Underwater at last

[M J Marshall]

Afternoon all,

I have just got back from a holiday to the south of France.

My kind in-laws allowed for a couple of days diving and I have had my first chance to try out my new (ish) strobe.

It was much harder than I thought getting it all to come together. Vis was quite poor and I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to concentrate on photos as such have lots where the strobe wasn't pointing in the right direction or was too weak/too bright. Due to vis and not wanting to get separated didn't have many oppourtunites to re try.

Any way here are my first attempts. Not great but I am quite pleased.








Thanks
M

[TimIngmire]

Strobes are the biggest step in UW photography after actually using the camera in the first place.

It seems that with the first few photos you haven't directed the strobe onto the subject and so you are just using ambient light in those. The last three photos are aimed better but you can see from the backscatter in the last photo that you are picking up backscatter with that particular position.

Have a look at Martin Edge's latest book as he also has some tips on strobes. Also, I'm sure others will be along with further advice.

Cheers,

Tim

[M J Marshall]

Thanks for the reply,

I was amazed how much more difficult taking pictures was with an external strobe.

It meant having to think about that even more variables. I spent the first dive thinking about shooting up and getting close. Then began to realize that the strobe was pointing the wrong way. With the poor vis and following a guide it was quite tricky to take more than 1 or 2 photos of a subject. By the end of my second dive it was starting to come together (at least the strobe was firing in vaguely the right direction) so I am looking forward to taking it underwater over here soon.

M