Articles

DPG editors Joe Tepper and Lia Barrett take a detailed look at five of reader Linda Capello’s images, giving her pointers and feedback on how she might improve them.
 

Harlequin shrimp, Lembeh Strait
(f/5, 1/200s, ISO 160, Canon EOS-7D, 50mm macro, dual Inon D2000 strobes)

Joe: What a find! Harlequin shrimp are among the most prized macro subjects for underwater photographers—and if you can get a pair of them munching on a sea star, you’re even more fortunate. What I really like about this image is the use of limited depth of field (or bokeh) which keeps the harlequin in focus, while blurring out the distracting rubble background through low apertures (f/5.6–f/8). Eye contact is one of the most important compositional elements to consider when shooting macro. The image would draw the viewer in more—especially a non-diver—if both eyes were visible. Shifting the composition from side-on to the front would also give a sense of symmetry.

Lia: I fully agree with Joe that harlequin shrimp are extra special. Their colors are vibrant and their bodies are so unusually patterned, which makes them ideal for underwater shooters. In saying that, I would tend to disagree with Joe with regard to changing the angle on the subject, as I think that showing the body in this instance is warranted. I would, perhaps, consider eliminating the distracting background. Either through lighting or vertical angle adjustment, I would attempt to bring out what is in the foreground, so that the intensity of the red sea star is highlighted, and the shrimp itself isn’t fighting with contrasting patterns.
 

Pink anthias, Forgotten Islands, Indonesia
(f/8, 1/160s, ISO 125, Canon EOS-7D, Tokina 10–17mm at 13mm, dual Sea & Sea YS250 strobes)

Joe: You’ve clearly got a good eye for wide angle—visualizing the various elements that can be combined for a dynamic composition. The first setting that pops out to me is your 13mm focal length. Especially with reefscapes that don’t move, it’s important to get as close as possible with your fisheye lens. I think if you would’ve used your lens’ widest focal length, you would be more easily able to make the colors of the coral pop with your strobes. I would also suggest shooting on an even plane, or even better, shooting up rather than aiming down as it would include a greater view of the reef and potentially a sunball. What would make this image magazine cover-worthy is the addition of a diver model floating above the reef.

Lia: I think that Joe is correct: getting closer would make more of the soft corals pop, and would bring out some of the other growth that, when left a bit subdued by lighting, runs the risk of creating a “flatness” to the image. An addition of another element, as Joe points out, would be an added bonus, for it offers scale and additional context to the composition and story.
 

Sweetlips, Raja Ampat, Indonesia—Yes, I had strobe problems!
(f/9, 1/125s, ISO 200, Canon EOS-7D, Tokina 10–17mm at 11mm, Inon D2000 and Sea & Sea YS250)

Joe: I think this is one of my favorite images in the series—the lighting is about as good as it gets for this situation—even with the strobe problems Linda mentions in the caption. You did a great job of illuminating the less reflective sweetlips with the super-reflective glassfish. I personally prefer a less dark blue background and would use a slightly slower shutter speed (1/100s) so as not to affect the strobe exposure. But every photographer has a different idea of what perfect blue water is. The biggest change I’d make is taking the image in a landscape orientation rather than portrait, so as not to cut off the school of fish and include more of that bright orange coral.

Lia: Compositionally, you have a lovely line moving through the image that takes the viewer throughout the photograph, so that it’s visually easy to make sense of what is going on. As Joe mentions, there are many combinations you can use in order to expose your blues in the water column, so that is a personal preference. I like it that you haven’t blown out the glassfish, which is a tricky endeavor. But I would have to agree that the use of framing could be altered to make the image stronger. Cutting off fish is tricky business, so either moving the lens over, or flipping it to a horizontal composition might have been a good option.
 

Leafy seadragon, Rapid Bay Jetty, Australia
(f/11, 1/200s, ISO 160, Canon EOS-7D, 50mm macro, dual Sea & Sea YS250)

Joe: It’s times like this I wish I lived in Australia—what a cool subject close to home! This is going to sound a little nit-picky, but the smallest things can dramatically improve composition. The first fix is the seadragon’s left eye, which rolled around just when you snapped the photo. Either try sticking around until both eyes are facing forward (this takes patience and good review skills underwater), or alternatively copy the right eye for the left in post-processing. In terms of lighting, for me, the image is a little dark in the foreground. I think you could have boosted your ISO (up to 400) and your strobe output to better illuminate the back end of the seadragon. It sounds very strange for macro, but you might consider not having a black background for this image: By adding in more ambient light (try f/5.6, 1/100s, ISO 400) you can have a pleasant green/blue background, which gives the viewer a sense of this amazing creature’s cold-water environment. It would give the image more of a sense of place than the pure black background.

Lia: Haha, Mr. Tepper sure has an eye for an eye problem! But he’s right. If you’re going to shoot straight on, you want to engage the subject so that the viewer can make a connection—so having a clear path of vision is helpful. In terms of lighting and the black blackground, I can see how you were subtly trying to bring out the nuances of the weedy's details, and I think it is quite beautiful. I am more concerned about bringing out the subject from the background as opposed to adding ambient light. I think what Joe proposes is definitely an option; alternatively, I would consider increasing your stobe power and perhaps opening up your exposure by a stop, maybe two (depending on how badly you want to maintain the black background), in order to bring out more of the shadowed areas of the seadragon.
 

School at Aborek Jetty, Raja Ampat, Indonesia
(f/11, 1/250s, ISO 200, Canon EOS-7D, Tokina 10–17mm at 10mm, Inon D2000 and Sea & Sea YS250)

Joe: Schooling, reflective fish can be among the most difficult subjects to light underwater. Too little strobe light and they just blend in with the water; too much and they turn blindingly white. You’ve actually done a very good job lighting them in-camera; try burning/dodging in post-processing to correct the highlights and shadows inherent in such subjects. The bottom-left corner is especially dark for my eyes. Compositionally, the biggest struggle is not cutting off the school of fish—even at 10mm you can barely fit in but a small sliver of the school. You don’t hear this with underwater photography advice often, but I’ll say it here: Try backing up a little bit from the subject. This might allow you to capture the school in its entirety. Additionally, it’s a little tough to tell right away that this is a pier. Backing up a little and shooting up more to include Snell’s window would give more of a sense of place to this already impressive image.

Lia: I love the fact that piers can be surprising little hubs for soft corals and schooling fish to come together. You have managed to freeze the movement and excitement that I am sure was enveloping you and this jetty. While I think that you could have gotten more in the frame, as Joe says, I’m not sure you would have ever caught the beginning of that wall of fish (this is one of those rare instances where I don't mind that the fish were cut off). If you were to back up, I believe that the extra strobe power needed to bring out the reds of the corals would have potentially blown out the highlights in the reflective fish—so you run into a bit of a dilemma. Alternatively, if you were to shoot upwards, as Joe suggests, using your strobe power to bring out the fish and coral in front of you, and expose for the sky and the portion of the jetty out of water, you would end up with a totally different image—one where, in the battle of time and Nature, even our manmade structures eventually succumb to a sort of repatriation to original elements. And here is where you start to tell a deeper story as opposed to just shooting a beautiful phenomenon.

Final Comments

Joe: I get the sense that Linda’s underwater love is wide-angle photography. She has a great understanding of the basic composition techniques that make a wide-angle photo: rule of thirds and multiple compositional elements in the foreground and background. The lighting, too, is for the most part spot on with these reefscapes. The next step is getting a little creative with your wide angle: adding a sunball, or diver or Snell’s window will make these reefscape images absolutely stunning. I think if you bring your same knowledge of lighting for wide-angle photography to the macro shots, they will really stand out from the rest. It’s a lot easier to take an image of a leafy seadragon with a dim, black background than to evenly balance strobe light with ambient blue/green water to create a truly unique photo that doesn’t just capture a subject, but tells a story. It’s the story that keeps the viewer entranced and the photographer constantly seeking to improve his or her craft.

Lia: It is obvious that Linda is a thoughtful shooter with an eye for compositional consideration. She has a nice range of techniques that she is working on, and clearly visualizes her approach before shooting. I agree that adding a diver would be a great next step and challenge, for it often alters your approach to shooting, opening up a new perspective of possibilities. I would encourage Linda to play around a bit more with her strobe positioning, for I believe that many of her issues stem from “holes” in lighting, particularly in her vertical compositions. Overall, I believe that, with the addition of some minor adjustments and continual shooting, Linda’s images will soon enter a new phase, and she will find her images floating around amongst some of our industry’s finest.
 

About Linda Cappello: Linda is from Canberra, Australia. She’s been diving on and off for about 18 years, but in recent years has also developed a passion for underwater photography, starting out with a point-and-shoot using one strobe. Two years ago she upgraded to a DSLR and has been slowly building that up with new lenses, ports and new strobes. She finds underwater photography challenges you to look “in the picture” rather than “at the picture,” meaning you can see so much more as you are trying to find the perfect picture. At the moment, she is enjoying diving Indonesia, with such healthy and diverse marine life and it being easy to get to from Australia. However, she thinks there are some great dive opportunities in her home country as well—particularly temperate waters that offer the stunning leafy seadragons and Tasmania’s kelp forests with their weedy seadragons.