Nudis and more nudis (7Skies May)

[DTan]

My contribution of nudis. (not nude mermaids )

Please comment/critique. Many Thanks. (am learning so don't need to hold back the shots)

ok before u laugh, can i ask are all these nudibrancs??? Suddenly i'm not too confident. esp of #1 :sweat:
#1a

#1b

#2a

#2b

#3a

#3b

colour looks weird cuz it was overexposed, probably due to me using 2 strobes, so i reduced the power of the lamp while scanner. Not sure whether it works. Anyone knows if this shot can be salvaged with PS?

A general observation of my nudi shots is that i tend to place the subject very close to the bottom of the frame. I'm just used to the idea that i have to place it close to the framer o/w it won't be sharp. Doesn't seem like it right? Kthan, any comments on this point?
Of cuz i can use a smaller aperture to experiment. Next trip i will remember not to be ks and place the subject right by the framer...

Anyone wants to help me id #1 ???

So much for self-critique. Ok, i'm done. Now shoot.... Thanks.

 

[kng]

The red nudi is very lovely - pity that in the last shot, it was covered with sand. Bumping up the contrast with levels and cropping out most of the sandy portion can perhaps help to improve the shot. Generally i find that the scanned shots seem to have low levels of contrast - some adjustments to your twain program may be needed.

As I learnt from waisj on the trip, shooting the head of the nudi will look better than the backside. Next time must try his technique of "posing" the nudi. ;p

Question for the experts (you know who you are)... if the subject is on a white sandy bottom, what is the best way to light it? Strobes tend to reflect off the sand and result in a over-exposed shot... and we all know that over-exposed shots can't be salvaged... :think:

 

[WhyZzzzzz]

The red nudi is very lovely - pity that in the last shot, it was covered with sand. Bumping up the contrast with levels and cropping out most of the sandy portion can perhaps help to improve the shot. Generally i find that the scanned shots seem to have low levels of contrast - some adjustments to your twain program may be needed.

As I learnt from waisj on the trip, shooting the head of the nudi will look better than the backside. Next time must try his technique of "posing" the nudi. ;p

Question for the experts (you know who you are)... if the subject is on a white sandy bottom, what is the best way to light it? Strobes tend to reflect off the sand and result in a over-exposed shot... and we all know that over-exposed shots can't be salvaged... :think:

placement. although not a very good thing to do, if you place it on higher ground, you can shoot upwards. and with the right aperature, you can create a dark background.

test it out on your next dive or in a swimming pool ( cheaper )

 

[kthan]

for shots with a framer, it is really difficult to compose the subject. And because of the fixed focal length, u have too stick the framer "in your face". catch 22 , damned if u do and damed if u don't.....

i also tend to have my subject at the bottom of my pic when i started out. I guess the only way is to really remind yrself to framer higher. I usually place the subject slightly behing the framer instead of on the same plane. using a high f stop will help get the subject in focus.

since ur 2nd strobe is on slave and not TTL, it is not surprising to get overexposed macro. because shooting slide has no instant feedback, i don;t know if dailling a TTL on the slave strobe will work. on the S&S, i use dual strobe for wide angle and only one for macro, since i don;t syn cord the second strobe. besides, i shooooootttttt film , not slide. u know the advantage now.

how to not overexpose the sand? i am still trying to circumvent this one.

 

[beivied]

all are nudibranches, #1 is nembrotha species, i think dusky nembrotha, #2 is the one whyzz took in tioman lo, some funeral ju***** ;p . #3 is chromodoris species i think. if not, then maybe some girl**doris. usually, you can recognise a nudibranch by its rhino phores (the two feelery things on the head) and gills (the bunch of flower like pattern on the back). hope this helps

as for the photos, i personally feel that the colours are a bit washed out. is it because of the scanning? the first photo might have been better if you could shift more to your right, so at least catching more front of the nembrotha. i do not think it has to be a head front shot, but same as focussing on the eye will "make"the picture, giving more proportion of the front than the back will also be good i think. same for the funeral nudibranch (keep forgetting.. is it some jurino or what.... )

those kind of rules of one third i have yet to fully understand, and i know that DTan you like to give space to your pics. for #1 i will still feel the left side should be cropped a bit due to the backscatter. distracting.

PS can help to salvage underexposed photos better than it can for overexposed shots, as usually over exposure means loss of details. however, for your last shot, i still recommend a crop, as most of the whites are on the sand. crop that off before trying to use ps to salvage. i think it should work better.

i just say agar agar what i think should work.. the experts, if i say anything that doesnt sound right or can be improved, pls point out hor

 

[DTan]

jorunna funebris that's all i remember.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Thanks all for the effort in commenting and the critiques. I really appreciate it. Nice to have so much to read.

1. One more thing i just remember, kthan, did u have a problem with your framer appearing in your pic? I have a couple of shots with this problem.

2. Macro with one strobe. My previous posts, there were comments that the lighting is harsh and only from the left. This time round with two strobes, that shd avoid the mentioned problems BUT i'm left with the risk of overexposing the subject which is :nono: for slides... another catch 22???

3. kng's point of overexposing when on sandy bottom and whyzz's reply of placement. Any other ways? if not using placement but still shooting down on sand?

4. beivied & kng, i have no idea when it comes to something too technical like scanning or twain or PS. i'm very very idiot and no proofing can help. :embrass:

and as for #1, i almost cannot tell where is the head (i know the horns) or the backside. i admit that was almost a point-and-shoot moment. or if i remember correctly, not much space to manoveur. was that in a crevice?
and yes beivied. i like space in my photos. Cannot overcome that. I can't bring myself to shoot something (not that i can with my setup) right in the face covering the whole frame or crop something that leaves me only with the subject. Maybe i'm not too much into documentary/informative type photos. Someone can try. I'm open to suggestions.

Once again, thanks for the replies. Keep them coming in. We're all learning esp me.

 

[WhyZzzzzz]

jorunna funebris that's all i remember.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Thanks all for the effort in commenting and the critiques. I really appreciate it. Nice to have so much to read.

1. One more thing i just remember, kthan, did u have a problem with your framer appearing in your pic? I have a couple of shots with this problem.

2. Macro with one strobe. My previous posts, there were comments that the lighting is harsh and only from the left. This time round with two strobes, that shd avoid the mentioned problems BUT i'm left with the risk of overexposing the subject which is :nono: for slides... another catch 22???

3. kng's point of overexposing when on sandy bottom and whyzz's reply of placement. Any other ways? if not using placement but still shooting down on sand?

4. beivied & kng, i have no idea when it comes to something too technical like scanning or twain or PS. i'm very very idiot and no proofing can help. :embrass:

and as for #1, i almost cannot tell where is the head (i know the horns) or the backside. i admit that was almost a point-and-shoot moment. or if i remember correctly, not much space to manoveur. was that in a crevice?
and yes beivied. i like space in my photos. Cannot overcome that. I can't bring myself to shoot something (not that i can with my setup) right in the face covering the whole frame or crop something that leaves me only with the subject. Maybe i'm not too much into documentary/informative type photos. Someone can try. I'm open to suggestions.

Once again, thanks for the replies. Keep them coming in. We're all learning esp me.

although i have not tried this before, perhaps you can try to aim your strobes up and away from the subject and the ground, allowing only the outer ring of light to hit the subject..... theory only ok?! heheheh... dun claim damages from me if your shots dun come out. hahaha..

or perhaps if you can use a neutral density filter or strobe diffuser to soften the lighting, it might help too.

or you could choose to dive in manado only..then you totally avoid the problem!! idea right??!

 

[clive]

although i have not tried this before, perhaps you can try to aim your strobes up and away from the subject and the ground, allowing only the outer ring of light to hit the subject.....

sounds like using bounce flash leh? paiseh UW can use bounce card or not. :think: .

 

[DTan]

or you could choose to dive in manado only..then you totally avoid the problem!! idea right??!

I love this suggestion. But the house reefs also have sand which is whitish in colour right?

 

[beivied]

i think using bounce card should be ok. something that i have been wanting to try also.

reflection off sands is almost no choice, i think. just try to avoid hitting too much light on teh sand, maybe be being on level with your subject etc

 

[kthan]

1. One more thing i just remember, kthan, did u have a problem with your framer appearing in your pic? I have a couple of shots with this problem.

2. Macro with one strobe. My previous posts, there were comments that the lighting is harsh and only from the left. This time round with two strobes, that shd avoid the mentioned problems BUT i'm left with the risk of overexposing the subject which is :nono: for slides... another catch 22???

1. i don't have this problem. but i have only been using the 2T and not 3T.

2. remove the strobe from the arm . overhead lighting. works for me....

Eric

 

[Goondoo]

those kind of rules of one third i have yet to fully understand, and i know that DTan you like to give space to your pics. for #1 i will still feel the left side should be cropped a bit due to the backscatter. distracting.

PS can help to salvage underexposed photos better than it can for overexposed shots, as usually over exposure means loss of details. however, for your last shot, i still recommend a crop, as most of the whites are on the sand. crop that off before trying to use ps to salvage. i think it should work better.

How about this?

 

[DTan]

U people are seriously tempting me to rely on PS... arghs!!! very smooth work goondoo
I can't quite tell what has been done but i know something has been done. smooth... cool!

 

[DTan]

I'm not sure if anyone noticed but the bokeh produced by my camera is DAMN UGLY. boxed instead of nice out of focus circles or blurs. arghs!

i find the blurred boxes very fake. Like some kind of pixelation or sth like that. UGLY UGLY

 

[DTan]

Kng's contributions.

Who has PS software to lend me...

Managed to bring the colours out... impressive.

 

[waisj]

Hi DTan,

If memory serves me right, it would be the Nembrotha Cristata. Though i might be wrong. Will check and confirm tonight.

As for the shots, I find that compositional aspects to be quite satisfactory. One thing good is that you left some space for the Nudibranchs to "breath" which is good. a shot that is too tight simple spoils it.

Though so, i find that photography Nudibranch butts do not really flatter the subjects. I would personally like to see shots that are more of less centered like the last one. i find nudibranchs looks the best when they are "looking" at you... and "talking" to you

Another point that you might want to consider are the curled nembrotha sp shots, try to centric you photos more to the right, so as to be able to capture the rhinophores. It is a pity that the rhinophores were not visible. else i'd reckon it will be a absolutely stunning shot.

None the less, good effort, especially ofr a second try.
If next time you do have a chance, to try a CFWA with a sun-burst with such curled nudibranch shots. I believe it will be absolutely stunning.

 

[DTan]

Waisj, what is CFWA (I presume wide angle) and which one is the nembrotha? #1 or #3? and how to try sunburst with curled nudi? very cheem. head cracking already.

In most portraiture, butts do not flatter subjects. u are right.

Thanks for tips. I will take horns rather than butts next time. (butts just excites me haha!)

 

[waisj]

As I learnt from waisj on the trip, shooting the head of the nudi will look better than the backside. Next time must try his technique of "posing" the nudi. ;p

if the subject is on a white sandy bottom, what is the best way to light it? Strobes tend to reflect off the sand and result in a over-exposed shot... and we all know that over-exposed shots can't be salvaged... :think:

Heh.. yeah and best of all it is not abrasive and ABSOLUTELY no harm is done to them.

Now for the sandy bottom thingy. I will normally underexpose by a stop or more. no matter how clever the ttl is the chances of over exposure is still almost 100%. Another point is what whyzzzz has said, aim the strobes 60 degrees upwards with respect to the bottom. Again will be using side lighting. thus shadows will be a pain.

 

[beivied]

number 1 is a nembrotha. wa lao, waisj i really have to hand it to you. you can pinpoint exactly what nembrotha it is, esp when nembrothas look so similar. :sweat:

goondoo, good job! next seed teach me k. i know someone explained on uwcs but i keep forgetting la

 

[beivied]

i like kng's push up of the colours using PS
makes the nembrotha look more alive.
but for my personal preference i would find the background a bit over...