October 30, 2011

underwater #3

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Still no new photos, so here are some more from the archives. These underwater shots were taken with the Fuji Finepix XP30, an inexpensive compact camera that I had tons of fun with (I spent hours shooting with it underwater, it's seriously fun). Straight from the camera, the photos are rather flat and not very expressive; I suppose because light underwater is so diffused it does not create a lot of contrast and the camera does not compensate for that (also, the fact that I was photographing boring, brown seaweed instead of colourful corals and other interesting stuff like that, may have something to do with it). So I used Photoshop to bring out the colours and contrast. A few more photos below.


This photo is completely wrong. It was supposed to be a photo of a sea cucumber, but AF on the Fuji Finepix XP30 is a bit slow, which is a problem underwater as it's hard to keep the camera steady. Basically, I dove down to take a photo of a sea cucumber and some algae in the background and by the time I managed to get the shot into focus, I began drifting upwards, so my hand moved, I disturbed the sand on the sea floor, and I ended up with a photo that completely missed the thing I was trying to photograph. For some reason I still like it, though.


Apart from the fact AF is slow, the camera's light metering is also a bit... wonky. Sometimes you can take two or three shots one after another of the same setting, and they'll all be exposed differently, so it's necessary to take repeated shots of the same subject. On the other hand, when you manage to get the shot into focus and properly exposed, the underwater macros can turn out really great. Like this one here – I love that I managed to capture these little "hairs" on the seaweed. The photos may be showing only the boring seaweed, but I never see it like this underwater, which is why I like it and find it interesting.


This is another version of this photo posted earlier here. Needless to say, it was heavily edited in Photoshop to get these colours, as this is just some boring, yellowish-grey seaweed... But I do love the light underwater.

4 comments

Anonymous [ 30/10/2011, 23:26 ]

These are gorgeous, just stunning. You've done a great job with the colours.

Anonymous [ 31/10/2011, 18:39 ]

I like your photos, because they have a strong lead momentus, be that theme-wise or in coloring. keep on the great work.

Milena [ 31/10/2011, 21:03 ]

Thank you both :)

janina [ 16/11/2012, 15:00 ]

Yes, I like the eclectic nature of your photos, sowing much adventure and experimentation. I like this one, especially the top pic, because of its lomo-like effect and bokeh. The flat colours are a bonus! Keep going.... :o)

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