View Full Version : Gortein Point - Loch Fyne
Hello.
Some more pics. These are from Gortein Point at Loch Fyne on Saturday.
http://www.regthing.co.uk/images/Dogfish_Gortein_Point.jpg
Dogfish
http://www.regthing.co.uk/images/Edible_crab.jpg
Edible Crab with small fish
http://www.regthing.co.uk/images/Spiny_Starfish.jpg
Spiny Starfish
Dive Tramp
24-09-07, 00:36
Great pics Regthing, really sharp with excellent light, what depth were you?(seen them before somewhere):rolleyes: :D
The Dogfish was about 10-12m, the other two where about 7-8m.
Took some deeper on the wall but the current was whisking us along too quick to focus :rolleyes:
Scuba-Doh!
24-09-07, 08:49
Fantastic! Keep em coming.
:D
The wee fish could have had the common decency to swim in further down the shot though. May fill that space between the crabs claws. Never work with children or animals!! :rolleyes:
dive granny
24-09-07, 22:35
They are great pics. I see you have a new title too:D
excellent stuff, scott
you're manoeuvring to become CA's resident paparazzo :D
excellent stuff, scott
you're manoeuvring to become CA's resident paparazzo :D
Trying my best ;)
Agree with everyone else, great pics - but what gear are you using to achieve these results?
Hi Ian.
I'm using an Olympus SP-500UZ (http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/29_SP-500_UltraZoom.htm) in an Ikelite housing with a Ikelite DS125 strobe and slave sensor.
http://www.regthing.co.uk/images/my_uwcamera_rig.jpg
Bit of jiggery pokery on Photoshop as well. But usually just a bit of backscatter removal, colour boost, brightness/contrast and cropping.
I fly it in manual mode so I have control over aperture, shutter speed and ISO rating. These where all taken on F3.1 1/80 ISO100.
I'll switch between auto focus and manual focus depending on what I'm photographing. Anything that isn't in a hurry will be auto focus. If I'm chasing fish it is manual as the shutter lag is greatly reduced. But it can be hard to judge and I have to be lucky. Most pics in manual focus a scrapped.
Scuba-Doh!
26-09-07, 15:43
Nice piece of kit, now I don't feel so bad about having lesser photos as I'm just snapping away with a compact and just learning as I go.
Nice piece of kit, now I don't feel so bad about having lesser photos as I'm just snapping away with a compact and just learning as I go.
The Olympus SP-500 is a compact ;) :D
The housing isn't though :eek: :rolleyes:
Scuba-Doh!
27-09-07, 08:24
The Olympus SP-500 is a compact ;) :D
Aye, but I don't have a tricked out strobe and the knowledge on playing with the numbers.
Aye, but I don't have a tricked out strobe and the knowledge on playing with the numbers.
The strobe definately makes a big difference and well worth an investment.
As for the numbers. Make yourself comfortable....
F#
The lower the number the larger the aperture and smaller depth of field. The larger aperture allows more light to get in (obvioulsy a bonus UW) but it reduces the depth of field. But a nice side effect of compacts is that with thier smaller CCD (sensor) and lenses they tend to have better DOF than a DSLR at the same F#. I find F3.1 is good.
Shutter speed.
This is the 1/80 number. The lower the number the longer the shutter is open. This one needs a bit of balance, the longer the shutter is open the more light gets in therefore better pics. BUT you need to hold the camera steady for longer, hence lower shutter speeds tend to induce motion blur. I tend to stick around the 1/80 or 1/100 mark.
ISO
The ISO number is the sensitivity of the sensor (film if you can remember that far back!) The higher the ISO number the more sensitive the sensor is. i.e. works better in darker conditions. The trade off here is that the higher you go the more grainy the pictures become. So again worth keeping this as low as you can. But not always possible UW which is where a nice strobe really comes into its own. I tend to use ISO100 down to ~15m and ISO200 deeper (depending on the conditions)
Most compacts have the option to be used in Aperture (F#) or Shutter speed priority modes. These let you adjust the one and the camera works out the other. These are a good place to start. Worth playing with both modes underwater. Try taking pics of the same thing but change some setings each time (that's why you'll find some UW photogs hanging about for ages round one subject). Digitals are ideal as well because you can review each pic and make a call on what you need to change.
Too dark - reduce the shutter speed / reduce F# / increase ISO or vice versa.
If you can use the camera in full manual then even better. Same rules apply, you just have more options. You will soon come to settings that work and only need small tweaks for depth/conditions.
Torches are handy in place of a strobe but will normally burn out the middle of a pic. Some form of diffuser is needed. I haven't tried it personally but plastic milk bottles are ideal. It's possible to cobble together something that pops on over the end of the torch when taking pics and back of for the rest of the dive when you want something a bit more penetrating.
But definatley have a play and learn your camera. It can be very easy to trick them into taking a better pic than they think they can ;)
Photoshop helps as well :eek:
Scuba-Doh!
27-09-07, 10:03
As for the numbers. Make yourself comfortable....
All excellent advice, now all I need to do is find a buddy who won't mind me staying with the hermit crab for half the dive trying to get that one good photo. :rolleyes:
I've some experience photoshopping but haven't really applied myself to the image touch-up side of things just yet.
Cheers Regthing. Now when's that photog's dive? ;)
Cheers Regthing. Now when's that photog's dive? ;)
October 7th. But if you fancy a mid week dive give me a shout. Could do the A frames, nice site for photies.