USVI-On-Line

sea-nile wrote:Great Shots!
I just got a Canon underwater housing for my SD600. I am hoping for such good pictures!
How did you get them to come out so clear? Do you have any suggestions?

2 ways....

1st: Underwater filter...a red lens filter to help with color correction

2nd: Photoshop (or other)...can take an unfilterd photo to a filterd in seconds with the auto correct feature.

Here's a quick example...
Unfilterd raw with sony w70


Auto corrected in photoshop

JC - I loved your pictures.

A couple of suggestions on the fish identity. This is what I can figure out from reading the Paul Humann fish guide and previous experience. The Atlantic Spadefish is a Palometa och the small neon blue fish is a juvenile angelfish (don't know if it's a queen, frensh or gray).

I also think the Fairly Basset is a juvenile Damselfish.

I loved the photo of the Spotted Moray.

Very nice photos, thanks for sharing them!

Awesome photos Jen! I can't get enough. Isn't it fun with that camera. Makes snorkeling even better if that's possible! Thanks so much for sharing.

Tracy

Great photos. I love you guys that know what the fish are. I am going to have to study up before my next trip. On my underwater photos it says, "blue fish," "yellow fish," etc. I didn't really need to see the frenzy photos......

Thanks for the pictures, Jen! Great job! I wish we had been able to snorkel at Waterlemon. Oh well... One more reason to go back!

Sea-nile... The underwater filter that MrB mentioned works well but it is hard to get one on a point-and-shoot digital camera. I used PhotoImpressions to do color correciton after the fact and it worked well. One thing that Captain Phil told me is that he keeps his flash on auto all of the time so that it will fire if he is shooting under a rock or into a cave. He wears a weight belt and carefully uses a gloved hand to stabilize himslef on a rock and I watched him stick his camdera under a rock ledge and fire off two or three shots without even looking at the viewfinder or LCD.

My main underwate camera was a Conon S50 in an underwater housing. The S50 is a bit older and has a slower focus. I missed several shots because it took the camera too long to focus. Your S600 has amuch faster focus time so you should de well.

Oh! one other tip that i received from a friend who does a lot of underwater photography. Save some of those little bags of dessicant (?) that come packed with a lot of electronics to absorb moisture. Stick one in the housing with the camera (position it so it doesn't interfere with anything) to absorb any moisture in the housing. This will help keep the lens from fogging. Putting the camera into the housing in a dry place (like an airconditioned house) also helps.

Great Underwater pics!

Underwater pictures always remind me of my friend's title to one of her underwater pictures ... it was a shot of a bunch of our legs with our flippers labeled "What the Sharks See"!

Super points Ron!

Be careful with the flash in water that has been churned up by you, or the weather. I got some real sparkley shots after a stormy night from the flash making the little particles in the water reflect the light. My Sony does quite well in low light situations, so I just leave it off. I'm thinking I may want to use the weight belt this year, to help keep me down. I advise the belt for experenced snorklers only.

Also, on the Sony case itself...the dessicate pouch is a GREAT idea. I used it last year, and I only took the camera out of the case to take out the memory. The case makes for GREAT protection for those after-happy-hour-pictures when the hands might be a little unstedy!

Excellent underwater pictures and including the wonderful macro shots of the Feather Dusters and Christmas Trees. We have just arrived home from a fantastic family vacation at the Grand Canyon and the northeast Arizona area; these pictures have now got us excited and refocused on our STJ trip coming up in June. Thank you.

Very nice pics! Thanks for sharing!

WOW! Incredible pics.

Thanks everyone for the great tips! I can't wait to use the camera!

Thanks for all of the compliments! I'm so pleased with how well the underwater housing worked. My heartrate really went up that first dunk! Sure enought, it worked slick as a willy!

The better quality pictures were obviously the ones taken in full sun up to four or five feet in distance. I do dive down to get better close ups of objects farther down. The weight belt is a great idea that I hadn't thought of. I definitely tested the depth range of the housing. If I remember correctly I believe the manual says up to 10 feet. I was easily 12-15 feet a couple of times.

The underwater housing came with a small flash filter that snaps on & off the camera to help with the refraction of the light...which I always used. I also left the flash setting on auto.

The camera does have an underwater setting that I used. It's located in the Kids & Pets sub-settings. I still haven't figured that one out?!?!?!

As far as editing goes...I use Kodak Easyshare to process the pictures. I started using the EasyShare software with our first Kodak digital camera and really do like the quality of the pictures. I've thought about getting the PhotoShop...just have never got around to it. The majority of the editing I do is cropping. There were a few of the pictures that I did auto enhance...but only a few. I also use the red-eye fixer for the people shots when necessary.

Aside from that...just being at the right place at the right time seems to be the trick! I spend hours upon hours upon hours underwater while we are on island. I don't come out until I look like a raisin! Patience & luck!

Can't wait to get back!!!

Jen
85 & Out

Another tip for underwater pictures, particularly of fish/marine life - when possible shoot UP.

If you look at a lot of the pictures of fish taken from above, they tend to look a little flat.

If you can shoot more horizontally, or even from below a little bit the results turn out much better most of the time, for me at least.

Obviously some of the folks that have shared their pictures with us are already aware of that technique!

Great tip Augie. That's where the weight belt would come in handy...