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DPG editors Lia Barrett and Joe Tepper take a detailed look at five of reader Brent Barnes’s images, giving him pointers and feedback on how he might improve them.
 

Oceanic whitetip shark, Cat Island, Bahamas: Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10–24mm lens, Aquatica housing, dual Sea & Sea YS-110 alpha strobes, f/13, 1/125s, ISO 320

Lia Barrett: There isn’t too much that I don’t love about this shot. The oceanic is a great subject for black and white because of the gradient of its whites to grays present in the body. You could choose to leave more negative space if you want to play with composition, and work with alternative angles, but I like how you have shown a perspective that really showcases the elongation of its fin. Beautiful!

Joe Tepper: For me, this is the strongest image of the series. We tend to think of large predators in the context of open blue water—but the stark black in this image gives it a unique and professional quality. The only change I’d make, and this is very nit-picky, is that you should use the dodge/burn tool to even out some of the shadows and highlights on the shark—especially the pilot fish underneath the pectoral fin.
 

Shrimp on pink tipped anemone, Curacao: Nikon D7000, Nikkor 60mm lens, Aquatica housing, dual Sea & Sea YS-110 alpha strobes, f/18, 1/80s, ISO 100

Lia: The framing, focus and composition are working well in this image, especially with the pink portions of the anemone so nicely highlighted by the positioning of the shrimp. My main qualm is with color cast. The image feels overly warm, with too much yellow overshadowing the otherwise well-composed shot. Consider adding some blues in Adobe Lightroom to bring back the true whites that are naturally present in both shrimp and anemone.

Joe: The diagonal lines in this image, in the form of the anemone tentacles, are really pleasant. With shrimp, it becomes a question of whether to include the entire subject in the frame. Here, you’ve chosen for a closer crop, which cuts part of the antenna out of the image. I would have rather seen the entire subject in the frame—but I do understand that this close crop is to show as much detail of the shrimp as possible. I do think this image could benefit from better post-processing: The image is a little to warm and could use a little less contrast.
 

Oceanic whitetip, Cat Island, Bahamas: Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10–24mm lens, Aquatica housing, dual Sea & Sea YS-110 alpha strobes, f/13, 1/160s, ISO 320

Lia: Oceanic whitetip sharks are some of the most photogenic sharks in the ocean. With their broad, flat fins that seem to have been dipped in powdered sugar, and their white undersides, these fish stand out so beautifully against the open ocean. In your shot here, you have illustrated this contrast splendidly. Your blues are rich, and your lighting brings forth the shark’s color nicely. I would, however, consider moving your framing slightly to the right. Where I am glad you have put the meat of the shark in the lower portion of the picture, it feels a bit off balance. You can crop slightly to remedy this, but definitely keep the reflection you have captured.

Joe: It’s a great idea to try and capture the reflection of the shark at the surface. The surface is calm enough that it’s almost hard to tell where the tip of the actual shark ends and the reflection begins. Where I do think this image struggles is in the framing of the subject. The portrait-orientated crop leaves the front of the shark too close to the edge of the frame, making it feel cramped. Additionally, I think a long horizontal crop would complement the natural horizontal line of the ocean’s surface.
 

Banded sea snake, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia: Nikon D7000, Nikkor 60mm lens, Aquatica housing, dual Sea & Sea YS-110 alpha strobes, f/9, 1/80s, ISO 320

Lia: Personally, I would not have thrown this banded sea snake into black and white. There are already so many competing textures present that you almost need some color to make sense of what’s going on without being distracted. I do, however, like your use of bokeh and framing. Having a subject curl through an image makes the viewer’s gaze move around the image, which is good. Next time, I’d watch your framing though, and perhaps not cut off a portion of its body. That’s again a personal preference, but in this case, the curving and elongation of the body is what makes this picture work, so I’d include the entire animal.

Joe: I’m going to stick up for the use of black and white here. It’s almost like that black-and-white hypnotic swirl when combined with the slithering motion we associate with snakes. The curves in this image add a great compositional element, while the f/9 aperture leaves most of the distracting background just out of focus. Again, I’d like to see the snake in its entirety without being cut off from the left hand of the frame.
 

Pygmy seahorse, Lembeh Strait, Indonesia: Nikon D7000, Nikkor 60mm lens, Aquatica housing, dual Sea & Sea YS-110 alpha strobes, f/18, 1/125s, ISO 200

Lia: I always say this, but the dreaded (yet beloved) pygmy seahorse… Yes, to capture this little creature well, you really need a lot of luck—or a lot of time. But I believe that, according to current trends, you are doing many things correctly here: You’ve got a rich, black background; you haven’t fully blown out your highlights; and the animal is nicely in focus, which in my book, are all reasons to celebrate this image as a victory! If you want to consider pointers for next go around, challenge yourself to take an angle where the seahorse’s body is tilted slightly higher. Get down a bit more and look upwards. And, I know this is a lot to ask, but try to capture it slightly more head on.

Joe: One of the challenges of shooting at high apertures to increase the depth of field is that it requires a lot of strobe light to illuminate the subject. As a result, the shadows are exaggerated in this image, particularly the ones created by the seahorse’s natural environment—the branchy gorgonian. I think if you open up your aperture and rely a little bit more on natural light, you will have less of a dark, shadowy image. Plus, this would produce a rich blue background (rather than black), which would blend well with the pink hues of the foreground.

Final Comments

Lia: If there is one thing that is certain about Brent’s dive trips, it’s that you will likely find him at the camera station between dives, furiously switching between macro and wide-angle lenses. As is evident from his work, he has a diverse range of interests that he likes to shoot and techniques that he pulls out of the old noodle. I would suggest working a bit more on framing. If a shot feels a bit unbalanced, then likely it’s your eye telling you that you need to shift your composition slightly. I would also focus on trying to reach natural color casts and and really pay attention to your thought process when choosing black and white versus color. I look forward to seeing his work continue to blossom.

Joe: Brent’s photographic eye carries through a variety of subjects, whether it is a tiny seahorse or majestic oceanic whitetip shark. I think you’d benefit from taking a deep breath after you think you’ve nailed the shot—and then go back in for more. This might prevent the small compositional mistakes noted above. As Lia mentioned, keep experimenting with how you post-process the images to achieve the most natural look possible. Or not—that black and white shark image is really superb.
 

About Brent Barnes: Brent is an emergency medicine physician in Oklahoma. He began underwater photography about 9 years ago, after having dived for five years, and he upgraded from a compact to a DSLR system in 2011. Like other avid divers, he is concerned with the rapid decline of the health of the ocean and hopes to use his photos to educate others in preserving the planet’s oceans. He is now looking for ways to begin to establish his photos in print or other media. After entering photo competitions in the last couple of years, he placed in the Beneath the Sea Photo Contest in 2015 and that same year was a semi-finalist in the shark category of the World ShootOut.