A few underwater photos from Carraroe, Co. Galway...

joeKel73 · 12-04-2010 3:44pm #1

We need more underwater photographers on here! Here's a few shots from yesterday off the coral beach in Carraroe, Co. Galway. First time diving with the newly acquired Canon G10, very happy with the results so far.

C&C Welcome....

Joe

Ricky91t · 12-04-2010 3:55pm

Wow! I'd love to do this! Great shots

Roy Rogers · 12-04-2010 4:51pm

I like 'em.

One question -- with underwater photography, what do you have to do about light? What kind of adjustments would you have to make for being down there, if any?

I can see from the EXIF that you used the flash -- I've got the G9 myself, and find the flash to be a bit harsh in most cases (as you'll get with a pop-up/built-in). That said, I've never used it underwater! Does the water diffuse the light?

djd80 · 12-04-2010 4:51pm

Nice Shots...Very Clear...

Keedowah · 12-04-2010 4:56pm

Great shots!

Do you dive anywhere else in Carraroe - or is the Doilin beach the best you have seen?

joeKel73 · 12-04-2010 5:06pm

Roy Rogers wrote: »

One question -- with underwater photography, what do you have to do about light? What kind of adjustments would you have to make for being down there, if any?

I can see from the EXIF that you used the flash -- I've got the G9 myself, and find the flash to be a bit harsh in most cases (as you'll get with a pop-up/built-in). That said, I've never used it underwater! Does the water diffuse the light?

Well when underwater everything is moving, including you... so you need a fast shutter speed to prevent motion blur. I'd use a minimum of 1/100sec.

The problem then is you need more light, and that reduces with depth too. So for all the shots above, apart from the diver ones, they are lit practically entirely by flash. I used 1/500sec and iso80 for most of them which would have come out very very dark without flash.

The flash on the G10 is harsh, but it's diffused by the large diffuser on the housing. This has two purposes - without it, the housing lens actually casts a shadow across the image and it also cuts down on scatter-back. By diffusing the light out different directions it prevents direct harsh reflections back from small particles in the water. Ideally you'd use a strobe on an arm for this!

For the diver one they were too far away to use the flash as a lot of scatter-back would be highlighted between them and the camera. So I upped the iso and lowered the shutter speed to the point of just about preventing motion blur. That shot isn't great, but good starting point for the next dive!

joeKel73 · 12-04-2010 5:07pm

Keedowah wrote: »

Do you dive anywhere else in Carraroe - or is the Doilin beach the best you have seen?

I haven't, Doilin beach is very handy for parking up, getting in and out. If there is somewhere else you'd recommend I'm all ears!

Ricky91t · 12-04-2010 5:35pm

Who thinks foto-joe should arrange a underwater meet up? :pac:

joeKel73 · 12-04-2010 5:39pm

I'd love to! Who dives and has UW camera?!

PCPhoto · 12-04-2010 7:09pm

foto joe wrote: »

I'd love to! Who dives and has UW camera?!

me.... but only just got my PADI qualification - so not uber confident/good underwater.

have a 5D and underwater housing and strobe.

Visuelle · 12-04-2010 9:20pm

Great shots, I am in the process of gathering a collection of underwater shots, I am off to Malaysia soon so I am sure I will get some cracking shots on my dives, I will post some here when I sort them all out.

stunt_penguin · 12-04-2010 9:30pm

I had my first dive with my new Powershot D10 back in December:

http://www.chrisdidthis.com/?p=306

it's a great wee cam, although I wish I could have RAW output- the noise reduction is a bit muddy. I mostly use it when I'm out kayaking, although it's good to 10 meters, which is good enough for a shallow dive (which is where most of the light is, anyway

)

Edit : it also has an 'underwater' white balance feature so it mostly cancels out the tint present when you dive

greeneyedspirit · 12-04-2010 9:55pm

How cool are these! Well done, they're fantastic! I love the second one

Fenster · 12-04-2010 11:03pm

Bokeh! Where the hell's your fifty?

twowheelsonly · 12-04-2010 11:15pm

I'd love to get into it, been diving since the eighties but have missed out a lot in the past 3/4 years.
This is one that a friend took in Lanzarote @ 32metres(ish) with the camera he got from Aldi/Lidl for less than €100 !!!! Obviously not a patch on the likes of the G10 etc but perfect for snapshots - probably could be improved with practice as well. This was his first time using it and he hasn't got a clue about photography. A good cheap way to start though!!

joeKel73 · 13-04-2010 12:25pm

twowheelsonly wrote: »

...the camera he got from Aldi/Lidl for less than €100 !!!! .....

.....A good cheap way to start though!!

I'd highly recommend looking out for housing for some of the older Canon Powershot cameras, they've full manual control and give great photos for the price. My previous camera (Canon Powershot A570is) I got for €40 on eBay and the housing for €40 on adverts.ie . So €80 setup and it took these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36224551@N04/sets/72157623196281395/detail/

Well worth the €80 as this shot won me a dive computer worth around €750 about a month ago!! :eek: I got the G10 and housing seperately both second hand too, so there are bargains to be had, keep an eye out!

joeKel73 · 13-04-2010 12:28pm

Fenster wrote: »

Bokeh! Where the hell's your fifty?

Come again...

trishw78 · 13-04-2010 2:10pm

what kinda depths have you taken the G10? Is there a maximum depth?

I was looking at joining the local Subaqua club but in these unemployed times I can't afford it.

joeKel73 · 13-04-2010 2:28pm

The housing is rated to 40m, these shots were taken at about 7m though - more light! I hope to take it diving in Killary soon, down to about 20m, set up on a tripod and get a long'ish exposure of a trawler wreck!

trishw78 · 13-04-2010 2:55pm

that sounds so strange to be setting up a tripod underwater for a long exposure. Although I suppose without bringing pro gear down there that's your only option

joeKel73 · 13-04-2010 3:45pm

I picked up a second hand tripod for less than a tenner so not going to be messing up great gear with salt water! Few weights on the legs... should do the job!

joeKel73 · 26-04-2010 4:45pm

A few others from the same dive site in Galway;

breadbin · 26-04-2010 11:16pm

stunning pictures:) must get out there sometime too, if ye are organising a meetup let us know:)

joeKel73 · 27-04-2010 10:12am

Do you dive breadbin?

Irishmarinelife · 27-04-2010 11:14am

Or find a shallow well lit rock pool if your housing hasn't arrived yet...

breadbin · 28-04-2010 8:04am

foto joe wrote: »

Do you dive breadbin?

ha not yet;) its like another planet down there though so i think i will start over the summer. im no stranger to the sea though

PCPhoto · 30-04-2010 4:20pm

I'd be up for a dive sometime .... newly qualified, would need to rent gear but would be well up for an underwater photoshoot.

agentreid · 06-05-2010 8:14pm

very nice shots, you should try some diving in kilkee,co clare, great diving,my buddy does a lot of underwater photography and has got some great photos from there, even when he uses me as a model they come out amazing.

joeKel73 · 06-05-2010 8:16pm

I've never dived Kilkee, dived Fanore without the camera and bridges of ross. Has your buddy their photos online anywhere?

agentreid · 06-05-2010 8:25pm

he had some on the kilkee dive centre web site, check it out they may be still on it. his best ones are framed and hanging on his wall though.

breadbin · 07-05-2010 8:07pm

these pictures are stunning and sort of piqued my interest. I have an Olympus 8080 that i don't really use so thought i'd get a housing for it. Thnk again!! they literally cost more than the camera. might have a look for an old canon like a previous poster suggests:)

joeKel73 · 07-05-2010 8:44pm

It's quite common for the underwater housing to cost more than the camera.... price a few DSLR housings if you fancy a fright! :eek:

I highly recommend getting a second-hand canon powershot with manual control. You'll get an underwater setup for around €120. I was lucky and got my Canon Powershot underwater setup before for €80. Also I recommend keeping an eye out for the housing first! (ebay.ie, adverts.ie and divegear.ie).... there's a lot more second hand cameras around so shouldn't be too hard to find the model afterwards! Look into the model spec when buying the housing of course though!

PCPhoto · 07-05-2010 8:50pm

if you were both interested in doing an underwater shoot - I'd be up for joining, am a complete novice diver but eager to get out there and do some underwater photos....am based in Dublin but can be persueded to travel over at the end of the month.(maybe)

have a 5D and underwater housing and strobe

joeKel73 · 07-05-2010 8:55pm

PCPhoto you say you're newly qualified diver but I'm not qualified to lead dives just yet (another few weeks, but only with buddies I know for a good while!).

What we could do is hit Carraroe (where all the above photos were taken) and go snorkelling, the life is all in the first couple of meters there anyway... because of the coral at Carraroe there's no sand or silt so great for photos as it doesn't kick up. It also reflects a lot of light so nice bright water too. Ye ever over in Galway?

PCPhoto · 07-05-2010 10:18pm

I'm sure I could go over some weekend (might have to drag the Girlfriend if its snorkling - she'd kill me if I went without her)

breadbin · 08-05-2010 2:04pm

what you guys think of the bags you can get on ebay for 20-30 quid? something like this one

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/UK-NEW-DSLR-SLR-Underwater-Housing-Waterproof-Case-Bag-/330369347796?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_BagsCases_JN&hash=item4ceb8c30d4

i know its probably not as good as a dedicated housing but it would save me a small fortune. they're not great sample pictures on the page though:~

joeKel73 · 08-05-2010 2:11pm

Definitely wouldn't trust that! Not unless it's an old camera that you didn't mind flooding and could afford to replace!

Here's the housing I had before, great setup.
http://cgi.ebay.ie/NEW-Canon-WP-DC12-underwater-case-Powershot-A570-/330428036160?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_CameraAccessories_BagsCases_JN&hash=item4cef0bb440

You'll pick up the Powershot A570is fairly cheap second hand too.

joeKel73 · 08-05-2010 2:20pm

Have a look over here on my dive gear website too, few options that might suit you...

http://divegear.ie/index.php?category=For+Sale&sub_category=Photography

joeKel73 · 22-05-2010 11:18am

Firstly here's a video of the Thornback Ray in action, needed video to capture this properly! (http://vimeo.com/11931800)

Now a few photos;
(Going to embed the large versions this time, hope that's alright!)

joeKel73 · 22-05-2010 11:29am

^ oh and I should mention this set was taken using only ambient light. Water was a bit sandy yesterday and every flash shot was bouncing off it. I'll try take more ambient light shots in the future.

breadbin · 22-05-2010 9:59pm

wow, more great shots! love the video of the ray, its great the way it moves along:)

A few underwater photos from Carraroe, Co. Galway...

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