4 replies to this topic

[maxman2402]

Hi there I'm Max, 

I already Introduced myself in the appropriate forum so i'll get right down to the business.
I would like you to give me feedback on my images, i'll post a few in this thread which i made with my newly purchased Ikelite ds-160 strobe.

1st:

Muraena Thyrsoides, (White-Eyed Moray Eel) by Max Daniël, on Flickr

2nd:

Octopus by Max Daniël, on Flickr

3rd:

 

Heteractis aurora, (beaded sea anemone) by Max Daniël, on Flickr

These were all taken with the strobe.

Here are 2 taken with only ambient light:
 

Mulloidichthys vanicolensis, (Yellowfin goatfish) by Max Daniël, on Flickr

and:

Mulloidichthys vanicolensis, (Yellowfin goatfish) by Max Daniël, on Flickr

I would like you to comment on (some) of these pictures i've taken, and what i should or could improve about them.
If you would like to see more picture taken by me then just click on this link: http://flic.kr/ps/TyDXN

Cheers,

Max Daniël

[Steve Williams]

HI Max, welcome to Wetpixel!
I like the images you chose to post, they are an interesting mix. I can tell you what I would think about if presented with these same opportunities, whether or not my recommendations make sense to you is your call. ;-)

The first image has tons of potential, multiples are almost always more interesting than singles. The orange background is a nice opportunity too. I would have tried to get closer and fill the frame with the morays and just the orange negative space. The brown doesnt do much for me. There are lots of options for the light direction here. It would have been a lot of fun to play with and try different alternatives for strobe angle. Definitely closer though.



The octo pic is fun too. As it is the balance seems off. Id try cropping it with the eye right in the middle horizontally. The fuzzy left bottom corner is distracting to my eye. Id try applying a vignette to darken the corners and bring the viewers eye to the subject. I would have thought about trying to light the octopus without throwing light on the rock behind her/him. A slightly different orientation with the bright orange below the eye or just off to one side of the siphon would have been fun to play with.

I love the anemone. Thats the kind of photo opportunity we could play with for hours. As it is the out of focus clump in the foreground hurts the image for me. Great choice of subject to spend some time with.

The first yellow goatfish school shot has all kinds of potential. I like the way your eye works to see that image. The color looks a touch too saturated for my eye but I like where you were going. The lines up the middle really hurt the flow and balance for me. Another image opportunity that deserves some more work when you see it again.

Im curious, how many shots of these subjects did you take?

Cheers,
Steve

[maxman2402]

HI Max, welcome to Wetpixel!
I like the images you chose to post, they are an interesting mix. I can tell you what I would think about if presented with these same opportunities, whether or not my recommendations make sense to you is your call. ;-)

The first image has tons of potential, multiples are almost always more interesting than singles. The orange background is a nice opportunity too. I would have tried to get closer and fill the frame with the morays and just the orange negative space. The brown doesnt do much for me. There are lots of options for the light direction here. It would have been a lot of fun to play with and try different alternatives for strobe angle. Definitely closer though.

 Max_eels3.jpg

The octo pic is fun too. As it is the balance seems off. Id try cropping it with the eye right in the middle horizontally. The fuzzy left bottom corner is distracting to my eye. Id try applying a vignette to darken the corners and bring the viewers eye to the subject. I would have thought about trying to light the octopus without throwing light on the rock behind her/him. A slightly different orientation with the bright orange below the eye or just off to one side of the siphon would have been fun to play with.

I love the anemone. Thats the kind of photo opportunity we could play with for hours. As it is the out of focus clump in the foreground hurts the image for me. Great choice of subject to spend some time with.

The first yellow goatfish school shot has all kinds of potential. I like the way your eye works to see that image. The color looks a touch too saturated for my eye but I like where you were going. The lines up the middle really hurt the flow and balance for me. Another image opportunity that deserves some more work when you see it again.

Im curious, how many shots of these subjects did you take?

Cheers,
Steve

 

Thank you for the feedback Steve,

To be honest, the 3 i took with the strobe, were my first shots ever to be taken with strobes.
The 3 strobe shots were all taken on my vacation in Sri Lanka without practicing back home in Holland.
I only made 1 dive there because i noticed in the 1st dive that the dive guide had no eye for safety whatsoever, so after the dive i told him i did not want to continue diving with him.
There was a very strong current washing over the dive site, so it was hard to stay in one place without having reefhooks, this resulted in me only taking 8 pictures during the whole dive.
so the 3 pictures you see are almost half of all the pics taken. I do have one more pic of the 2 White-eyed morays from a different perspective.

The ambient light photo's are taken in Egypt (at least the 2 shown above). I took about 25ish pictures of the school of goatfish.

Cheers,

Max Daniël

 

Edited by maxman2402, 20 February 2013 - 10:32 AM.

[Ronyx]

I like the yellow goat fish, photo 3. Like Steve says it feels over saturated. Bringing the contrast down might help as well. I really enjoy this type of arching composition. I'll reiterate Steve's comment that be verticle elements in the centre do hurt the image.

[maxman2402]

Thank you for the feedback.