One of the most commonly asked questions in the world of amateur underwater photography is “one strobe, or two?” Often this question is one of economic forethought, but it may also be a question of artistic merit. After shooting with both one strobe and two, I have come to the conclusion that with recent advancements in strobe quality and performance neither is a better option. An underwater photographer should be able to shoot beautiful photos using either option.

An evenly lit nudibranch taken with a single Sea and Sea YS-D1 strobe

The use of a second strobe makes the most difference in macro photography and very wide-angle reefscapes. When shooting macro with one strobe, the light will only be coming from one direction and thus there is usually shadow in the image. A second strobe can provide light coming from a second direction which can be used to fill in shadows. This produces an image with more even lighting and less shadow/contrast.

Even lighting with two Sea and Sea YS-D1 Strobes

Although many photographers prefer an image with less contrast, a single strobe usually doesn’t produce a significant enough shadow to ruin the image (if positioned correctly), and it can often be the better option when illuminating transparent organisms such as shrimp, coral and anemone polyps and some nudibranchs. If the effect with one strobe is needed, a photographer with two strobes can switch off one strobe. However, having one strobe can make a camera setup much more maneuverable while shooting macro, and there is less chance of damaging the reef.

A high contrast image of an orange cup coral take with a single Sea and Sea YS-D1 strobe

As I mentioned before, with new, very powerful strobes such as Sea and Sea’s YS-D1, an underwater photographer can easily shoot great wide angle photographs with just one strobe. Even with a fisheye lens, I have been able to light a full frame with just one strobe. In order to do this, I will often put a diffuser with a wider angle (120 degrees) over the strobe. Because the YS-D1 is so powerful, I can still shoot the full range of wide-angle – from close focus to sunbursts. Using two strobes for wide-angle does have its merits. Two strobes will certainly brighten more of the reef and illuminate more of its details.

The details of the Wakatobi Reef and a sunburst lit with two Sea and Sea YS-D1 strobes

However, one of the most interesting effects of shooting wide-angle with one strobe is a spotlighting effect. This enables an underwater photographer to give more focus to the subject of the image. As with macro photography, if a photographer with two strobes would like the effect of one, he/she can merely turn off one of the strobes. Maneuverability is slightly less important for wide angle, because the subjects are usually not as often hidden in the crevices of the reef.

An image of coral and a sunburst taken with a single Sea and Sea YS-D1 strobe with the spotlight effect

Shooting with one or two strobes are both great options. Both produce beautiful underwater photography. It is up to the photographer to decide how much money he/she would like to spend, and if they truly want the extra range of artistic tools that a second strobe brings to the table.

An evenly lit wide-angle photo of a tube anemone

The post One Strobe or Two? first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

Image and text by: Todd Winner

One of the things I love about macro and supper macro is being able to show a subject in a way you never could with the naked eye. In fact, many of our super macro subjects can hardly be seen without magnification. We often catch some of these subjects in our normal macro shots only to discover them when viewing the image on a large screen. (Photography bycatch.) It can be quite a challenge to find and photograph these tiny creatures especially without cropping into the image in post. Below are the tools and techniques that helped me get the skeleton shrimp shot.

Tools & Techniques

First you have to be able to see the subject. On my housing I use the Nauticam 180 viewfinder. This gives me a big bright view of my subject for critical focus. I used the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens on a Canon 7D body. This lens will focus down to 1×1 but for extra magnification I added a SubSea +10 diopter. Using one of the flip holders like the Nauticam M67 can make using these diopters much more convenient. For lighting, I used 2 Ikelite 160 strobes and to help with focusing I had a Light and Motion Sola 600.  I noticed a number of skeleton shrimp on a yellow-orange tunicate. To separate the subject from the background, I aimed slightly up and waited for one to walk across the top. The +10 diopter gives you a very shallow depth of field so the soft out of focus area behind the shrimp has a nice bokeh effect even though it is not very far from the subject. Finally in Lightroom I added some vibrance, clarity and a small vignette to direct the viewer to the subject. Super macro can be a great way to spend a dive and best of all you probably won’t even have to swim far from the boat!

The post Todd Winner’s Wednesday Photo – Skeleton Shrimp first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

One of our readers, Kevin Stokell, recently sent in a couple example images taken with the newly released Sony RX100.  Kevin lives and works in Curacao, in the South Caribbean, where he works as a PADI Divemaster and has plenty of opportunity to get out and shoot.  Here’s the details on his shots:

The Banded Coral Shrimp

“The shot of the Banded Coral Shrimp (above) was taken at the back of my home.  This reef doesn’t have a name but is located to the left at the back of the Avila Beach Hotel on the east outskirts of Willemstad.  I have this reef pretty much to myself, as there is no easy public access, and the boat trips don’t seem to know about it.”

Banded Coral Shrimp Settings: Sony RX100, Recsea Housing, Dyron UCL6711 Macro Wet Lens, F7, 1/250, ISO 200, Sea & Sea YS-D1 strobe in TTL mode.  Depth 50ft., Visibility  80ft.

Octopus on the Pierbaai Reef at Marie Pompeon

The Octopus

“The Octopus was taken on “Pierbaai Reef” at Marie Pompeon, which is the house reef of “The Dive Bus” dive shop, and is located about 2 miles to the east of Willemstad.  This is a popular reef for shore divers as it has an easy sandy entrance/exit in a small protected bay.”

Octopus Settings: Sony RX100, Recsea Housing, F8, 1/125, ISO200, Sea & Sea strobe YS-D1 in TTL mode, Depth 35ft., Visibility 80ft.

The post Fantastic Shots with the Sony RX100 first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.

One thing many photographers just starting out don’t often realize is how important your aperture is to controlling depth of field. Taking full control of your depth of field can drastically change your photos and really help accent a subject, especially when shooting macro. Take for example the following three photos. By simply opening up the aperture, the depth of field shortens dramatically making my subject pop from the background.

The following photos were shot with the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Panasonic 45mm Macro Lens with dual YS-D1 strobes and a Light & Motion Sola 800 on red mode. ISO 200, 1/250.

Photo 1: Aperture F22

In my opinion the picture is nice, but not great. It’s really way too busy, and your eye can’t decide if the subject is the shrimp or the moray eel. The depth of field at F22 is deep, so just about the entire image is in focus, with the eel ever so slightly blurred.

Photo 2: F11

This photo is much better due to the shortened depth of field.  The eel is blurred more, making the shrimp in the foreground really pop. However, the eel is still easy to make out as an eel, which adds to the photo.

Photo #3: F2.8

The last photo in this series is at the extreme end of the aperture range, 2.8. The depth of field is so shallow that the background is completely blurred out, and if you didn’t know that grey blob in the background was an eel. If you are working to isolate a subject, using depth of field is a very useful tool. The shallow focus plane limits the focus so your eye is immediately drawn to the subject, the shrimp.

Of course the final decision on which works best lies in the eyes of the photographer. For me, the final photo really stands out with the sharp focus on the shrimp eye and body, but if you wanted to show the diversity of life with both moray eel and shrimp then photo #2 at F11 would be the winner.

Which photo do you like best and why?

The post Using Depth of Field to Enhance your Subject first appeared on In Focus Underwater Photography Blog.