I recently returned from a week-long snorkeling photography workshop in Belize with sixteen guests, all of whom had the famous Olympus TG-6 camera. With so many guests using the same camera, it couldn't have worked out better! Having spent so much time learning and navigating the different modes, menus, and configurations of this sassy little camera I thought it might be useful to put together a little guide to the TG-6 so everyone can hit the water ready to snap some great photos without stressing about what does what on the camera. Fish Mode The first thing you should do is turn the little dial on the back so that the little fish icon lines up with the white dash. This will put you in the underwater mode where you can select four different underwater shooting modes. Underwater Snapshot vs. Underwater Wide These two modes function pretty much the same, the only difference is that the Underwater Wide mode starts by using the Underwater: Mid Range white balance function indicated by a fish symbol with WB2 next to it. Underwater Snapshot uses the Underwater: Shallow (WB1 + 'fish symbol'). These Underwater white balance modes can be easily adjusted regardless of whether you are using Underwater Snapshot or Underwater Wide. Unless you can dive down and hold your breath for a good amount of time I wouldn't recommend using the Underwater Macro mode. Your best bet is to keep it in Underwater Snapshot or Wide and just zoom in a bit to bring yourself closer to the subject if you absolutely can not get physically closer. To access these underwater shooting modes without spinning the rear dial again you can press the left button next to “OK” with the icon of a square and a diagonal arrow. Underwater White Balance So,
I recently returned from a week-long snorkeling photography workshop in Belize with sixteen guests, all of whom had the famous Olympus TG-6 camera. With so many guests using the same camera, it couldn’t have worked out better! Having spent so much time learning and navigating the different modes, menus, and configurations of this sassy little
Before we talk about the benefits of taking wide-angle photos, I want to quickly explain what exactly I mean by “Wide Angle.” Wide-angle generally reefers to the photographer using a lens or a lens adapter that either goes onto the camera itself or mounts on the housing and will significantly increase the field of view beyond what the human eye can see. For example, most compact cameras will have a field of view when zoomed all the way out of about 70-90 degrees, this is roughly what the human eye sees in a fixed position. Interpretation of the differences in perspectives from a 'naked' compact camera lens and a wide-angle lens A wide-angle lens or a wide-angle lens adapter will increase the field of view to anywhere from 120-180 degrees, depending on the camera lens and or adapter. So, as you can see, most compact cameras, aside from the GoPro, really don't allow you to shoot true wide-angle photos. In order to do so, you'll need to purchase an after-market wide-angle lens. For wide-angle lens info, you can check out this blog. For now, let's talk about the benefits of shooting in “wide-angle”. 1. Closer Really, the biggest benefit of using a wide-angle lens underwater is the fact that with this increased field of view, we can now get nearly twice as close to our subject without cropping our intended composition. On land, where we're shooting through air, we can more or less compose the same scene regardless of whether we're using a wide-angle lens or a telephoto lens, we just need to back up further. It doesn't work like this underwater, unfortunately, the more water we have between our camera and the subject the more clarity and color we lose in the image, especially in water with a lot
Before we talk about the benefits of taking wide-angle photos, I want to quickly explain what exactly I mean by “Wide Angle.” Wide-angle generally reefers to the photographer using a lens or a lens adapter that either goes onto the camera itself or mounts on the housing and will significantly increase the field of view
