Newbie entry

[edpdiver 21]

Hi, I am new to the board. Here is a reef shot picture I like from a recent trip to Wakatobi. It was taken with a Nikon D200 in a Subal housing with a Sigma 18-55 lens. Comments are appreciated.

 

I forgot to mention that the photo was taken with a single Ikelite DS125 strobe.

Edited January 26, 2008 by edpdiver

[loftus 42]

Hi Epdiver,

Welcome. Kind of an interesting moody shot. I think the shot could have more interest if there was something like a larger, colorful fish or something in the foreground, and with one strobe it would have to be in the central brighter part of the image. Seeing you are new to Wetpixel, you should know that we are always going to encourage you to spend more money - so I think I would encourage a second strobe. You can always turn it off if you are trying to achieve this effect, but having two strobes will help you get more even lighting across the frame.

[ornate_wrasse 0]

Here is a reef shot picture I like from a recent trip to Wakatobi. It was taken with a Nikon D200 in a Subal housing with a Sigma 18-55 lens. Comments are appreciated.

 

First of all, you have a great housing. As you can see, I have a Subal housing, too. Second, I will be in Wakatobi in October so I'm very interested in images taken there.

 

I see the photo as being too busy. It needs, IMHO, a center area of main focus. I would have liked to see the center part of the photo, the part that's well lit, be the main focus of the photo without all the other distracting parts of the reef. I think by cropping the photo, it will come across as being more interesting to the viewer.

 

I echo the comments made about acquiring another strobe (if you don't already have a second strobe) and using two strobes when you shoot your images.

 

Overall, a nice image. Thanks for sharing.

 

Ellen

[MikeVeitch 0]

Interesting shot, nice sharp focus and lots of fish! You did well in not blowing out the highly reflective chromis.

 

My question: Which mode were you using? Manual or one of the auto ones?

 

The reason i ask is that to me you need a brighter background blue to make the foreground pop out. IN manual mode you would set the fstop to around f8 or so for a shot like this and then meter the background by turning the shutter speed. I would aim for about -1 in your light meter. THat will give you a nice strong blue and pop the foreground colours more with the contrast it would add.

[edpdiver 21]

Interesting shot, nice sharp focus and lots of fish! You did well in not blowing out the highly reflective chromis.

 

My question: Which mode were you using? Manual or one of the auto ones?

 

The reason i ask is that to me you need a brighter background blue to make the foreground pop out. IN manual mode you would set the fstop to around f8 or so for a shot like this and then meter the background by turning the shutter speed. I would aim for about -1 in your light meter. THat will give you a nice strong blue and pop the foreground colours more with the contrast it would add.

 

Hello, and thanks to all for the comments. I was only using one strobe because my second one was flaking out (just a bad contact on the swtich, I think). With respect to the mode question, I was using aperture priority, and I think that I was setting it for 0 in the light meter (though I am not sure, as I sometimes set it to -1, too). I will keep a closer eye on that.