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Scuba Forum / General / March 2005

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Correcting underwater pictures

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AlJ - 28 Feb 2005 18:38 GMT
Hi

Can anyone offer a pointer to a tutorial or some tips on color
balancing pictures taken underwater.  I've got several now and they
need some help.   I've got PhotoShop CS but am not good with it.   I
normally use Microsoft's Picture It  V10.

Thanks
Al
James Connell - 28 Feb 2005 19:18 GMT
> Hi
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Thanks
> Al

http://share.studio.adobe.com/axAssetDetailSubmit.asp?aID=8419
AlJ - 28 Feb 2005 20:57 GMT
Very slick.  Thanks
Lee Bell - 28 Feb 2005 20:05 GMT
> Can anyone offer a pointer to a tutorial or some tips on color
> balancing pictures taken underwater.  I've got several now and they
> need some help.   I've got PhotoShop CS but am not good with it.   I
> normally use Microsoft's Picture It  V10.

Yes, but I'm not sure how much it will help.

The key to adjusting underwater photos is to know what the subject looks
like in the first place.  That's tough unless you looked at it with lights
that is comparable in color to the sun.  On the other hand, sometimes it's
enough to make them look like you want them too, even if the color is not as
accurate as it might otherwise have been.  A final choice is to find
somebody else's picture of the same, or similar thing, and use it as a model
for adjusting yours.

Actually making changes doesn't require a lot of knowledge.  Here's what I
do and why.

First, I start experimenting with added red.  Red is the first color
filtered out by salt water.  I almost always wind up adding some red to get
a picture I like.  Yellow is next because yellow is the second color
filtered by salt water.  I don't normally have to add as much yellow as red,
but you never know.  Once I've got the relative colors the way I want them,
I mess with color intensity and contrast, adding and subtracting each until
I get something that highlights the what I want highlighted and helps
everything else complement it.

Like I said, not a lot of help, but it's all I have.

Lee
Morten Reistad - 01 Mar 2005 19:31 GMT
>> Can anyone offer a pointer to a tutorial or some tips on color
>> balancing pictures taken underwater.  I've got several now and they
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
>Like I said, not a lot of help, but it's all I have.

Two tips I have found helpful : in the average diver's photography there
are _very few_ red pixels to use to bring back the colour; so RGB based
colour editing is very difficult. You may have more success if you use
YUM or other colour space representations on such pictures.

Second; it does not take a lot of light to bring back the red. A pretty
dimmed Hartenberger (where you cannot see the light when underwater)
actually fills in a lot of red you can bring back with photo editing.
But when there are no red photons to start with you may be out of luck.

-- mrr
Pete S. - 01 Mar 2005 19:51 GMT
>Two tips I have found helpful : in the average diver's photography there
>are _very few_ red pixels to use to bring back the colour; so RGB based
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>actually fills in a lot of red you can bring back with photo editing.
>But when there are no red photons to start with you may be out of luck.

I agree 100%.

I run a Fuji S2, and in the past I've tried to get the camera to do a
custom colour balance at depth. It can't. There is no red to balance.

Shooting in RAW format does let me do some colour temperature
compensation after the dive, but even then it needs some red to work
on.

You can't amplify what aint there!

As for using a dive light to compensate? I use a 10.5mm fisheye lens
for some shots. I've not found a diffuser that wide and I end up with
a bright spot in the centre of the picture.

Best solution? Two large strobes on a long arm. 4ft +.

Pete S.

www.derwentelec.clara.co.uk
Morten Reistad - 02 Mar 2005 09:01 GMT
>>Two tips I have found helpful : in the average diver's photography there
>>are _very few_ red pixels to use to bring back the colour; so RGB based
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>I run a Fuji S2, and in the past I've tried to get the camera to do a
>custom colour balance at depth. It can't. There is no red to balance.

Ditto for colour editing programs. You can take pictures of white sheets
as a reference all you like. If the red colour is gone, it is gone.

>Shooting in RAW format does let me do some colour temperature
>compensation after the dive, but even then it needs some red to work
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>for some shots. I've not found a diffuser that wide and I end up with
>a bright spot in the centre of the picture.

I use a very wide reflector, and use indirect light if I can.
(I use what Hartenberger call "D" profile reflector ). I also
take a lot of video; so steady light is a requirement. It is amazing
how little light is really needed to fill in the red colours good
enogh for colour compensation to have something to work on.

>Best solution? Two large strobes on a long arm. 4ft +.

YMMV.

-- mrr
Steve - 01 Mar 2005 06:51 GMT
> Hi
>
> Can anyone offer a pointer to a tutorial or some tips on color
> balancing pictures taken underwater.

Have you alredy started with this method?
http://www.ikelite.com/web_pages/1strobe_index.html

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AlJ - 01 Mar 2005 12:00 GMT
Likely next trip.  Getting camera and case wasn't in the plan but I did
it anyway.  Nikon 4300 and a Fantasea case.
Steve - 01 Mar 2005 16:20 GMT
> Getting camera and case wasn't in the plan but I did
> it anyway.  Nikon 4300 and a Fantasea case.

I wasn't really planning on it, either, but I went window shopping and found out
there was a $200 rebate on a Coolpix 5400. The Ikelite housing covers the onboard
flash, so getting a strobe really wasn't optional. So much for saving money because
of the rebate...

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