Newbie posts pix

[Randy Quimpo]

Hi fellows

Just got back from a nice Easter weekend doing lotsa snorkeling and photography over here in the tropics. The water was nice and warm, and fish were colorful, and I got some nice pix (at least I find them nice).

Andersn -
I did as you suggested and practiced with my zoom. Result? A nice shot of a strange striped fish I have yet to identify.

 

[Randy Quimpo]

Here is a wide angle shot that one of my office mates really likes, although the yellow fish in the middle is too small for my taste. The corral is nice, though, and my buddy here is using it as his desktop wallpaper.

 

[Randy Quimpo]

Here is a shot of my 11 year old daughter and my kid brother going headfirst into the deep blue (obviously some freediving aspirations here). This is gonzo freediving - no technique, no breathhold, no nothing.

Very hard shot as I was out of air and didn't have much time to frame it.

 

[crazyfrenchmen]

Nice

Hi,
nice pictures man, wish i was there.

 

[andrsn]

hey randy,

that first fish i believe is a clown tang (acanthurus lineatus). i'm jealous of your water clarity. for us to get shots like that, we have to be inches away from the fish. the past few times i've been out, the viz has been crappy. :head

are using a digital? i forgot.

great shots.

andrsn

 

[icarus pacific]

Nice stuff Randy! Keep'em coming!

sven

 

[Randy Quimpo]

Yes, the water clarity is amazing - but I helped the shot a little with a auto-levels adjustment in photoshop. It makes it look as if the fish were floating in air!

And at the end of the day, I sipped an ice-cold beer and watch the sun go down (see the pix).

Dig that. This place is only three hours drive from my home.

 

[Abriapnea]

Hi Randy , great photos .I am another digital newby learning to appreciate photoshop .
Can you briefly explain how I can reduce the file size to comply with our forum maximums ? I cant seem to get mine small enough .

 

[Jay Styron]

I can see the Sven shark circleing for a bite at that last statement. Take it easy on the guy Sven.
Jay

 

[icarus pacific]

...rises towards the chum...

Originally posted by Abriapnea
I cant seem to get mine small enough .

...yeah, I know the feeling. Yep, sure do. :waterwork

Jay- after me now...c i r c l (no e) i n g . :t

Thanks for the cue.

sven DB's spellshark

 

[Randy Quimpo]

SMALLER FILESIZE HOW-TO

Hi AbriApnea

How's Thailand treating you nowadays?

To produce a smaller filesize, you have to produce a smaller image. On the menu bar, click on IMAGE - then IMAGE SIZE. Set the image size less than 500 pixels across, and make sure CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS is clicked.

Then save a copy of the file as JPEG. If you set quality at about 6, the file becomes very small and is still quite nice to look at.

Now that you know how to reduce the filesize, maybe its your turn to post a pix?

 

[Abriapnea]

Small contribution

Thanks Randy ,
I actually managed to figure it out last night (I think)
I used the auto levels , which did wonders for the shell , but now the poor remora ended up looking like it's last meal is seriously disagreeing with it !
Thailand is O.K. , nothing special .I miss spearing badly .Might want to talk to you at some time later about job opportunities in your area .
BTW would someone enlighten me on the asides from Jay and Icarus ?

 

[Abriapnea]

Oh Well ...

OK lets try again . As I said , spearing is MUCH easier !

 

[icarus pacific]

Re: Small contribution

Originally posted by Abriapnea

BTW would someone enlighten me on the asides from Jay and Icarus ?

rofl


sven

 

[Abriapnea]

Abri's lament

Let's face it my pic sucks !:head
The first attempt was so big I was afraid it might split the seams of our thread . Then , in a panic , fearing that Andrsn might make me the first member with a substantially negative karma I clicked on everything in sight to reduce the damn pic . My sense of victorious achievement in finally getting it (too) small enough was so great I overlooked perusing the result and am left with this mediocre thing .To further brighten my day it would appear that I have destroyed the original in the process .:duh
Spearing is SOOO much easier : simply float around for a couple of hours , finally sight a suitable pelagic ; perforate it , and if in South Africa fight off a couple of great whites/tigers/makos on your way to the surface and get rewarded with a nice fish head and trailing guts .
But I shall persevere and in a decade or so if no-one starts a poll to disallow me posting pix you might see some awesomely average photos

 

[Randy Quimpo]

at least you got the turtle shot...

Nah, thats not so bad. The only turtle shot I ever got over here was one that was in a pool.

Maybe you can try shooting stuff that doesn't move?

Sometime, when I don't get any fish, I make a quick shot of an interesting corral formation (or some other interesting stuff) - that way, I don't waste my precious chestful of air.

Here is a shot of a wierd spiky creature I can't identify: really easy to shoot, and if you miss, its still there when you go back!

 

[Randy Quimpo]

WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?

While we are on the subject, here is another shot of some wierd wormy type creature that I can't identify.

This is another shot I took when the nice angelfish I was trying to shoot swam away. Don't know what it is, but its sure nice to show the kids.

 

[Abriapnea]

Thanks Randy ,
I accidentally took a pic of some boring coral , should I delete it ?
Seriously , can I replace the white of the overexposed sand with another colour ?Can't understand the replace colour function .
Promise I wont try to make you explain the entire photoshop !

 

[Randy Quimpo]

Thats a deep, deep subject, mon

Very long process to describe, but yes, you can replace that white sand (no, not through replace color). You do that by using the LASSO in the toolbar to mark out the area you want to change (this is SELECTING the area), then you copy it (contol C), and paste it into another layer. Now color correct the layer untill it looks right.

I don't think you have to do that to make your shot look better, though. Here is the same shot with the colors fixed a little (I tweaked the channels, but that's kinda hard to explain in a short email):

 

[fishhead]

smaller files

This is my first post, I love this web site! Abriapnea; you can make your files smaller and leave more room for image quality by going to the photoshop preferences file and under saving files you will see a dialog that says something like " alway save priviews, Mac, IBM, Icon. Deselct always save so that no previews or icons are saved with the file. The previews add unnecessary file size to your images and are generally never used for files intended for the web.
Randy; your "red filter" trick rocks. Only I start with a fill of 33% of red rather than reduce opacity to 33%, this gives more subtle control when lessening amount of red filter. Also I've been using red with a value of 200 rather than 255 (color science--water is blue-green not cyan, 255 red is oposite of Cyan, 200 red is closer to oposite of blue-green--i think. Then again the water may be cyan in the Phillipines).