rubinmorriso513's soup

1. You've got a chance to use the right tool for any job . That compact digital might take awesome high-resolution photos on land, but the underwater environment throws in a few additional challenges that we should instead deal with to obtain a good shot. Compact cameras are usually more suited to macro golf swings and fish close-ups. To capture that wide-angle reef scene in a color other than blue, you need a large angle lens and very likely an external strobe. Going after shots suited to the device you are using will yield more successful results making you a happier diver.

2. Slow down . It is extremely difficult to acquire a subject, avoid scaring that away, compose your chance, and take the picture when you are swimming a million miles one hour around the reef. Particularly when shooting macro, focus on one or two coral heads and find those cleaner shrimp, arrow crabs, and nudibranchs. Close-ups of fish eyes or faces create interesting abstract shots way too. Take several pictures with the same subject and look closely at composition.

3. Built-in flashes are evil. Are you experiencing a bunch of backscatter in your shots ruining that otherwise perfect picture? The root cause is that built-in flash. On compact digital cameras, camcorders the flash is located so close to the lens that it illuminates any particles which can be in the water, and then your camera records all that will backscatter at 10+ megapixels! How can you avoid this? There are a couple of options. You can either stay shallow and shoot using ambient light (no flash) and a color correcting filter, or you can aquire an external strobe and angle it at approximately 45 degrees above and aside of your subject so those particles in the water are illuminated in the side , not the front. You may need to do a little creative engineering to sync your strobe to your camera. You will ought to cover or deflect the built-in flash so it does not affect your shot. If your housing does not present an attachment to cover and deflect the built-in whizz, duct tape also works great for this reason.

4. Get hold of close. You feel you're close to your subject? You probably ought to be closer. Three feet or less is ideal. The reason why? You need to end up close because water absorbs lightweight. You already know this from your regular diving - whenever you descend through the mineral water column, the water absorbs your reds and oranges in the ambient light, and you are left with cooler colors, such as blue. Well, the same principle applies horizontally through the water. The light from your strobe has to travel to the subject, illuminate that, and then travel back to your camera lens. If you are more than a few feet away from ones subject, the light is simply absorbed, and that strobe is just as good as dragging dead weight around. Also keep in mind the effect of refraction. Water makes an object appear 33% larger and 25% more detailed (4: 3 ratio), so what is definetly three feet away is usually four feet away. Unfortunately strobes don't treasure refraction, so you have to get a little closer than you think so as to properly illuminate your subject.

5. Think about composition . Fish tails do not make for interesting snap shots, even if it is the tail of the rarest fish on earth. Shoot at upward facets, rather than looking down on the subject... Digital Cameras