Underwater photographs with an Epoque strobe

Well here it is, the first pic with an external strobe.

Okay, it's more than a little overexposed in places and the pipe fish probably had stars in its eyes for a few minutes. I had guessed what the power output needed to be and then tweaked a little more. Perhaps should have wound it in a bit - but everyone has to start somewhere.



I have moved on, or across from the Canon G9. It's a truly fantastic camera but it cost a fortune for the bulky Ikelite housing and without it there was no way of attaching external lenses to it.

The IXUS 980i offered variable shutter speed, a little control over aperture (ie choice of two settings) and manual focus, so it was like a hybrid camera in a compact body. But best of all, the housing had a round port so an INON wide angle lens fits perfectly. And with that I thought I might as well go for a slave strobe.

Having never used one before, I stuck to the KISS (keep it simply stupid) principle and opted for the Epoque ES-230DS. It has a couple of settings for different cameras but it is essentially an on-off button with a knob to increase or decrease the power of the flash.

Hence the 'little' bit of over-exposure of the first pic.

But with a little bit of trial and error, it was possible to get closer to the right level. There are some values on the knob which relate to exposures but I just thought I would twist and turn until it looked about right.



What it did allow was faster shutter speeds than the camera suggests making it possible to capture more of the colour and detail without any of the motion blur.

The image of the Batwing Coral Crab above has captured a lot of detail at 1/125 but without the handshake blur I normally get with slow shutter speeds the camera would go opt for when trying to shoot natural light.
I actually don't think my pics have ever had as much red as before.



I know the water looks green but, honestly, these were taken on the recent Grenada trip on the Veronica L wreck, a perfect photography spot because of the depth and variety of life.

With a little work the above sponge pic could be tidied up (backscatter caused by really poor viz) but it demonstrates how simply turning the strobe so the light is coming from the side of the subject helps cut out a lot of the mess. An earlier effort was a complete blur. Colour-wise, I like the contrast between the red of the sponge and green of the water behind.

The below image shows how dramatic shadows can be created. Again there is a lot of backscatter but at this point I was just experimenting. The diffuser also gives the same coverage as the lens so most of the frame should be illuminated.



The rest of the images, like the ones above, are nothing special by any stretch but have been included to show the depth of colour (particularly the reds) that the strobe allows to be captured.





I know there is still a long way to go until I starts producing great quality images but the strobe has taken things on a giant step forward. It has already reduced my reliance on trying to shoot natural light (the inbuilt flash was always rubbish).




Now all I need to do is practice!

Top underwater photographers

SALTY blogger Deep-Sea News has come up with a list of 11 - well why not? - underwater photographers you should know.

Without wishing to rip-off their selection (check out their own entry) I have decided to copy their idea with five underwater photographers you should follow if you value improving your own picture-taking abilities.

Have a look at their fantastic work and work out how they shot it. I guarantee we can all learn from them to help improve our own pics.

In no particular order, here are my favourite five at the moment.

1) Dr Alex Mustard. The bloke (author, photographer,marine biologist) has just about done everything and his tutorials regularly feature in scuba diving magazines to help us mere mortals improve our skills. And his stuff is not just from some far flung tropical destinations. Check out his amazing UK pics as well.

2) Thomas P Peschak. Chief Photographer of the Save our Seas Foundation, he is a former marine biologist who specialized in kelp forest ecology and the impacts of illegal fishing. He left science to pursue a life in environmental photojournalism and has spearheaded campaigns to proclaim marine reserves, end abalone poaching and illegal shark fishing. His book Wild Seas Secret Shores is a coffee table favourite.

3) Eric Cheng. The man behind Wetpixel website and magazine, he is turning out some awe-inspiring images that are worth checking out. Eric is also involved in ocean conservation, and is technical advisor and photographer for Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

4) David Doubilet. Considered to be among the best by editors, peers and colleagues the world over. He has photographed over 60 stories for the National Geographic Magazine where he is currently a Contributing Photographer-in-Residence. What more do I need to say.

5) Scubazoo. Okay, not technically a photographer but a team of professional underwater cameramen and photographers. Based in the Far East they have worked on many of the biggest TV projects and their book Reef is a brilliant study and aid to helping improve your pics.

Deep Sea News chosen few included:
Jason Bradley

Stephen Frink

Tony Wu

Peter Batson

Magnus Lundgren

Michael Aw

Brian Skerry

Ernie Brooks

Paul Nicklen

ONE of the web's top underwater photography sites, DivePhotoGuide.com, has launched a free series of comprehensive underwater photography tutorials written by professional underwater photographers.

"Whether you're just beginning in underwater photography, simply looking to improve or fine tuning your established skills, the DPG underwater photography guide is designed to provide practical underwater photography tips, equipment requirements, and lighting techniques that you can put to use the next time you hit the water," the website states.

It includes all manner of hints and tips for shooting everything from wide angle to macro to helping with strobes thanks to articles from some of the world's top underwater toggies including Dave Doubilet and Alex Mustard.

Check out that image - an example of close focus-wide angle "high impact" photography.

In one of the articles ,Alex Mustard offers a tutorial on making the most of the "classic technique to produce attention grabbing underwater photographs" including the best kind of kit to use and strobe positioning to get the best out of lighting.

Read it and be amazed at his images, it will make you desperate to get into the water with your camera.

Even more underwater photographs with the Canon G9

Some more underwater pics from the G9. Let me know what you think by clicking on the word 'comment' below to ... comment.

Image that typified house reef diving, with snorkelers always looking with interest at what we were doing. Shutter speed 1/500. Ap 4.0 ISO 100. Really like the pic. It would be a nicer image if the water around the diver was empty of other bods but was caught be the silhouette of the diver. I'll try and organise something next time to get the look.

This little fish a couple of centimetres long was beavering around the reef so I used macro. Couldn't get him to stay still long enough to get him completely in focus, but still like it. 1/500; 3.8; 100; flash on

Better version than one in earlier post. Got the vibrant yellow of the fish to help it stand out from dull background. Composition still needs some work though. 1/320; 2.8, 200

After seeing David Doublilet's book Fishface with lots of extreme close-ups of fish I thought I'd give it a go. Had to crop a little. 1/320; 4.5; 400. Think I knocked the ISO setting on camera or left it on high value afte another shot and didn't realise, hence the grain. Another important lesson.

Shot of me courtesy of my wife using our old IXUS 500 in full auto by manual white balance. Like the silhouette. Hell I like it that there is a pic of me for a change.

Amazing coral pinnacle but without wide angle I was some way off when I took pic so it has had some post pic work on it. 1/40; 2.8; 200.

Amazing to see two morays but didn't really grasp the opportunity as we were surrounded by a giant wall of glass fish (see further on down) so just knocked off a couple of frames. Missed opportunity. Too much red in image.

Coral grouper.

Part of the wall of glass fish snaking around a coral pinnacle. Amazing spectacle. See earlier post from December with some video of it. 1/60; 3.2; 100. Same setting for shot below. Cropped a little. Probably needed to shoot with quicker shutter speed because the fish aren't pin sharp.

My blue water shot. 1/250; 4.0; 100; flash on. Liked the atmosphere with the sun rays. Just needed something to swim in front of the camera.

Really liked this one of Alison. Poor composition meant I cropped off a bit of her fin. 1/500; 2.8; 400. Same problem as another shot. Camera set up for something else and forgot to return i to normal settings before the opportunity presented itself.

Simple reef shot that when I came to edit my images cropped quite nicely with the three fish next to the soft coral. 1/125; 4.0; 400.

There you go, hope you like. Not great but a whole lot better than my first underwater stuff. I'm possibly fiddling too much with the settings and need to find the smaller number of best settings and then just tweak them accordng to the situation.

Feel free to comment, criticise, rip them to pieces by clicking below.

More underwater photographs using Canon G9

Following an earlier post re using the manual functions of the Canon G9 to take underwater pics below are a few more examples from a recent trip to the Red Sea.

Probably should have included some of the other tries to see where things have been improved - but then I would have needed a massive memory card.

I used custom white balance on all of them, taking a reading from the palm of my hand or the sand, except where flash was used.

So in no particular order here goes.......

Napoleon Wrasse. Quite shallow at about ten metres which is why some of the colours still remain. Shutter speed 1/60. Ap 2.8. ISO 200

Red Sea Bannerfish. Got the right angle, to get some blue between fish and reef. Looked better on the camera screen and not quite sharp enough when downloaded. Shutter speed 1/80 Ap 4.0. ISO 80. With my new wide angle lens I will be able to get closer and still keep the ref in shot and get the image sharper.

Blue spotted ray shutter speed 1/60, aperture 2.8. No flash. I've had to crop a little to get more of a focus on the eyes, and it shows. Lesson learned: get closer next time.

Giant moray, about 8-10m down. Had a bit of time with him. 1/80; 3.5; 200. Flash on hence colour in his face. Debating whether red needs to be toned down a bit.

One of my faves from the holiday because of the composition and atmosphere despite it being quite grainy. No wide angle lens (soon to be rectified) so shot from some distance away. For some reason, the shutter speed wasn't quite right 1/500 so the ISO was high at 400. An opportunity that I didn't want to miss but lesson learned: have my camera settings ready.

A reasonable one of an anemone fish and the little friends. Shutter 1/60 (probably needs to be faster with these tricky little buggers) and aperture 3.8. Flash was on.


Too washed-out to be really good, but I liked the blue water (almost like a painting) and the two fish in shot. 1/125; 4.0; 100

Lionfish. Just couldn't get low enough angle in the water to put a bit of blue between fish and reef. Ap 2.8, shutter speed 1/30. Maybe that is why water has a purple hue. Found an article giving some hints and tips about shooting good blue water. If it's any good I'll let you know. Reef in bottom left corner also a distraction.

Tried b&w with the remnants of the Yolanda wreck because a lack of w/a meant I was someway off the reef. Can't say I'm too excited. 1/60 and 3.5.


Another Moray. Full on face at about 6m. Flash on, hence the colour. 1/60; 2.8; 80

Let me know what you think, and I'll post a few more tomorrow.

New underwater pics

After a few dives in Dosthill trying to get to grips with the settings on my Canon G9 I tried my luck during a trip to Egypt.




I'll post a few of the underwater pics here. Let me know what you think and any suggetions on how I can improve.








Also check out my surface interval on facebook for some more of the images or zip through the slideshow opposite.




While they're not great by any stretch, they are certainly leaps and bounds beyond my first efforts a fewyears back.
Then my pics were just different shades of blue with tiny specs of grey that were fish. Honest!

Underwater photographs using Canon G9's full manual settings

Okay, before I start, I acknowledge that these are in no way shape or form fantastic underwater images. They are not even good if I am completely honest.

But, they do represent a start for me in getting to grips with my Canon G9's manual settings while scuba diving and a better understanding of some basic principles.

First, and perhaps most importantly, lets get the setting right. These were taken in Dosthill in about 3m worth of viz. I've not really tested myself with adjusting the manual settings (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) before so everything was a learning curve of trial and error. Also nothing image-wise was planned, three of us jumped in armed with cameras and started blasting away. And these are a few of my efforts.

Practical things I've learned:

Challenging oneself with three independent functions while also scuba diving was a tad tricky and I would have been better off trialling one first but you don't learn until you give it a go.

You need a lot of patience to get things right.

Taking a white balance before each image is now second nature but I found a white slate left the colours looking a a bit harsh and found using the palm of the hand might be better.

The intensity of the built-in flash can be altered to make it softer or stronger. Don't forget that.

The two images of the perch who was happily hanging about the bottom of the buoyed line that drops onto the house are perfect demonstration of the wrong settings.

The fish didn't want to leave the safety of the line and, like a clown fish darted here and there every time the camera was pointed at him.

Unfortunately, catching him with a bit too much flash left left almost burnt out areas of white on his underbelly and near his mouth. Slightly less flash might have softened the images more.



As the next three images show, while white balance returned the right colours to the underwater realm, the poor viz meant there was still too little light to capture a crystal clear image, hence a bit of blurring as the fish darted around, caused by a shutter speed that was too slow.

Closing the shutter speed down, got a sharper image (below) but left the image darker than those above. A strobe which can be angled around the camera is a must.
I was surprised by how little backscatter was created by such a large unit used by my buddy by carefully angling it when taking different pics.

Dosthill itself is not short of atmosphere and the next two pics, of the buoyed line down to the old pump house and the reeds at two to three metres give two different natural-light perspectives to different parts of the quarry.

The reeds are where we find the population of pike. Below is a jack pike. Hopefully instinct will help me approach a scene with the right camera settings in mind but the best I could get here ended with the rear of the pike giving off too much white reflection and the blue background of the water becoming almost black because of such a short shutter speed.

As the next image shows, the G9 needs a wide angle lens. In poor viz situations the camera just cannot capture a wide enough shot of a diver behind the Parcelforce van. The G10 offered a wider image but a compact fitted with a wet wide angle really opened up the image a lot more.

So, nothing to worry Tom Peshak or David Doubilet but we've all got to start somewhere and despite the issues with each image, I've learned a few things and discovered that there is the possibility of getting decent images even in somewhere like Dostill Quarry.