Blue-spotted stingray on Jolanda Reef, among wreckage of cargo (yes, those are toilets) from the MV Jolanda.

Offer any comments at all--I could use the advice to improve future

dive photos.

 

Thanks!

My feeling is, and maybe I'm alone on this, but I feel like the ray needs to be larger in the shot. As a diver, I know that sealife is seldom prone to stopping and posing for you, so getting it in the shot at all can be a feat. Perhaps what you may want to try is to compose the shot with cropping and enlarging in mind, which will probably mean a slower speed film. Underwater shots can be tricky due to loss of color, so you may want to research filters,lights, or types of film best suited for that environment as well. good luck.

 

Michael

This isnt perfect by any means but just as an idea...

Just a thought - I would try cropping as a landscape (horizontally), with the body forming a diagonal...but leave a little space in the corner for the ray to "breath", or it will look claustrophobic.

 

Beautiful colors on the ray!

Thanks for your time critiquing and commenting on my pics. Like many photo.net users, I

find that the comments people share are far more helpful than the ratings. I also enjoy the

fact that we can share one anothers' vision of individual photos.

 

I agree that the stingray photo works better when it's cropped tighter, but i'm curious about something. Why did you clone over the toilet?

 

The discovery of toilet wreckage underwater is pretty memorable, and I wanted to capture the

placement of the stingray among the toilets. Any recommendations or suggestions?

 

The dive site where I took that shot is easily accessible to me and I will return to it in the

future. The stingrays have a small colony there and since they are not migratory animals I

can reasonably expect to get another shot. What should I look for?

 

Thanks again for your time!

Try to shoot up rather then down.

 

I know how difficult this suggestion is, especially with a subject like a ray on the bottom. But if you get up closer, and sink as low as possible, you might be able to capture some blue water in the frame above the subject.

 

Subjects on sand are a difficult exposure problem and require that you have your strobe aimed perfectly.

 

Keep at it!

 

Joe

I think you have a decent shot. The colors came out without too much loss given that you were shooting 100 speed without (I am guessing) a powerful flash. I don't know if I like the composition though, shooting top down is usually a no-no for the following reason. Fish are generally camoflaged or darker on the top, and while your eyes can pick it up, it fades the subject into the background. A few notable exceptions to this are when you are shooting flatfish (rays, flounder, etc.) that are changing their color to hide in the sand.

The best part of underwater photography is that you have 3D control over camera placement. I think a different camera angle was really called for in this picture. Quite a few people have said that downward angles rarely result in a very good picture. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is usually more interesting to have the subject face toward the camera rather than away from it. This implies an encounter and feels more dramatic than seeing the fish swims away.

 

Now I will go ahead and contradict what I said earlier about 3D: People are still mentally bound to a 2D plane and shooting subjects from their eye level is often the most attention grabbing camera angle.

You can definitely see the limitations of the Sealife point and shoot. I'm guessing that you have a single strobe, also. You've got a fixed exposure camera with the standard lens and a strobe with fixed power output. You can't do the things you can with your Nikon 8008.

 

General underwater tips:

 

1) Shoot up. This means get low.

 

2) Get closer. You have a fixed window of minimum focus distance and maximum distance of strobe output, usually 2-5 ft.

 

3) Try using some of the close-up lenses and shoot some macro. The standard lenses on the point and shoots tend to be the "jack of all lenses, master of none". Most underwater photography is either done with wide lenses or macro lenses.