Jump to content

nirv996

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    70

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Posts posted by nirv996

  2. Posted

    Thanks Darren,

    That explains it very well. I appreciate it.

    When selecting a point to spot meter, does it lock the exposure and allow me to move my focus point to something else in the composition. Or do I need to "shoot" at that point and play with composition (ie. cropping) in Lightroom.

     

    Thanks again

     

    Andy

     

     

     

     

     

    Spot metering ain't for the feint-hearted :rolleyes: To use it successfully you need to have an understanding of its implications.

     

    Basically:

     

    Point the spot of the meter at "something" mid-toned in the scene, use that exposure and that "something" will record mid-toned and everything darker in the scene will come out darker, everything lighter in the scene will come out lighter.

     

    Point the spot of the meter at "something" dark-toned in the scene, use that exposure and that "something" will record mid-toned and everything lighter in the scene will come out lighter.

     

    Point the spot of the meter at "something" light-toned in the scene, use that exposure and that "something" will record mid-toned and everything darker in the scene will come out darker.

     

    From the description of what you shoot in our first post, and the problem you have had in the last, I am guessing you are pointing the spot meter at a dark-toned wreck, it recorded the wreck as a mid-tone, and so everything else has coming out too light.... over-exposing the picture.

     

    With the above principles in mind, correct use of a spot meter involves only pointing it at things that are (or you want to record as) mid-tone. Otherwise it involves plenty of exposure compensation too.

     

    Does that help?

  5. Posted

    I am a T2i/Aquatica/Tokina11/16 doing mostly wreck wide angle photos in ambient light. I use LightRoom for my post production work (ie. exposure changes, B&W converstion, etc).

     

    I am fairly new at this (getting great advice on this site) and have a few questions for Canon owners.

     

    Question #1

    - I currently do not use the long exposure noise reduction function that is in the custom settings menu. Should I be enabling this feature? My exposures are typically 1/15 or so.

     

    Question #2

    - I currently use evaluative metering. Should I change this or does it matter? I use lightroom to do all my post production work.

     

    Some examples of my first few dives are in my signature link.

     

    Thanks

    Andy

  8. Posted

    Paul and Oskar,

     

    Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it very much.

    This site has been excellent because of the comments from members like yourselves to beginners like me.

     

    I think I have been very lucky with the shots that I have so far. I am also fortunate that all of these wrecks are literally on my doorstep, so I can jump in the water and try things out anytime. Practice will be key.

    I am going out today and will bump up the ISO to see what I can get.

     

    The tripod idea is something I am going to try. I looking for a low cost tripod that I can specifically use for the setup.

     

    Still cannot figure out the review function on the T2i. I always get an "exp sim" warning message when taking low light photos. So I have just disabled the screen review completely.

     

    I should mention that I also have the Aquatica viewfinder on my setup which I like very much.

     

    Oskar, in regards to the your question concerning aperature. probably the best way for me to answer is to send you a link to a number of my photos and you can see the metadata associated with it. Like I said I am a relative newbie in this .

     

    Thanks again guys.

     

    Andy

  9. Posted

    Hello all,

    Newbie here.

    My current setup is a Canon T2i/Aquatica, 8 inch dome , and Tokina 11/16mm. No strobes. Shooting with ambient light. Using Lightroom for post shot work.

    I am diving in the Great Lakes and St.Lawrence and shooting mostly wrecks.

    I have been shooting in manual, using ISO400, usually a fairly slow shutter speed of 1/15th and usually around f2.8. I also change picture to B&W in lightroom which seems to look alot nicer than the natural greenish. So far so good, but I have had instances that the light has been very low making it difficult.

     

    Two questions:

    This may be a very basic newbie question...am I right in assuming that I can move up to an ISO800 and therefore be able to use a faster shutter (to reduce any blurring) and F-stop? By going to a higher ISO , I believe that the picture may get a bit grainer.

     

    Since I do my post production work in Lightroom....does it matter what kind of metering mode I use (ie. evaluative, center weighted, spot, etc)?

     

    Lastly, should I use the peripheral illumination correction feature that sense the lense and corrects for vignetting?

     

    Here are a few photos of my third time dive with the setup.

     

     

    IMG0748-M.jpg

    IMG0757-M.jpg

    IMG0721-M.jpg

     

    thanks

    Andy

    Ontario Canada

  10. Posted

    Thanks for the comments and suggestions Tim.

    I am lucky in that this wreck is right in front of my house so that I can practice .

    I would like to take a longer exposure shot but will need a tripod.

     

    Thanks again for the comments.

     

    Andy

     

     

    Leigh uses really long exposures to get his signature effects. He shoots from low down and off the wreck in many cases. The classical advice is to shoot downwards with the sun over your shoulder, generating a plan or oblique view of the wreck, but Leigh is much more creative than that.

     

    You might want to try converting from the RAW file into monochrome rather than using the camera's algorithm (although I have actually found the Nikon algorithm to work pretty well in camera), using the green channel preferentially, then maximising the tonal range in levels or the equivalent.

     

    I have tried working with shapes, so having a really good viewfinder is important, especially when including distant parts of the wreck in shot. Looking around rather than shooting from the hip (even better: planning the shot and visualising it before the dive) improves your chances of success.

     

    Putting your dive buddy in shot is bit of a cliche, but it still helps!

     

    You may not believe us, but compared to a lot of our first attempts, you're doing really well!! And play with camera on the surface: not only do the images put wrecks and dives in context, but it's the only way to really understand what your camera and lenses are doing.

     

    Tim

     

    :)

  12. Posted

    Thanks for the comments.

    I will definitely spend some more time on LR experimenting with the exposure and ISO to see what happens and then maybe incorporate it on the dive.

    I also want to start bracketing the shot with different settings. Still trying to figure out how to do it on the camera.

     

    I will mostly be doing wreck shots since there is not much else. This particular wreck is in shallow water and a very easy dive. I am thinking of using a tripod to see if I can play with some longer exposures. I am a fan of Leigh Bishop wreck photography and I want to continue to shoot with ambient light as much as possible.

     

    Still have alot to learn but i am not in a hurry. So far it has been great fun.

     

    Here is another shot. The visibility wasnt that great and I played with the exposure in LR.

     

    Thanks everyone.

    Andy

     

     

    Hi Andy!

     

    Welcome to Wetpixel!

    If only I would of had my first shot as good as this... :)

     

    Personally I'm not the biggest fan of wreck shots, neither I like divers often figurating in UW shots. But in this case I think a diver with a torch light, hovering next to the propeller, would add a lot!

     

    Secondly, You can really do a lot with good RAW processing in LR. I dont think the question is wether You'll become to dependent on it or not, rather are You interested of useing a powerful tool like LR in Your progress of becoming a better photographer. I learned a lot (during post processing in LR) about how to shoot better in the first place :)

     

    Keep up the good work and be sure to share You'r shots with us.

     

    Cheers

    Karel

    post-32899-1302999300.jpg

  13. Posted

    Hey Drew..

    Thanks for the comments.

     

    Here are some of the other settings:

    Aperture:f 2.8

    ISO : 400

    exposure: 1/40

    focal length: 16mm

    Metering: Center Weighted Average

    Manual

    I also used an 8 inch dome port with shade. I didnt do much with LR other than select one of the default BW settings. I really like BW pictures. I intend to study up on LR, but I do not want to depend on it too much.

     

    Andy

     

    Cha ching :) Andy looks good for the first shot. You maybe able to bring out some more detail under the wreck with some tweaks. Always worthwhile to play with settings in LR just to get used to what they do and how you can change things. Also playing with crops.

     

    What were the settings in addition to the ISO? Some banding on the shot, could be the JPEG processing. Something to keep in mind is the ISOs on some Canons (not sure if it is all of them, such as the T2i) work better at different ISOs. There have been different things on the internet about it, but could not pull the posts from WP right now. ISO on Canon

  14. Posted

    Been diving for many years and finally have taken the plunge into uw photography. After some research purchase my gear this winter (Canon T2i/Aquatica) .My photo taking experience is next to nil.

    Most of my photography will be wide angle wreck (ambient light until I can afford strobes) in the Great Lakes and St.Lawrence.

     

    Comments appreciated.

     

    Andy

    Ontario, Canada

    Canon T2i

    Aquatica

    Tokina 11-16mm

     

    Location: St. Lawrence River

    Subject : Wreck of the Conestoga

    Depth : 25ft

    Water temp : freezing!!

    Equipment : Canon T2i/Aquatica

    Lens : Tokina 11/16mm

    Manual mode, Jpeg/Raw

    ISO : 400

    Post processing: Lightroom

    post-32899-1302898433.jpg

  18. Posted

    Thanks Karel,

    I appreciate the info and advice.

    I was on your website. Did you use a G9 with Ikelite housing for those pictures?

    Great pictures.

    Thanks

    Andy

     

     

     

    Hi Andy and welcome to Wetpixel!

     

    I can't tell You much about Fix, since I haven't owned one myself. But here's my 2 cents for Ike products.

    It's bulky and heavy. You could use double hand tray on housing, if possible, for extra stability. For WA and TTL powerful DS 160 should be great, but when You'r budget is a limiting factor I suggest You go with one powerful strobe (and add a second one when You have the resources), rather than buying two weak strobes.

    For WA I have the WA lens on my G9 ike housing and I'm fairly satisfyed with the results, except for the corner sharpness, wich can't stand any critics. Ike says that WD-4 Wide Angle Conversion Dome should give the same angle as my setup and the sharpness is better - sound good to me :)

     

    Hope someone will join in and give You some advice on FIX.

     

    Cheers

    Karel

  19. Posted

    Hello all,

    Have narrowed down my search for my first setup.

    I currently own a G11 and have a limited budget so I want to utilize it in my first setup.

     

    Option #1

    Ikelite housing with eTTL strobe (probably 2) and wide angle port (WD-4)

    This setup fits my budget but I want to make sure I have a good low light setup and wide angle capabilities. I understand that the wide angle capabilities with this setup are somewhat limited and poor. I like the fact that Ikelite has been around for sometime.

     

    Option #2

    FIX 11 with wide angle port and Inon strobe

    This setup is kinda out of my price range. I understand that is have good wide angle capabilities but doesnt use a eTTL strobe.

    I like the fact that it is an aluminum housing and it a smaller package to the Ikelite.

     

    Any comments/suggestions/comparisons of the above packages would be greatly appreciate. Again, budget is my limiting factor but I want to make sure I have a package that can take good pictures (primarily wrecks) in the low light of the great lakes.

     

    Thanks

    Andy

    Ontario Canada

×
×
  • Create New...