photo and camera tips

[Backtotheislands]

In my older, retired state I find I am becoming obsessed with nature and love taking pictures! My absolute favorite thing to do is take underwater pictures, but I am finding I also love birds, sunsets, vistas, etc. I own an Olympus TG2 which I have had for 3 years. I had Canons before that. I will also have my iPhone 6 for land photos. My husband says I don't need anything fancier and I will admit to not being very techie. Anyway, please share your tips for getting awesome photos. I drool over many I see here. I know it takes a lot of underwater shots to get the good ones and sunlight helps. I also want to get some video this time, too. If I shoot video will my battery stay charged for a full day? I am considering buying a TG4 as a backup, but that may be redundant and I am on a budget! 2 trips ago both of my Canons just died in the middle of the day's snorkeling.
I also notice that on both my iPhone and TG2 the photos seem so far away and when I zoom in they often become grainy. I only have 12 days until I leave so please share your advice! Are there extras I need to buy or apps to use to improve picture quality? I like to frame some of my photos to remind me of my happy place. Thanks for any help you can share! I am getting so excited!!

[Teresa_Rae]

I would highly recommend a polarizing filter and figuring out how to use it; it will make a world of difference for water and sky shots.

I have a Canon DSLR and the battery lasts me two weeks on STJ, but SLRs are different than point and shoots.

Poor quality zoom shots are often the result of a digital zoom and not an optical zoom. Optical zoom is an actual adjustment zoom of the lens. A digital zoom is just an adjustment of the picture within the camera. They are totally different.

[Pickle]

I love taking underwater photos but it can be challenging. As you know, the quality of shots is affected by the conditions underwater (visibility, light, currents, etc.). To me, the brightest sun doesn't mean I get the best shots. I personally like taking underwater photos when the sun is behind the clouds. I use a point-and-shoot and often struggle with controlling the shots when the bright sun creates glares underwater.

When I want close-up shots, I try to get close to the subject as much as I can instead of relying on the zoom. The photos turn out better that way in most cases. With fast moving subjects, I usually have little time to do anything but framing them the best I can and hope the shots will turn out okay. But if the subject is slow, I can take my time, try different angles, framing, etc. and compose instead of snap around. The same subject can give you different looks.

Shooting videos uses quite a bit of battery power. Depending on how much video you take, the battery may or may not last all day. Mine usually lasts a day when I take an occasional short video on top of a couple hundred photos. You can conserve the battery by not using the LCD screen more than necessary (for example, minimizing reviewing photos and videos) and trying not using too much zoom or excessively pressing the shutter button half way (every time the lens makes a move, resets and refocuses, it uses more power) - although these are minor compared to shooting videos.

Have a wonderful time under and above the water!

[Backtotheislands]

Thanks so much for your responses. Yes, Pickle, sometimes I get a really great shot, but more often than not I'm not happy with my pictures! I know cloudy water makes terrible pictures and I have no control over that! TeresaRae, I don't have time to get the filter and learn to use it at this point. I got busy and now it's almost here! Thanks again!

[jmq]

Great tips from Pickle. Some others to consider if you haven't already:
- don't use flash. It will light up particulates closest to the camera. Know how to shut it off.
- get better at shooting at arms length to help get closer
- pan moving critters
- shoot at angles other than down
- use a large memory card that also writes fast i.e. speed class 10 - helps for shooting video and makes the camera quicker for bursts of shots
- take multiple shots of same scene at different focal lengths and orientation (landscape and portrait)
- after transferring photos to your computer, edit. Edit. Then edit again. Basic (often one click) automatic color correction and cropping make a world of difference and are very easy to do. There are likely youtube tutorials on how to use free photo software if you've never done that. It gets intuitive fast.
- the internets tell me your TG-2 your camera had decent pro reviews when it came out and it has a 4x optical zoom which is equivalent to 25-100mm (25 is quite wide for a point n shoot, and 100 is a pretty short zoom that shouldn't be prone to easily noticed image flaws) and a f2 lens that lets in a lot of light so it shouldn't be giving you grainy daylight images at all when fully zoomed when using most AUTO settings.

The camera would use a higher ISO setting for lets say a zoomed evening shot of St Thomas and therefore that would look a little grainy. If your camera has a nighttime auto setting and you forget to change back to just AUTO, then your daylight images might not be as sharp, as would be some other high ISO override setting that would be used for low light scenes.

Hope some of this helps

[Backtotheislands]

Yes, it does! I love to make videos of my trip photos so hopefully I will get some good ones! I am getting so excited!!! 5 days out!