How do the experts get such great photos, time after time? While their understanding of the fundamentals of photography is of course important, a big part of creating consistently great underwater photos, one after another, is via the use of computer photo editing tools. One of the most popular, and one you 've probably heard of or even used yourself, is Adobe Photoshop. Here are some tips for using Photoshop to improve your images before you show them to the rest of the world.
Tools and Tips for Eliminating Backscatter
Before you decide to just use Photoshop to get rid of backscatter, keep in mind that the cleaner your images are to begin with, the better results you are going to ultimately get and the less work you are going to have to do to get your photos looking just so. By using proper buoyancy techniques and correct strobe positioning, you can get photos that need only a little touching up.
In case there are large blemishes, Photoshop's spot healing and healing brush can remove them. Other tools you can use for larger particles are content-aware and the patch tool - these are useful for eliminating larger items such as unwanted images in the background (part of another diver's fin, for example.)
Other tools you can use include:
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New Layer - Begin by duplicating your background layer; just drag the background layer onto the new layer icon located at the bottom of the "layer" panel. You want to use this tool any time you're making large adjustments since it allows you to compare before and after images and lets you manage blending, masking, and opacity.
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Clone Stamp - This is a really simple tool. You simply take an area of your photo you like, and clone it into another area of the photo. So, for a big bubble in the background, all you need to do is clone the water next to the bubble and pop it onto the bubble. Be careful with this since it's pretty easy to tell when there is a lot of cloning in an image. The spot healing tool works a lot like the clone stamp does, but it is a finer tool, and your image ends up looking more natural when you're finished.
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Dust and Scratch Filter - In areas where small particles are present you can apply the dust and scratches filter with a mask to remove tiny bits of backscatter. This is a powerful tool for eliminating lots of backscatter, and while it is labor intensive to some extent, it can rescue a photo full of blemishes. There are a lot of different ways to use it, but one of the best is to apply the filter to an entire layer of your photo and then carefully paint problem spots away. While you'll find that this softens your image significantly, you can recover quite a bit of detail by increasing the threshold. Use small increments and the right size brush, and take your time with the image.
Even if you're still learning how to take photos underwater and you don't have a lot of images to practice with, you can learn a lot by using Photoshop on pictures you've taken topside. Have fun and focus on learning the software, and soon you'll be able to transform your photos quickly and easily.