Advice needed

[Mojo]

Hi folks, I,am still relatively new to diving and i know nothing about photography.Ive just got myself an underwater housing for my sony cybershot.I,m taking it to the maldives in feb.Any advice on how to achieve the best results would be most gratefully accepted.Cheers .

[GLOC]

Buy a copy of Martin Edge's book about digital underwater photography for £25.

Have lots of light, shoot with the sun behind you if possible, shoot up into your subject, get close then closer still, make sure you have a fast enough shutter speed (1/60th at least if no strobe), work out what the lag is on your shutter and shoot ahead of something happening so that when the shutter is triggered when the subject is in the right place.

Then shoot lots and become proficient in the use of Photoshop or Adobe Lightroom.

[devilgas]

and.... don't forget to keep an eye on that little gauge that tells you how long you've got before you'll be breathing like the fishies.
and.... perfect your buoyancy techniques

etc etc

[Mojo]

Thanks guys.Some sound advice there.Do you reckon i will need to use the flash in the maldives or will it be better without.Thanks again for the prompt replys.

[devilgas]

Originally Posted by Mojo

Thanks guys.Some sound advice there.Do you reckon i will need to use the flash in the maldives or will it be better without.Thanks again for the prompt replys.

internal flash or external? if internal, you'll pretty much be restricted to macro as the proximity to the lens and the power will be limiting factors. i use flash most of the time, so yep, use flash.

[Mojo]

Yes it is an internal flash.Looks like ill be flashing away.Thanks again.Roll on feb.

[GLOC]

The only thing with using an internal flash is that if there are ANY particles in the water and you are taking shots anything more than a few feet away from your subject, you WILL get backscatter on the image.

[devilgas]

it'd be worth scouting ebay for a sea & sea strobe unit and coupling that to a digital adaptor from matthias heinrich in germany. personally, i use digi adaptors and ys60's. means they can be used with pretty much any non slr camera & housing.

[Mojo]

Even more great advice.I will certainly take it all on board.Looking forward now to getting some good pics. Cheers guys.

[Cussy]

My advice would be to get to know your camera topside. Shoot as many shots as you can in comfortable conditions where you can play with settings to see what each one does to the final result. Bottom time is precious, so make the most of topside. But remember that light levels are lower underwater, even in the Maldives, so get used to lower levels of light. If you plan on doing a lot of macro then practice on flowers or similar. You will then get used to your cameras auto-focus and should end up with better results.

But as has already been said, make sure the camera doesn't kill you or that it causes you you kill something else.

Also have a look at other people's photos - a lot about a good photo is the composition of the shot, not the cost of the equipment. So select a few shots you like and COPY them!! Instead of finding 10 Moray's in bad positions and snapping away, find the one that is in a good position and take a few of the well placed one.
HTH,
Rob