Photo blues
FIXING BACKSCATER We have selected free and easy software to explain to you how to fix your backscatter problems.
to capture something close up with this lens then the strobes will have to be moved closer to the housing, otherwise the subject will have a shadow cast over it.
TAKING MACRO PHOTOGRPHS There are a few ways to light up subjects when taking macro photographs. A good way to light up small, stationary objects such as nudibranchs is to move the strobe over and on top of the subject. This position will light up the subject without lighting particles between the lens and subject. This is the best position when you have only one strobe. With macro photographs, other positions
may be required as subjects may be tucked into a hole or partially obscured by their surroundings. For these photographs you will have to get in close to the subject anyway so you can move the strobe close to the lens, pointing directly at the subject. Backscatter is not normally an issue for these photographs.
TAKING STANDARD PHOTOGRPHS Keep the strobes out wide of the subject, turned slightly out. The light will then evenly project towards the subject. If you only have one strobe, then position this either high above the housing or wide outside and then point it at a 45° towards the subject.
Gimp is a versatile, free programme which offers similar tools to Photoshop, the Rolls Royce of the industry. You may have read many Photoshop articles on how to fix your images, but the reality is that many people cannot afford to pay thousands of rand for software to fix their diving photographs. Let’s leave Photoshop to the professionals and show you that similar results are possible to achieve with free software.
HOW TO USE THE HEAL AND CLONE TOOLS Click on the Heal/Clone icon and you will see the crossed plaster attached to the cursor with your selected pen shape (a circle as default). Select the source area to be cloned by left clicking Ctrl. This will leave a circle where you clicked to show you the area which will be used for the cloning. The cursor will now have a second circle (the target) attached. Position this circle in the area to be healed and left click. You will see the spot miraculously disappear. To heal or clone a line, just left click and drag the cursor over the line to heal this.
The Heal Tool is a close relative to the Clone Tool, but it is very smart when removing small particles from the water. The Heal Tool not only copies pixels from source to destination, but the area around the destination is taken into account before cloning is applied. The Heal Tool is very easy to use and quick to learn. The best combination, however, when clearing up backscatter is a combination of the Heal and Clone Tools. The Clone Tool is a little more brutal and replicates a selected area into the new ‘target’ area. This is especially useful when working close to edges such as the edge of the jellyfish in the picture alongside. The Heal Tool tends to use some of the edge when healing, resulting in smearing.
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An important feature to use is the opacity of the cloning or healing. By reducing the opacity you will have control over the strength of the clone or area to be healed. This will allow you to heal the area in a much more accurate and controlled manner. You can also select the scale of your brush which is very important, especially when clearing up very small specks which are close together.
September/October 2011
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