Blue spot stingray

[Mike Poole]

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Just occasionally you get a subject, that for whatever reason, will accept you coming closer. Blue spots can be quite skittish, but as I stayed away from the crowd and just had me and my dive buddy in the area this one seemed a lot more relaxed. He circled me, then gave a close pass - this is nearly full frame.

A decision had to be made in post regarding the colour of the sand, as it gets very cyan very quick - I tried to keep it fairly natural here, be interested as to your thoughts as I've tried it with various tones.

Canon 1dx in a Nauticam housing
Canon 100mm L macro
ISO 400
1/100th f14
twin sea & sea YS-D1 strobes

Mike

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice image Mike.


A decision had to be made in post regarding the colour of the sand, as it gets very cyan very quick - I tried to keep it fairly natural here, be interested as to your thoughts as I've tried it with various tones.

Hard to tell Mike without seeing the original Raw and to balance that out first. Taking the OP I, added a tiny amount of NR to the BKG, balanced out the colour to and almost equal value across all channels, added a small midtone to the subject and a layer to bring a tad more depth on the wing. All personal tastes. Is the Blue/cyan from the strobes??

Cheers
Steve

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Mike - Wow, if its shape and coloration/pattern are to make it look sinister, it works! I like the added depth to the midtones that Steve has given it. I too don't know about the sands. The cyan didn't bother me when looking at it. I've certainly seen sands that take on those colors while snorkeling/diving. Your underwater images continue to captivate me. Nice one.

TFS,
Rachel

[Glenn Pure]

Wow, another cracker underwater shot from you Mike. Really lovely to see these. This is a beauty: great subject and nice framing and composition plus the great detail and colour. I like where Steve has taken this in his repost. Keep them coming.

[John Whaley]

Wow, another cracker underwater shot from you Mike. Really lovely to see these. This is a beauty: great subject and nice framing and composition plus the great detail and colour. I like where Steve has taken this in his repost. Keep them coming.
Agreed. Wonderful image and the repost improves. I have never seen one before so TFS.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I am very impressed with these shots Mike, you always seem to t well focused images, I would imagine it is not as easy as might be imagined.

[Mike Poole]

Nice image Mike.



Hard to tell Mike without seeing the original Raw and to balance that out first. Taking the OP I, added a tiny amount of NR to the BKG, balanced out the colour to and almost equal value across all channels, added a small midtone to the subject and a layer to bring a tad more depth on the wing. All personal tastes. Is the Blue/cyan from the strobes??

Cheers
Steve

Thanks for the RP Steve, and thanks to everyone for the comments.

This is a straight jpeg conversion with no RAW adjustments and nothing done in PS other than resizing.

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For your shot Steve, I like the BG colours, but the ray now looks too dark and contrasty - I fully appreciate you've done this probably without knowing the subject though.

The cyan in the BG is unusual in this shot due to the shooting angle, I'll try and explain. The strobes only light up the foreground, so naturally, the further away from the strobes yo ego, the more blue / cyan you get. having such sandy BG here has over emphasised this effect. in addition, the strobes were above the ray, so whilst this lights the top of him nicely, the shadow he creates goes cyan as well as the strobes are having no effect underneath him, creating extra colour issues. Its just about impossible to get this one right in camera and needs extra work on the PP side compared to other shots.

Seing the original again, I forgot to mention the cloned rock as well - processed this about a month ago and had too many sleeps since then!

Thanks for the thoughts

Mike

[John Mack]

Awesome frame always love seeing these underwater images. Love the blue spots.

[haseeb badar]

Hi Mike -- You have been posting some lovely UW images and this one is yet another lovely frame. Love the subject , especially those eyes . Steves RP certainly takes this up a notch . A very nice image yet again , keep them coming . TFS !