Aitutaki Coral

[Heath Bennett]

Here is my first attempt at using my surf housing as a snorkeling cam in Aitutaki, a beautiful island in the Cooks:









The biggest annoyance is eliminating the green cast by using red filters. Of course you will always want to shoot different distances, but you can't change filters... end up fixing as much as possible in photoshop.

I welcome anyone to fiddle with the last pic as I can't seem to get it right!

[christiand]

Hi HB,

thanks for sharing the underwater cosmos with us.
Wow, great images.

Cheers,
CD

p.s: sorry I can't help you with pp on the last one.

[wendellt]

amazing

your skill shine on land and in the water

[iposiniditos]

great stuff as always.
i love your work.

my favourite is the last. i like it as it is,
but if you want a little bit different cc,
maye one thought would be this



just a quick play in ps with selective colour.

let me know if you want to delete it.

[Louie]

These are great, so clear, I particularly like the last two.

[Heath Bennett]

Thanks for the comments all. I'm reasonably happy with them, not completely. I'm only completely happy when I know there is nothing more I could have done. Here I was so excited to be seeing what I was (and I was there for such a limited time), that I was rushing myself.

Iposiniditos - thanks for your different PP. I probably like it better than mine. So you just did sections rather than global... That seems like the only solution as it was impossible globally.

[ATJ]

Heath,

Unfortunately, you can be playing with filters to correct the light for ever. Different depths requires different filters and even going to the same depth at the same location may require a different filter from one day to the next (depending on the clarity of the water).

You can only do so much with post processing because once you have lost the colours there is no accurate way to bring them back.

That said, you have done a very good job using natural light.

[Heath Bennett]

Agreed ATJ, and thanks.

I think it was jethro who first sent me to a page which expained all about mireds, suspended solids and tech things like that.

The thing that I wished I shot the most were the giant turtles. Saw them surfacing but apparently they are more friendly in summertime...

[jben_net]

nice work i still need to see all ur cook shots

[ATJ]

Heath,

Turtles are a lot easier to shoot in deeper water when you are on SCUBA. They sleep on the bottom and even if they wake, they tend to be quite docile and make good subjects if you don't disturb them too much. When they are swimming around they don't hang around for long.

The good thing about snorkeling is you are restricted to shallow water and the colour of the light is still pretty good. You can get magic filters that you fit on the rear of the lens to improve the situation but in my opinion, you'll never get it perfect.

[Heath Bennett]

Thanks ATJ

My friend who runs the tours says the giant turtles rub their shells along his boat in the right season. Would be awesome. The main trouble being they only hang out in the deepest section of the lagoon, so there is no chance of natural light with them around coral.

Thanks for the link.

[ATJ]

Heath,

I hope you don't mind me posting pictures in your IR&C thread...

Here is a green turtle photographed at a depth of 16 metres:



Even with strobes it can be difficult to get the right colour balance.

And another at 10 metres:

[Heath Bennett]

No problem at all - welcomed.

Nice pics, I have my SCUBA license but am unwilling to go the strobe route at this stage (plus the housing wouldn't take it!). It is a pity that strobes can't completely simplify the WB issue.

[ATJ]

If all the lighting is from the strobe - e.g. macro or near macro - white balance is pretty straight forward. Once you start moving further from the subject it gets tricky either because there is a mix of natural light with the strobe but also because the light from the strobe is being affected as it passes through the water column.

[devilla101]

These are some really beautiful images. One day I hope to be able to do this

[NJ]

these are just awesome! u keep impressing me! my fav would have to be the first followed closely by the third, although i love them all, i think its the reflections off the surface