SeR_Cyclops
Member
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- Mazdaspeed Protege
Man that is an awesome shot!
Any photographers in here?
- Thread starter ChopstickHero
- Start date
you don't have to renew it, they're good for life!
I got my fiancee the open water class for Christmas, hoping to do some diving on the honeymoon!
dudeeeeee the G11 is AMAZING. if you are going to be diving deeper than 50', just make sure you pick up an external strobe... even if it's a cheap one. makes a world of difference!
Thanks, man, I have tons more on my flickr...
diving pics from west palm beach area...
FunkyBuddha
Tuned by Slick Nick
- :
- 2003 Spicy Orange MSP
That'd be great. Post them on here so others can learn. I've never shot under water before but I'll be snorkeling though. I wont' have time to get my scuba certifications between now and then. But we might go swimming w/ the sharks and that underwater case would come in handy.
Rule #1: Get low. You see a fish, you take a picture, you get back to your computer and realize that the picture sucks because the background is crappy sand rather than beautiful blue water. The solution? Get low and shoot up or at least horizontal.
Rule #2: Remember remember remember the rule of thirds. Either frame your photo correctly, or leave enough empty space to do so in post. Underwater photos are especially improved by using this rule.
Rule #3: Get a good wide angle lens. This is one of the most important things to have when first starting. Since water is rarely debris free, being as close as possible to your subject will minimize the amount of back scatter in your photos. Remember, the closer you are to your subject, the better.
Rule #4: Get an external flash. The built in flash is great for taking pictures above water, but below the surface, it's main function is to light up particles that you can't see in the water making little white dots to ruin your pictures. Flashing from a different angle than your lens almost completely solves this problem.
Rule #5: Take TONS of pictures. You're going to be very disappointed with some of the pictures you thought would be AMAZING. Take enough that you can be surprised by one that you thought would be just mediocre. Some of my best pictures are of boring stuff that was framed interestingly.
Rule #6: Don't be afraid of post processing. All of my best pictures are processed to the max. Color enhanced, sharpened, noise reduced, and spot healed like there is no tomorrow. You're most likely not going to take perfect pictures, so don't feel like you're cheating if you end up removing some backscatter or bumping the colors a bit in post.
That's the main stuff. If I think of anything else, I'll post it. Have a look at my pictures and try to copy the ones you like. That's what I do with other people.
Rule #2: Remember remember remember the rule of thirds. Either frame your photo correctly, or leave enough empty space to do so in post. Underwater photos are especially improved by using this rule.
Rule #3: Get a good wide angle lens. This is one of the most important things to have when first starting. Since water is rarely debris free, being as close as possible to your subject will minimize the amount of back scatter in your photos. Remember, the closer you are to your subject, the better.
Rule #4: Get an external flash. The built in flash is great for taking pictures above water, but below the surface, it's main function is to light up particles that you can't see in the water making little white dots to ruin your pictures. Flashing from a different angle than your lens almost completely solves this problem.
Rule #5: Take TONS of pictures. You're going to be very disappointed with some of the pictures you thought would be AMAZING. Take enough that you can be surprised by one that you thought would be just mediocre. Some of my best pictures are of boring stuff that was framed interestingly.
Rule #6: Don't be afraid of post processing. All of my best pictures are processed to the max. Color enhanced, sharpened, noise reduced, and spot healed like there is no tomorrow. You're most likely not going to take perfect pictures, so don't feel like you're cheating if you end up removing some backscatter or bumping the colors a bit in post.
That's the main stuff. If I think of anything else, I'll post it. Have a look at my pictures and try to copy the ones you like. That's what I do with other people.
SeR_Cyclops
Member
- :
- Mazdaspeed Protege
I just picked up a Canon Rebel XSi. I am a noob the only thing i know how to do is turn this camera on and snap a pic on auto mode lol. I would love to have some advice on where to start learning how to use this camera.
Awesome bro! Best advice is to read the entire manual. Then start practicing and experimenting with different settings.
I like photomatix
I think it takes a lot of time fiddling with settings to get a pic to look the way I want it to look, and I'm still not 100% sure on what some of the sliders do (like luminosity and gamma), but I've used 3 different ones and it's the best.
put it on full manual and learn about the exposure triangle
shutter speed
iso sensitivity
aperture
they all affect the amount of light that the sensor records, and they all have a trade off. Learn them. Embrace them.
SeR_Cyclops
Member
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- Mazdaspeed Protege
Ok, Thanks I have been taking some pics but its dark outside when i got the cam. Im going to take some pics tomorrow.
Ok thanks! I hope to learn to take some kick A$$ pics.
kickniteasy
Member
there's a ton of canon forums that will help you out. I've learned a ton from the nikon forums just asking "how did you get that effect".
SeR_Cyclops
Member
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- Mazdaspeed Protege
I didnt think of that but ya know what thats a good idea! thank you!
FunkyBuddha
Tuned by Slick Nick
- :
- 2003 Spicy Orange MSP
Sleeper - thanks for the write up man.
sEr Cyclops - cool dude...read the manual page by page. Each page you read, then do on the camera, then read another page, then do it again. Then "put the pages together" in a real application, etc etc and so on. Invest in a tripod so you can take night pics and use what you learn but at night.
Judman - I use Photomatix..both the cs plugin and the standalone. Remember to do further processing AFTER you do an HDR conversion. that's what makes or breaks the conversions.
sEr Cyclops - cool dude...read the manual page by page. Each page you read, then do on the camera, then read another page, then do it again. Then "put the pages together" in a real application, etc etc and so on. Invest in a tripod so you can take night pics and use what you learn but at night.
Judman - I use Photomatix..both the cs plugin and the standalone. Remember to do further processing AFTER you do an HDR conversion. that's what makes or breaks the conversions.
SeR_Cyclops
Member
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- Mazdaspeed Protege
lol i just got done messing around with the camera in P mode and changing some of the settings and my pics came out like crap. definitively gonna take some time.
FlyinHawaiian
Member
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- Mazdaspeed Protege #1460
Judman - I use a freeware called Dynamic Photo. Its a little wonky, but I like the results I've gotten from them. It leaves a watermark at the bottom, but it can be cropped out easy, or just add some white-space to each image in pshop before you throw them in the program...
for sure it will, forget P mode
read, read, read
the manual imo is crap
buy a book called understanding exposure you will ramp up your learning time dramatically
very simple / and its not aboring bookFlyinHawaiian
Member
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- Mazdaspeed Protege #1460
But don't be discouraged... It'll take about 2,000 photos through it before you really start to understand the camera. Sounds like a lot, but you'll be surprised on how many you actually take... especially when your hard drive starts to fill up!
