any recommendations for red-sea photography?

[Tim B]

Hi all,

Wondered if I could get some pointers from the wealth of expirience found on this great website?

Next week I am divinging for the first time in the red sea. Its a live aboard and hopefully all the usual favs will be dived (thistlegorm!)

I have a Nikon coolpix and fantasea housing which is ok but I really want to get the most from this trip in terms of photographs.

As a point and shoot with its own flash do people think that it will suffice? I guess I want to have some good photos to look back on without splashing out on too much. Unfortunately the housing does not have a strobe facility- I would just be using its own internal flash.

Regards

Tim B

[Richie]

I found that the internal flash was not very useful; however setting the white balance on a regular (ie depth change) basis has produced some encouraging results.

I am worse than useless in this game but found that this did work. I used a wrist slate as a white reference.

I've been threatening to post some here and hopefully will do this weekend when I've sorted through and adjusted some - see what you think.

[Fiji Dave]

Tim,

Have a look at http://photobucket.com/albums/y34/Fiji_Dave/
These are my red sea shots from Sharm, back in February. They were taken with a Sony DSC-P120 in a sony housing using only the internal flash (The camera was a present and I hadn't time to get a strobe sorted before we went)

Personally for a first timer like myself I think they're pretty darned good, but quite a few would definitely have benefited from having a strobe. Particularly the shots deeper down and inside the thistlegorm.

The pictures aren't perfect but they certainly work as a reminder of a great trip, and after all, that's mainly what taking photos is about IMHO. Though having said that, I hope to have a strobe sorted before I go to the red sea again in October.

You say the housing doesn't have a strobe facility, have you looked at strobes with an optical sensor. If I understand it right, it's a small patch which sticks on the front of the housing infront of the cameras internal flash, the patch is connected via a fibre optic cable to the strobe and then when the camera flash goes off, the light triggers the strobe.

(Or do you mean you can't physically attach a strobe arm to the housing?)

Have you tried speaking to someone like Alan James at Alan James Photography, or the guys at Cameras Underwater. I've spoken to both of them and have found them helpful in the extreme.
(In fact the cameras underwater people even talked themselves out of 300+ quids worth of sale because they said they'd rather give me good honest advice than sell me something I'd regret buying later!)

Either way, you'll have some cracking dives and get sopme good shots. Don't forget to show us the result when you get back!

Cheers
Dave

Originally Posted by Tim B

Hi all,

Wondered if I could get some pointers from the wealth of expirience found on this great website?

Next week I am divinging for the first time in the red sea. Its a live aboard and hopefully all the usual favs will be dived (thistlegorm!)

I have a Nikon coolpix and fantasea housing which is ok but I really want to get the most from this trip in terms of photographs.

As a point and shoot with its own flash do people think that it will suffice? I guess I want to have some good photos to look back on without splashing out on too much. Unfortunately the housing does not have a strobe facility- I would just be using its own internal flash.

Regards

Tim B

[Tim B]

excellent photos and great advice- Im just desciding to part with £ 270.00 for a strobe package!!! Phew they are expensive!

[recurve]

Originally Posted by Tim B

excellent photos and great advice- Im just desciding to part with £ 270.00 for a strobe package!!! Phew they are expensive!

Have a look at this page.

http://www.devilgas.com/uwstrobe/index.php

May not be all bells and whistles, but what have you got to lose?

[John N]

You should be able to get good pics with the internal flash (or turn it off and use available light), although a strobe will give you more flexibility.

The usual tips apply:

Take pics shallow (first ten metres)

Get low, shoot up to make the best of the sunlight.

Get close, then get closer. If you use the internal strobe you are more likely to get back scatter so get nose to nose with your subject.

Pick subjects that don't move. It will give you a chance to practice taking pics and get close enough.

Don't chase fish. Pictures of fishes arses are crap and they are a lot faster than you.

Try and get some water in the picture. Awkward with things like lionfish but better than having them in a cave.

There are lots of options for subjects who are slow enough to give you time to work on your shots so concentrate on those. If your camera has the usual long shutter lag it will help with this as well. These could include lionfish, scorpionfish, turtles (feeding ones are the best 'cos they mostly ignore you), morays, corals and of course other divers who can pose.

[Jules]

Bethi has a coolpix and got some great pics in the red sea. My advice would be the usual ones about reducing the column of watr between you and your subject, shoot up etc.

Definitely turn OFF the flash for any shots that aren't close up machro type.

Jules

[Tim B]

Dave

Many thanks for the advice- I purchased a YS-25 strobe from Alan James- wow are they helpful! Its expensive but worth it I think!

[hopper]

Originally Posted by Tim B

Dave

Many thanks for the advice- I purchased a YS-25 strobe from Alan James- wow are they helpful! Its expensive but worth it I think!

HI Tim,

What made up your mind on the strobe? The YS-25 wasn't in the frame originaly, as I said on the other thread, I am interested in simular.

Happy snapping

Hopper

[Tim B]

Well Hopper it started with a call to alan James- they stock all sorts of stobes but suggested that the ability to have different flash power settings is a real advantage. To have a fixed strobe that may over expose or "wash" a photo is nearly as bad as not having enough light at all. I am not sure at this stage if I have made the right choice though. I understand that the "25" is ok for distances of between 1-2 metres based on some reviews- A more powerful one would be needed for greater distances. God they are expensive aren't they?