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fish jumping in the background
Feb 23, 2012 12:33:33   #
Andrea Loc: Naples, Florida
 
I was wondering how to get my ocean water more blue. Also, my husband said I should get rid of the fish. He thinks it is distracting. I like it and so did the Mom in the photo. Just wondering what you all think. Thanks.



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Feb 23, 2012 13:11:10   #
Frank T Loc: New York, NY
 
The ocean water is overexposed and that's what's washing it out. You may be able to recover it in post but you'll need photoshop or Lightroom because once you cut back on the exposure, you'll probably lose the faces and you'll have to correct them or otherwise prevent them from being darkened. I do agree with your husband, I'd get rid of the fish. In the future you can use fill flash when back lighting your subjects, that will allow you to reduce the overall exposure for the ambient light but keep the subjects lit.

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Feb 23, 2012 13:16:07   #
Andrea Loc: Naples, Florida
 
Thanks frank. Should I have metered to the sky instead of my subject?

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Feb 23, 2012 16:52:39   #
English_Wolf Loc: Near Pensacola, FL
 
Solution: Expose for the sea, use a fill flash. Done.

Of note: try to never get the sun full on unless it is early sunrise and late sunset, in your case, it is sunset but the sun is still too high.

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Feb 23, 2012 17:33:54   #
Frank T Loc: New York, NY
 
Basically yes. Meter the scene to find your exposure then add your flash as fill.

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Feb 24, 2012 08:07:59   #
Andrea Loc: Naples, Florida
 
thanks everyone. English Wolf, am I always suppose to meter the water when taking beach photos? Why is it not the sky? Sorry, I am very new at this.

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Feb 24, 2012 09:37:59   #
shadows creation Loc: san antonio
 
here are two trys with low res samples





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Feb 24, 2012 09:40:39   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
English_Wolf wrote:
Solution: Expose for the sea, use a fill flash. Done.

Of note: try to never get the sun full on unless it is early sunrise and late sunset, in your case, it is sunset but the sun is still too high.


EW is correct....there is only one way to do it....meter for the bright sky...to the left/right of the sun OR meter off of the bright reflection of the water...

and then you have to bring light back into your subject's face somehow.

Even on camera flash works for this (not the best but better than under exposing)

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Feb 24, 2012 10:58:12   #
Photoman74 Loc: Conroe Tx
 
Andrea wrote:
I was wondering how to get my ocean water more blue. Also, my husband said I should get rid of the fish. He thinks it is distracting. I like it and so did the Mom in the photo. Just wondering what you all think. Thanks.


:D Crop from left - Set WB to dress - Paint with light blue.

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Feb 24, 2012 12:02:20   #
PNagy Loc: Missouri City, Texas
 
Andrea wrote:
I was wondering how to get my ocean water more blue. Also, my husband said I should get rid of the fish. He thinks it is distracting. I like it and so did the Mom in the photo. Just wondering what you all think. Thanks.


If you have Photoshop:

1. turn on "apply image." Set the blending mode to "multiply." The entire image will be too dark, but that is fixed in the next step.

2. In the Edit menu choose "fade apply image." Its slider is at 100%. Pull it back until the water is no longer too dark. It will have a great deal more pop.

3. Go to the history menu. Choose the small box to the far left of the "open" state, which is the first one listed. Do not click on the longer rectangle to the right of the same state, because that will change the entire picture back to the original state.

4. Select the history brush. Now paint the original state back onto the people in your picture.

You did not mention this, but it appears to me that the people in your picture are silhlouetted. You can deal with it a number of ways, but the best may be the following:

1. Open the photo in Camera Raw.

2. In the very first menu that appears to the left of the picture itself are a number of sliders. Drop down to the one called "fill light." Pull it to the right until the faces are better illuminated. Other parts of the picture may be brightened, but seldom in an unacceptable manner.

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Feb 24, 2012 12:40:28   #
mdeman Loc: Damascus, Maryland
 
This is the best I could do with the low res picture.



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Feb 24, 2012 12:48:01   #
rpavich Loc: West Virginia
 
mdeman wrote:
This is the best I could do with the low res picture.


that seemed to help...

The point isn't that it can't be fixed...it can...

the point is how to avoid this situation next time...that's the value here. :)

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Feb 24, 2012 13:42:54   #
mdeman Loc: Damascus, Maryland
 
I believe question was how to make the water bluer. I don't think correct exposure would have helped with that, although it would have made the post processing easier.

rpavich wrote:
mdeman wrote:
This is the best I could do with the low res picture.


that seemed to help...

The point isn't that it can't be fixed...it can...

the point is how to avoid this situation next time...that's the value here. :)

Final tweek
Final tweek...

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Feb 24, 2012 19:08:43   #
RMM Loc: Suburban New York
 
All of the above. Metering for the sea, per English-Wolf's recommendation, would have given you a darker image, and a fill flash would compensate for the backlighting.

Attached is another version, though more could be done with this.



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