Clownfish in Naama Bay, Egypt

This was among my first attempts at underwater photography, and I'm

interested in any kind of feedback ... ESPECIALLY feedback from those

of you with no expertise in underwater photos, since I'd like a fresh

viewpoint on what makes this photo strong/weak and why. Thank you!

From the title of this photo, it looks like the subjects you were trying to capture were two clown fish. The two fish look like they are in pretty good focus, and are probably sharp in the original photo, however, it looks like you almost missed them in this shot. I think a better shot would have had them and their anemone fill more of the frame. (BTW, I did not numerically rate this photo.)

 

I like the photos, but what to you want your viewers to see the animal or the surroundings, I recommend that you get a longer lens or something and concentrate on the animal its really more appealing.

I like seeing the background. It also distinguishes this shot from the many tight shots of clown fish on anemonies. Are you at the closest focus distance of your gear? Maybe you can hightight the foreground with some fill flash. The warmer colors in the foreground would then draw the eye better. Ideally you would use a wider lens, get closer to the subject and point a seperate strobe (not on camera) slightly down. This would make the anemony and the fish bigger, and the highlight the foreground for two reasons: You are directing the light more downward, and the ratio of distances to background and to subject is increased. The latter sounds more complicated than it is. If your subect is 2 feet from the background, if you can shoot the subject from 2 feet, the background is twice as distant to the strobe than the subject and it will receive 1/4 the light intensity. If you can not get closer than 4 feet to the subject the distances are 4 and 6 feet. The square law gives a ratio of about 1/2.

I agree with the other comments except you should not think about using a longer lens. U/W photos need as wide an angle lens as possible in most cases to minimize the filtration of color through the water.

 

For this subject I would have considered using an extension tube because of the small size of the clown fish. I do this with a Nikonos V U/W camera where it's easy and relatively cheap. I don't know how extension tube photography works with a housed camera.

 

More importantly, this shot simply doesn't have enough strobe.

 

I have a technique I use to sneak up on fish that are very camera shy. Get neutral buoyancy and swim in close. Exhale and you'll sink below the rock or coral head. The fish swim away but they always come back. Inhale and you'll float up on them silently. Snap the shot before they notice your back.

 

I also recommend shooting at an upward angle to get part of the surface in the background. It's much lighter than the bottom and improves contrast with the subject.