Another common problem for underwater photographers (particulaly those without strobes) is backscatter.  Just like the action that I posted that is good at fixing the loss of colours that happens underwater, there is also a very good action for removing backscatter.  I won’t go into much details, a video tutorial can be see here.  Here are before and after shots of what the action can do:

Before:

After:

The action is by Daniel Brown and can be downloaded here

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I see for the stats on the my blog a few people have searched for instructions as to how to install the underwater action into Photoshop CS3.  Something I should have posted orignally so here they are:

1: Open up Photoshop and display the action panel.  You can do this by clicking on Window -> Action or by pressing Alt+F9.

2: You should see default actions as the only action folder in that window.  You can load an action from anywhere it does not need to be in a particular folder for Photoshop to recognise it.  So, just below the close button on that window you should see a down arrow with 3 line next to it, click that and a menu will appear.

3: From that menu, select Load Actions.  Navigate to the folder where you action is and select Load.  You action will be loaded into Photoshop.

Simple as that.

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I’ve bought the new camera I had been looking at, the Canon PowerShot A570is with WP-DC12 housing and the Inon AD mounting bracket.  My first impressions are good, the camera has a lot of options, the manual modes (Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority and Program AE) are good, manual white balance adjusts well.  I’m no expert when it comes to anything manual, i’ve tended to shoot everything in Auto – hopefully that will change.  Non-diving test shots will follow soon.

What i’ve also found is something called CDHK.  This is a little application loaded on to the root of the SD card which enables a whole host of functions that are not otherwise available.  The most interesting to me, is the ability to save RAW images to the SD card – something that is a great advantage to the underwater photographer.That combined with a utility called ‘Raw Therapee’ which is an editor for RAW images.  Raw Therapee can be downloaded from here

Advantages: Apature Priority & Shutter Speed Priority modes, Manual White Balance

Disadvantages: AA Batteries!

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I’m in the process of looking for a new camera, it’s not that the Sony DSC-N1 is a bad camera, it’s just not good for underwater photography simply because you have no manual control over the camera once it’s in the housing – due to the touch screen.

I’ve decided if i’m to progress with my photography I need to be able to manually adjust settings.  I thought long and hard about what to get, trying to satisfy my requirments that i’ve got manual white balance control, the ability to use the Inon lenses I have (UWL-105AD and UCL-165AD) and keeping around 8 megapixels.

After talking to the guys at Ocean Optics the recommended a Canon A570is  – it’s got all the manual controls and the ability to use the Inon lenses. I’ll post more details when i’ve decided (or got it!)

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Something that seems to becoming a tradition is Gozo! Things are slightly different this year as we are diving with a new dive centre (Moby Dive Centre in Xlendi).  Photos will of course follow!

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I’ve recently been looking at my first BCD.  Up until now i’ve been hiring them and it the last bit of major equipment I don’t actually have  – so it’s time to get one.  When I initally started looking, I was looking at the Mares Airtrim range.  It’s got a few pros (as far as I can make out) but one major con is the bulkiness of it.  This got me thinking about wings and maybe going down that route, then I saw the ScubaPro KnightHawk – “a back flotation jacket”.  In principle it looks good, removes the clutter from around the front, but is significantly more expensive than the Mares. Hopefully I can try one on and see what it’s like.

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