First dive with a strobe

[Helen F H]

Well despite the weather being a bit dodgy, we got out for a dive last night on the Karlsruhe. Hazel was pretty much solo down there and she was busy frying fish with her new torch everywhere we went, i was bringing up the rear wth the camera and its new strobe frantically taking pics of everything i could as the battery that had been fine on the boat was now showing its red warning light. Typical.

Anyhoo, out of the 40 or so pics, only two came out anything like ok. The others were:

Too dark (most of them)
Out of focus

The main problem was i kept forgetting to turn the strobe back on again which obviously isnt going to help matters. Also positioning it correctly seemed a major pain in the butt which i wasnt really expecting, i thought it would be far more point it in the right direction kinda thing.

I suspect the fact that it was late evening and pretty dark down there didnt help either, but it did mean there were lots of fishies

Anyhoo, here are the only two that came out:





These are some of the "close but no cigar" pics - just that little bit off







Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[Deep Baloo]

Yep, tell Hazel to charge her torch properly next time

[jorawley]

you seem to have got confused my dear - whats all this squidgey stuff in the pics??

expected guns, n anchor chains and more guns and rust..... yeesh...

(btw - glad to hear your both getting out diving)

jo xx

[Morag]

I leave my strobe on all the time (even when I get out the water sometimes ). AFAIUI, it only uses battery power when it is charging.

In low light conditions, my camera often has difficulty focusing on the subject. A small 'here it is' torch might help. On the Cameras Underwater site there is a pic (i'll find the linky) of how they suggest hooking a little spotter torch to the strobe. Get it in the right place and direction, and it will also tell you if you have aimed your strobe properly.

HTH

[Helen F H]

I actually have a little torch which i bought with the strobe, but didnt take it as the strobe was massive enough without it! Next time i will take it with me

[Tazzie]

Helen, I bought the Inon 240 strobes because they have a focussing light included on them which I thought was a brilliant Idea - only I never have strobes pointing at the subject as I get too much back scatter!

Defo a focussing light over here is really necessary, worst case scenario take a torch but I find it bloody hard to hold the camera AND torch and get settled!

Your second "close but no cigar" photo with the shadow on the rock, this I've found is purely cos you're only using one strobe so it can only light in one direction - either move the strobe to get the face of the rock or *KERCHING* time for two strobes LOL!

I like your first shot though, I'd love to have taken a photo of that green anenome close up! I never see those guys!

[Helen F H]

I leave my strobe on all the time (even when I get out the water sometimes ). AFAIUI, it only uses battery power when it is charging.

In low light conditions, my camera often has difficulty focusing on the subject. A small 'here it is' torch might help. On the Cameras Underwater site there is a pic (i'll find the linky) of how they suggest hooking a little spotter torch to the strobe. Get it in the right place and direction, and it will also tell you if you have aimed your strobe properly.

HTH

Yup, thats my strobe and the little torch i got with it

Right, all i have to do now is manage to get another few dives in to practice....

[triplefin]

Helen your battery problem may just be the cold. Last year up in Shetland on two occasions I got the battery light on the camera flashing at me even though I knew they were fully charged. I came to the conclusion it was the cold, there was no other possible explanation.

[Helen F H]

Could well be the cold - was a bit chilly down there. Need to make sure the battery i put in is totally full as well though, as i suspect it was rather less than full. I managed to get it through the dive without it snuffing it, but it wasnt a happy camera

[StuartC]

definitely need a spotting light to let the camera focus if in low light
but you don't want it too strong or tightly focussed a spot as it'll show up on your pictures or possible cast a funny shadow