Rand thanks

It is similary enviroment where I take photos

I haven't trough AF-C & Closest subject priority!!! in this way i can use the shutter to lock the exposue and still use the camera to take fast series off fotos!!!

Great tip!!!

Have you done mutch color corection or is the photo original from the camera?

BTW This Blue is still something that D2X have i advance. I think one off the reasons to whant a D2X is the coloer and the Focus sytem

Lambis

Lambis,

Yes, it's been through the Raw converter and PS. If I can't adjust the photo in a few minutes, I don't keep it. The best ones never need much adjusting.

Rand

When I shoot available light I just use auto and shoot with the light. No probs. That's what I'd suggest for freediving.

Alex

What I am not sure about is the exposuse mettering in photos where the subject in not in the middle off the frame.

Sould I lock the exposure at the subject and then reframe or sould I mettering the blue water and then just make sure that the subject is well exposed in the available light & shooting down?

Lambis

Lambis,

In most available light shots the subject has a similar brightness to the water. Unless you are shooting a silhouette. So just expose for the scene and you will be doing fine.

Generally I would just use aperture priority and matrix metering. It will be fine. I think you are worrying unnecessarily.

Just make sure you shoot with the light - so that the subject is illuminated by the ambient light. A slightly downward camera angle will help too.

Can you post some of your images - ambient light shooting is very simple and seeing your images might give us a better idea of what is going wrong.

Alex

Ok here some photos . Direct from the camera

BTW They are shoot with my old olympus 5050 camera

The first two have a common problem. Subject and backround become one

The last photo. Water in this photo was realy deep blue. The color of the water is not correct

Lambis

Thanks Lambis,

The first one has a nice blue. But you have photographed through too much water and the subject is lost in the murk. Shooting through too much water will always result in murky subjects.

The second one is exposed correctly. The problem is you are shooting upwards - so the water is light blue - not the dark blue that you want.

The last one is taken in shallow water and in the shallows water is always a light colour like this.

You are not doing anything wrong with the settings. You problems are your are not close enough (in 1), you are shooting upwards (in 2) and you are in shallow water (in 3).

Hope that this helps,

Alex

Hi Lambis, I think that the problem with the first two is the distance of the subject, they are too far from you. This will be easily corrected when you use the 10.5, you will see that even when you are *very* close to divers they will look far behind your 10.5.

The third is a post-processing issue. Try to correct it using the levels tool in photoshop; not the RGB, but the separate color channels, mainly the green. You will see that you will get a nice blue if you change the level of green. So, since you are specifically looking for ways to improve the third photo, I downloaded it and made changes in photoshop. Here is what I did:

1) Image - adjustments - autolevels (sometimes it works, it did work for this photo, you can always undo if it doesn't work, same for other tools).

2) Image - adjustments - hue/saturation - hue +15 - saturation +19

3) Image - adjustments - levels - Green (remove some green).

4) Image - adjustments - levels - Red (remove some red, you can take some more red out if the blue looks purple in your monitor, it looks ok in mine).

5) Filter - unsharp mask

This may seem complicated, but it took like 30 seconds. Result is attached below, I hope this helps.

Luiz

Thanks Guys. thats Help!!!

The first 2 are ideal canidans for the Nikon 10,5 mm. The second can be done with the 16mm to

My lens on all those photos was a Inon UWL100 with a 100 Angle

Now I get it.

But what you do if you must take a photo where the camera must have a upward angle & you dont hwnt that the subjects are a siluette? The problem will be the highlights off the surface

But what you do if you must take a photo where the camera must have a upward angle & you dont hwnt that the subjects are a siluette? The problem will be the highlights off the surface

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You use a strobe! Sometimes you need fill flash. Alex

Very funny Alex

Yes I know it.

I was asking but inside me I was sure that there is no way to doit better that i have witout a strobe.

Thats the reason that i will buy ONE strobe to use it like fill light for situations like this

I just have read the advice on the magic filters page.

Now I am good. i know the theorie and I will have a good time in Crete

I was not worrying unnecessarily. I whant to learn so when the situation is there I can akt fast and secure witout doubts.

You know we shoot digital but offen you have one second time to get the shoot.

Thanks for the help.