Adventures in underwater photography (part 3)
As promised, here is my third and final set of underwater photos. I took these in Lanai today, where the conditions weren't quite as clear as Black Rock the other day. Nevertheless, I have a few cool shots to share with you after the link.
So what did I learn from this experience? Underwater digital photography is ten times more difficult than "regular" photography. You're moving, the fish are moving, the camera's LCD is hard to see, and the lighting is often poor. I can't tell you how many photos I've had to throw out over the last week. In addition, a lot of them needed some "work" in Photoshop to get rid of color casts (usually cyan). Still, it was fun to try, and since I own all this equipment I hope I'll get another opportunity to do more underwater shooting.
And now, on with the photos!
Looks like these three are sitting at a bar or something
The parrot fish were huge
Mystery fish and a yellow tang
I dunno what this thing is, but I've been trying to get a shot of one all week.
Note the spent firecracker in the background. Sigh.
Cool.
Yet another parrot fish
A yellow tang colors this otherwise drab photo
It must've been lunchtime
Really cool fish that I can't identify and yet another yellow tang
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Jeff: It looks like the highlights are a bit "blown out" on that yellow tang fish? Especially in the last photo. Maybe the yellow fish under water is analogous to the white Egret above?
The mystery fish in the fourth picture (and 1st, 7th, and 10th) is a convict tang, I believe. At least, that's what it looks like on my Hawaii fish identification card!
Could you please comment on your methods for reducing the blue cast on the colors in your underwater shots? I recently took a trip to Maui as well and have a bunch of blue-ish pictures from which I'd like to bring out the underlying color. Thanks for the show!
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for sharing. I think you did a great job in keeping the colours. I am a keen photographer and do scuba diving. I normally use a small digicam as anything bigger is rather expensive and if I should flood the housing, it would be a waste.
I personally prefer natural lighting underwater for view shots, but with this, there are challenges with white balance and shutter speed. If we go to macro then the flash brings out the colours better and the snowing effect doens't disturb the camera so much.
Can go on and on. But well done and hope you had a good time. If you would like to see some photos, just let me know.
Cheers.
Marilyn: Sometimes iPhoto's auto enhance feature did it. Other times I messed with the color balance in Photoshop. Still other times I used Nikon Capture NX and it's tools. In other words, I didn't find a magic bullet that did it all for me.
Are telling us that the pictures have already been color baalanced? I tried the Auto Levels on the 'drab' photo and it came out somewhat better (maybe need to fade it out a bit). I sometimes try Auto Color then Auto Levels on my u/w shots, then Unsharp Mask. Not magazine quality, but good enough to remind of the beauty under the sea.
Very beautiful underwater photos!!! I love all of them very much. Many thanks for the sharing!!
Three tricks for underwater photography:
1. Go as close as possible to your subject (underwater photography is mainly "wide angle photography")
2. Use a flash to restore colors
3. If you prefer natural lighting go underwater only during the central part of the day (when the sun provides maximum light) and, most important, USE A FILTER. The best I found is the cokin A036 combined with raw (or daylight white balance if your camera does not provide raw). You loose a couple of stops but restore colors reasonably well up to ten meters (with clear water).
Have fun!
Jeff,
I just visited Hawaii with friends and did alot of snorkeling and do believe we met some of the same fish (;->). But we didn't have underwater cameras with us, so thanks a bunch for sharing these pics so we can remember the place.
Easy Photoshop trick to get rid of underwater blue color casts (and it works great most of the time):
Go to
Image/Adjustments/Match Color
Select the "Neutralize" checkbox
Click OK
Voila, you are done.
AFTER this you can play with color balance or (better) curves.
You should try the video feature of your camera. I was in Hawaii in May 2006 and took video with my SD450 in an Aquapac bag. The videos are 640x480 but look real good. It's also easier to capture the fish that way!
Jeff,
I used to do some underwater photography. Those are common issues with shooting underwater photographs. Nearly all of the color, except for yellow and blue are filtered out of the water by the time you get 50 feet down. It takes a flash to restore the color balance (unless you can do it with Photoshop). The problem with an on-axis flash is similar to the problem that causes red eye. Silt in the water reflects light back to the camera. Using a flash on an extender can help in that kind of situation. Also, the closer you can get to your subject, the less "noise" you are likely to get in your photograph. Ideally, I would shoot with a 28mm lens , or wider, under water. Often, the current is pushing you, and unless you have very good natural light or a flash, getting a sharp shot can be difficult. I would say that if 5% of your underwater photos are keepers, you're doing good. Underwater photography is technically challenging.
Hey Jeff,
Thanks a lot for sharing! I wanted to see some 'real' photographs of underwater life (instead of watching the super high quality, super enhanced with super nice set up movies and animations). The shots look great as they are =) Very realistic I would say =)
jeff i really think u should have learned your fishes cause u wrote in one of the pictures (MYSTERY FISH) i would actully like to here the name.....but besides that the pictures were really good.
so thumbes up :)
Hello Jeff, I am looking to getting into doing underwater photography. I am open water certified and am looking to move to either Hawaii or Costa Rica. If you have any insight on how I could get started or if you need any help, let me know. My email address is crysanne63@hotmail.com. Thanks so much for your time. Your pictures are absolutely amazing!