I have been away on the Caribbean island of Cayman Brac for two weeks and just started to process the image files from my trip. On previous trips I used a Sony RX100 in an underwater housing for underwater imagery while snorkeling. On this trip I decided to try an Ewa Marine housing for both my Nikon D800 & D500 bodies. The Ewa Marine housing worked out quite well and I can't wait to try it out at the cottage this summer for underwater Bullfrog images
This Spotted Stonefish was found in about eight feet of water on a clear, sunny afternoon in what is known as the Buccaneer Cut, a popular spot for folks to snorkel or shore dive out to the MV Captain Keith Tibbett's Wreck.
Nikon D500
Nikon 18-35mm lens @ 32mm (48mm equivalent)
ISO 500
f16 @ 1/125 sec.
Ewa Marine Housing
Hi Andrew - Welcome back and glad to hear you were happy with the housing. The light and clarity of the water certainly cooperated with you here. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what I was looking at until I oriented on the eye and mouth. Is this ff? I know how hard it can be in the currents to frame an image. I would prefer a little more room below but in no way a deal breaker if you don't have it. Looking forward to seeing more from your trip and those future frog images. Hopefully, Mike Poole will comment because he is our resident underwater photographer.
Great camouflage...Is this Stonefish venomous? Amazing colours and detail, great POV. I find the environment/sea floor quite fascinating. Well composed although I tend to agree with Rachel, a tad more below would not hurt.
Really pleased you shared this with us, it is not often that we get a glimpse of those underwater creatures. I really enjoyed viewing
Great to see someone else getting wet! I can try and offer a few tech bits of advice, aesthetics are the same above and below!
There are a few nice points to this - the low eye level view is great and very necessary with these guys, such is their camouflage. I like the shade of blue in the BG, looks natural.
You've come up against the arch-enemy of underwater photographers here, and thats the backscatter, the little bits of debris in the water getting reflected by the light that look like snowflakes. The 2 main issues that cause them are strobe positioning and the sea bed getting stirred up. It doesn't look like you've used flash here and I would strongly recommend not using any in built flash - that will really light up the backscatter. As you were shallow and close to the shore some backscatter is unavoidable as the tide stirs it all up, so its just a case of trying to avoid touching the sand in any way.
Most UW shots have some scatter in them and I find the spot healing brush tool set to content aware the quickest and best way of eliminating it in PP. I've done a quick RP just on the backscatter, albeit i've not taken 100% out. It shows best against the sea BG.
The other best bit of advice is to get as close as possible - then get closer still. Water degrades IQ, so every bit less you can shoot through will assist you. Maybe you couldn't have got closer this time because of the environment, but if you'd have been able to shoot at 18mm instead of 32mm you'd see an improvement - the IQ is still good here though.
If you get to a stage where you can get an external flash, then you can start controlling the brightness of the BG more which will make your subjects 'pop'.
Regarding bullfrog shots, I've seen how close you can get to them. If you could get hold of a housing with a dome port on the front, as opposed to the flat port on your gear, you could get some really funky over/under split shots of them.
Hi Andrew, great to see you posting and some very cool characters too. I really enjoy seeing how well they blend into their environment. Just a thought, but based on the OP I think you can get some more Tonal depth to it which will also bring out more detail within the subject. How far you decide to take it is your call as you were there, just an option.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions folks, they are much appreciated.
Gabriela - yes they are highly venomous, but only use this venom as a means of defence. The dorsal fin has a number of spines used to inject venom. Each spine has two venom glands. The pain is said to be excruciating and does require an immediate trip to the hospital. One method to slow down the venom is pour hot water, as a hot as victim can endure, to help destroy the venom.
Steve - thanks for the repost...I do like the addition detail you were able to bring out...will give that a try.
Mike - thanks for all the tips...I left the backscatter in to see if it bother folks :) Yes the shallow water was the result of the backscatter and the image was created with ambient light. The Nikkor 18-35mm lens focuses to a minimum of 12 inches. On my next trip I do hope to have a rigid housing with a large dome port for my Sigma Fisheye so that I can get even closer. The Ewa Marine housing (bag) does not allow for the attachment of strobes, which is why I think I am almost ready to start expanding my underwater gear to include a rigid housing that will accommodate strobes too. I have my eye on one of the new Ikelite housings for the D500.
I don't know how much you know about the technical side of things regarding underwater gear, but if you are in a position to get an Ikelite rig, then you'll have a few options for the dome port, but for me it'd come down to 2 choices. If you want to go for split shots, then the bigger the dome the better as it makes the meniscus smaller in the shot and makes for a much better result.
Alternatively, if you can get right up to them underwater, then a mini dome (have a look at the 5" precision dome for starters - cheaper than the 'zen' dome) allows you to get right up to your subject and is a massive plus for close focus wide angle work.
Hi Andrew stunning shot of the Stonefish , the image does show very well how good they are camouflaged .
I like the overall color palette and the blue BG .
I do agree with Mike about the detritus that is floating around , needs to be removed .
Steve has done a good job on the tones .
Allways good to see something different , specially UW
Mike...good point about the domes...I did not factor in that the larger dome would actually hinder the Sigma fisheye from getting in close enough...a mini dome would indeed be a better option...or maybe both :) I will shoot you a PM when I am getting ready to upgrade my underwater housing for further tips. Thanks!