Focus on the Negative !

Most good photographs have something negative about them. Negative space, which is basically everything outside the subject area, is very important in providing a background for good images. Some shots look good with a dark background, however many will look better with a lighter background or one which shows more background detail. Since most of us use slow films like Velvia, getting enough background light into the camera, particularly on deeper dives or in low visibility, can be a big challenge. Despite this problem, there are a couple tricks to let more light in. The easiest method is to simply open the aperature a little further. Unfortunately this technique will cut down on your depth of field which is often unacceptable. Another approach, which works well with a wide angle lens and strobe, is to slow the shutter speed down by manually setting it to 1/30 of a second. This allows about one and a half more stops of ambient light into the camera than in the A setting (on a Nikonos V) while

When working on close up or macro shots, you can try some other tricks. By positioning your camera so that the sun is directly behind the subject, you can often lighten the background and capture the blue or green color of the water rather than black. You can also open up the aperature (many extension tubes tell you to use f22) to f16 or f11 if you can tolerate a bit less depth of field. Try slowing down the shutter speed as well (but be careful about moving subjects). These are just a couple of ideas you can try to enhance the negative space in your shots and remember to try to think "negative" !