Just making sure I'm "normal"
Just making sure I'm "normal"
I'm new to UW photography, so I'm just wondering . . . please tell me I'm not the only newbie that takes a TON of pics during a dive only to discover that maybe 1-3 turn out the way I want. However, the ones that do turn out seem to be pretty good. Now if I could just remember *exactly* what I did to get them . . . and I haven't even started trying to frame the shot in an interesting way so they aren't all landscape and such. Sigh.
So here's a couple from the past 2 days. The first two I didn't do a thing to fiddle with the color. This one I tried to fiddle with the color a tad. Thoughts? Comments? Any feedback is appreciated.
So here's a couple from the past 2 days. The first two I didn't do a thing to fiddle with the color. This one I tried to fiddle with the color a tad. Thoughts? Comments? Any feedback is appreciated.
Last edited by ktb on Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Kelly
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Normal? Hmmm....
As with quite a few other divers on the board I subsribe to the "take a bazillion pics, throw them up against the wall, and the odds are that a couple will turn out."
One of the good things about doing that is that you begin to go from "yuck, that's a crappy picture", to "Yuck, that's a crappy picture, here's why it didn't turn out, and this is how I might change the shot in the future to make it better".
In the meantime, you aren't normal. Your x-ray eyes allow you to see the pics in this thread, and I can't see them!
As with quite a few other divers on the board I subsribe to the "take a bazillion pics, throw them up against the wall, and the odds are that a couple will turn out."
One of the good things about doing that is that you begin to go from "yuck, that's a crappy picture", to "Yuck, that's a crappy picture, here's why it didn't turn out, and this is how I might change the shot in the future to make it better".
In the meantime, you aren't normal. Your x-ray eyes allow you to see the pics in this thread, and I can't see them!
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
I know, I know. I hit submit when I meant to add the files. Sorry--they are there now.Tom Nic wrote:In the meantime, you aren't normal. Your x-ray eyes allow you to see the pics in this thread, and I can't see them!
Kelly
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
I also takes a billion pictures but I'm getting to the point where I only take 4 per subject. When I buy another strobe I will prob go back to taking 15 pictures of one subject because my experience level is zero in a dual strobe
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Your normal .. If I shoot 15 pics only 3 will turn out .. Taking Underwater pictures is a very slow learning Curve..
NWDC Rule #2 Pictures Or it didn't Happen
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Nice try, using a photography question for validation, but you are NOT normal. Good couple of pics though.
D(B)
D(B)
- ArcticDiver
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Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Never have taken a picture underwater; that will come next month when I go to Hawaii. But, on the surface I even got paid once in awhile for my images (helped pay for the hobby). In an uncontrolled environment like wildlife or sports photography it was not unusual to shoot a 36 exposure roll to get 2 or 3 good images. Now in a studio it was pretty much 1 for 1. That was pretty much the norm for most everyone I knew.
So, I think you may be ahead of the curve. Besides, in the digital age who cares how many images you shoot as long as you get what you want and don't run out of battery?
Edited: Oops, guess I took the question seriously. I'll defer to someone who knows you better :biggrin:
So, I think you may be ahead of the curve. Besides, in the digital age who cares how many images you shoot as long as you get what you want and don't run out of battery?
Edited: Oops, guess I took the question seriously. I'll defer to someone who knows you better :biggrin:
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- nice-diver
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Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
someone famous along time ago said 'your first 10,000 pictures don't count' so you have time to get a good one
the first three are nice
the first three are nice
i flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nice-diver/
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People are more violently opposed to fur than leather, because it's easier to harrass rich women than motorcycle gangs!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nice-diver/
Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life
People are more violently opposed to fur than leather, because it's easier to harrass rich women than motorcycle gangs!
- dphershman
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Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
My regular dive buddy has a great quote-- 'even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile!'
But my take on it is this-- closer is always better!
But my take on it is this-- closer is always better!
Dan Hershman
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
No you aren't normal. No one that dives is.
However, as to the amount of pictures you take; I took over 100 shots tonight and these are the ones I thought were ok.
However, as to the amount of pictures you take; I took over 100 shots tonight and these are the ones I thought were ok.
Reporter: "The helmet has a special meaning for many drivers. How important is it to you?"
Raikkonen: "It protects my head."
Raikkonen: "It protects my head."
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Thank you everyone! It's nice to know that it's a big club with free membership . . . so to speak.
And Defied, I may not be normal, but since you're my friend, what does that say about you?!?
And Defied, I may not be normal, but since you're my friend, what does that say about you?!?
Kelly
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Friend....Zookeeper....same thing....ktb wrote:Thank you everyone! It's nice to know that it's a big club with free membership . . . so to speak.
And Defied, I may not be normal, but since you're my friend, what does that say about you?!?
D(B)
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
defied wrote:Friend....Zookeeper....same thing....ktb wrote:Thank you everyone! It's nice to know that it's a big club with free membership . . . so to speak.
And Defied, I may not be normal, but since you're my friend, what does that say about you?!?
D(B)
Kelly
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
YOU ARE NOT NORMAL!!
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
None of us are normal!!! Normal people don't go swimming in 45 deg. water to take pictures of fishies!
With practice the keepers will increase and the deletes will decrease. However I still take at least a half dozen pics of anything I find interesting. Even if all 6 are OK you wasted nothing but bubbles.
With practice the keepers will increase and the deletes will decrease. However I still take at least a half dozen pics of anything I find interesting. Even if all 6 are OK you wasted nothing but bubbles.
http://dustys-lights.com/, An awesome light at an unbelievably low price
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Dusty's Lights on facebook
http://underthesound.smugmug.com/
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
[quote="Dusty2"]None of us are normal!!! Normal people don't go swimming in 45 deg. water to take pictures of fishies! [quote]
So true, so true . . .
So true, so true . . .
Kelly
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
i third that! I was thinking the same thing when we were diving ttn and it was 22 degrees outside and 45 in the waterktb wrote:Dusty2 wrote:None of us are normal!!! Normal people don't go swimming in 45 deg. water to take pictures of fishies!
So true, so true . . .
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
BTW, when you take 6 pictures of the same thing, think about what you might want to change after pic 2 or 3 -- strobe position, aperture, camera position, zoom (in or out) -- in other words, "bracket" the shot so you won't be "doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
Thank goodness for digital cameras and large storage chips! 36 (or 38) images with a Nikonos made it much harder to learn and get "the" shot.
Thank goodness for digital cameras and large storage chips! 36 (or 38) images with a Nikonos made it much harder to learn and get "the" shot.
- nwscubamom
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Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
What's funny is now I look back on the photos I took 9 years ago (that I thought at the time had turned out good!) and think, "Ewwww yuck!!"
Your skills will only get better with practice - and as Dan says, Closer is Better!
Start with shooting far enough away that you don't scare the fish, then gradually move in, shoot, move in some more, shoot another, move in closer...etc.
- Janna
Your skills will only get better with practice - and as Dan says, Closer is Better!
Start with shooting far enough away that you don't scare the fish, then gradually move in, shoot, move in some more, shoot another, move in closer...etc.
- Janna
Janna Nichols
My underwater photo galleries
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Seen any cool critters lately?
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My underwater photo galleries
REEF Citizen Science Program Manager
Seen any cool critters lately?
><((((°>
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Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
There are 2 competing trends here....
When you first start shooting, you're lucky to get 1 in 10 that are keepers. When you're an advanced amateur, you may only get 1 in 50 that are keepers (in my experience). The difference is in the details -- at first, any image that is properly exposed and in focus is a keeper, while later on an image must "pop" to be worthwhile. All the while you're getting better at framing the subject, filling the frame, and predicting the exposure of the shot, so while you may have equal or less numbers of truly "keeper" images, those images will be of much higher quality. of course, this is my humble opinion.
FWIW, I consider myself a serious amateur, and if I get 1 truly good shot a dive, I'm satisfied
When you first start shooting, you're lucky to get 1 in 10 that are keepers. When you're an advanced amateur, you may only get 1 in 50 that are keepers (in my experience). The difference is in the details -- at first, any image that is properly exposed and in focus is a keeper, while later on an image must "pop" to be worthwhile. All the while you're getting better at framing the subject, filling the frame, and predicting the exposure of the shot, so while you may have equal or less numbers of truly "keeper" images, those images will be of much higher quality. of course, this is my humble opinion.
FWIW, I consider myself a serious amateur, and if I get 1 truly good shot a dive, I'm satisfied
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
if im in a place where i cant take my time (boat diving) then i get maybe one really good pic out of 50 or 75ish but if i shore dive i have more time to slow down for the shot thats when i get around 5 to 10 great pics (macro not wide angle)lundysd wrote:There are 2 competing trends here....
When you first start shooting, you're lucky to get 1 in 10 that are keepers. When you're an advanced amateur, you may only get 1 in 50 that are keepers (in my experience). The difference is in the details -- at first, any image that is properly exposed and in focus is a keeper, while later on an image must "pop" to be worthwhile. All the while you're getting better at framing the subject, filling the frame, and predicting the exposure of the shot, so while you may have equal or less numbers of truly "keeper" images, those images will be of much higher quality. of course, this is my humble opinion.
FWIW, I consider myself a serious amateur, and if I get 1 truly good shot a dive, I'm satisfied
so just take your time guys (thats my trouble)
- MikeMeagher
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Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Youre normal. Just shoot as much as you can. I have taken over 33,000 underwater images over my life.. and feel that I only have about 100 that I really, really like. Guess I'm too much too picky.
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Back in the bad old days of film cameras if you were shooting a 36 frame roll and one or two photos came out in your underwater pics you were doing pretty damn good. From what I have seen in your photos it looks like you are on the right track. My recommendation is to read as much on photography as well as U/W photography as you can not too mention take a course or two. Also, take a look at what the pros are doing. People to watch would Barb Roy, David Doubilet, and Cathy Church. Check out and see how they are composing their shots and try to use that when you are composing your shots. Finally, don't be afraid to experiment.ktb wrote:I'm new to UW photography, so I'm just wondering . . . please tell me I'm not the only newbie that takes a TON of pics during a dive only to discover that maybe 1-3 turn out the way I want. However, the ones that do turn out seem to be pretty good. Now if I could just remember *exactly* what I did to get them . . . and I haven't even started trying to frame the shot in an interesting way so they aren't all landscape and such. Sigh.
So here's a couple from the past 2 days. The first two I didn't do a thing to fiddle with the color. This one I tried to fiddle with the color a tad. Thoughts? Comments? Any feedback is appreciated.
I hope this helps
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
Thanks everyone! It does seem to be a numbers game, so I plan to keep taking as many as possible.
Kelly
Re: Just making sure I'm "normal"
And...Greg AmptmanGreg wrote:take a look at what the pros are doing. People to watch would Barb Roy, David Doubilet, and Cathy Church. Check out and see how they are composing their shots and try to use that when you are composing your shots.
Yeah, go ahead and "google" Greg Amptman", You'll be busy for hours!
Hi, my name is Keith, and I'm a Dive Addict!