Wide angle with big aperture6/25/2023 ![]() Reds, oranges and yellows work best.Ī great subject like a sea lion, dolphin, shark, jellyfish, etc. Getting great colors means getting very close to the subject, filling the frame and having the sun behind the subject so there is not too much ambient light hitting the subject. I like to use a sunburst, dive model, school of fish, boat silhouette, giant kelp or rigs structure as my background. Combine them with a background subject for an awesome photo. Starfish, crinoids, anemone fish, anemones, lionfish, squid, sea snakes, soft corals and sea fans all make great foreground subjects. There is an entire section on underwater composition in the guide, I suggest you check it out! Beautiful Foreground plus Beautiful Background If I find a good foreground subject, I have been known to wait until a good background subject swims by, if there are good marine life subjects in the area. It is important to close down your aperture so the sun is not blown out, and you need to get close to your subject, because strobe light does not travel far when using small apertures. If I see the boat on the surface silhouetted, I'll often look for a subject to use as a foreground model for that shot. The foreground subject should take up a significant portion of the screen.Ī strong shot has a lit foreground subject, and a strong background subject like the sun, a dive model, a school of fish, or a structure. Most people do not make their foreground subject large enough in the photo. If you are using the T okina 10-17mm fisheye lens, you will get much less backscatter at the 17mm range, which is focal length you should use when first starting out, shooting at 10mm is much more difficult. ![]() Keep the strobes away from the corners of your photos (the 10PM / 2PM position on a clock). When using a wide-angle lens, and especially a fisheye lens, you will notice that the dome shade protects the camera lens from strobe light when the strobe is directly overhead, or to the sides (the 12 noon, 3PM or 9PM position on a clock). The more particles in the water, the more you will have to point the strobes outward. You can try pointing the strobes at the subject, but that usually will result in some backscatter. I have them out wide for schools of fish, pulled in tight for close-focus wide angle, and one above the camera and one on the side when shooting vertically. When shooting wide-angle, I am moving my strobes around alot. I recommend getting the best strobes that you can afford. Strobe position is very important for wide-angle underwater photography. We have many articles on the site that get into settings in more details, including settings for specific cameras. The 3rd mistake is not getting close enough to the subject - 1 or 2 ft away is best. The 2nd mistake is trying to shoot a "scene" instead of a particular subject. The number one mistake people make is not shooting at an upward angle - resulting in a low contrast photo. Setting the strobe power yourself is not difficult after a little bit of practise. Now aways I do not use TTL for wide-angle, because it is difficult for the electronics to get the lighting right. If it is too dark, slow down your shutter speed. If it is too bright, make your shutter speed faster. Your shutter speed will control the blue color of the water in the background. If I am shooting in low-vis water, or subjects further away, I may increase my ISO to ISO 200 or even 400. For close-focus wide-angle, or shooting into the sun, you will want your aperture to be smaller. If I am shooting subjects further away, I may open up my aperture to F5.6. ![]() You can start with F8, ISO 100, 1/125th on your first dive. That means setting the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO yourself. If you are shooting with strobes, you will want to shoot in manual mode. If the lens is zoomable, you'll also want a zoom gear. The wide-angle lens should be at least as wide as 18mm on a full-frame sensor, preferable wider. #3 - A fisheye lens, a wide-angle lens or a wide-angle wet lens. A small one for a fisheye lens and close-focus wide-angle, a large one for a rectilinear wide-angle lens or for over-under split shots Pick someone else's photo you want to aspire too, ask people how your photo stacked up to that one. Ask some experienced underwater photographers to look at your photos, tell them you don't want to hear "nice job" or other compliments, just constructive feedback. Start with ambient light - use my top 10 ambient light tips, then practise lighting with strobes, then put the two together. #3 - Learn what makes a beautiful wide-angle photo. #2 - Learn the following: Lighting, Composition, Settings, Subject Selection. #1 - Get a wide-angle lens, read our best underwater lenses article. 5 Steps to Great Wide Angle Underwater Photos Reading this article will help, going on one of our underwater photography workshops will help even more. The truth is, it can take years of practise to get good at wide-angle photography.
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