Featuring Logan Wood
Editing your OM System TG-7 or Olympus TG-6 photos doesn't need to be complicated. Sometimes, just a few simple adjustments in Adobe Lightroom are all it takes to make a photo stand out.
Follow along as Ikelite Video Producer Logan Wood walks through a few easy edits he makes to his photos. Or, scroll down to read the video transcript.
Equipment Used
Both of the photos used in this tutorial were shot in Yap, Micronesia with the OM System TG-7 inside the Ikelite Underwater Housing # 6233.06 with the Ecko Fiber Strobe # 40101. So if you’ve recently picked one up or are looking to, this will be a good example of the quality and flexibility you can expect on your next dive.
Clownfish in Anemone
This image was already really nice out of the camera, but with a few simple edits in Lightroom the image really pops. After (top) and before (bottom). © Logan Wood
In Lightroom hit “D” to go into the Develop module. You can see that the photo is already pretty good right out of camera, we've got a ton of contrast and a lot of saturation in the fish as well as the anemone that surrounds it.
The first thing I'm going to do is just raise the exposure a bit, but we've lost a little bit of contrast when we've done that so I'm just going to add a bit more contrast in.
From there go up to the white balance and either use the white balance dropper and find something middle gray or use the drop down menu and hit “Auto”. This will try to white balance your image automatically, however you may need to make slight adjustments to the temperature to your taste if you choose the auto option.
One final adjustment is to bring out the fish, make it pop. Draw a radial gradient mask just around the fish, uncheck “show overlay” so that you have a visual. I think the front of the fish is a little hot so I'll turn down the highlights and even out that color a bit. From there, duplicate and invert that mask so that everything is being affected that is not in that circle and bring down the exposure a bit. Finally, I'm just going to raise the saturation a bit.
This image really didn't need too much work because the strobe provided all the light and contrast, but I think a few simple adjustments really made it pop a bit more. © Logan Wood
Clownfish Eggs
Clownfish eggs among anemone fronds. After editing (left) and before (right). © Logan Wood
Moving on to the second image we have a nice shot of some anemonefish (clownfish) eggs and right off the bat I'm going to boost contrast with the contrast slider and raise the exposure a little bit.
Next is auto white balance, and again adjust the tonal temperature to your taste if the auto white balance doesn't nail it.
There's a fair amount of detail in these eggs, which is incredible for a camera the size of the TG-7. But I want to enhance that out a little bit more so I'll use the clarity slider to bump that up.
Next, I want to draw the viewer's eye away from the bottom of the image. I don't want to crop it because I like the composition, so I'll use a masking tool to draw the viewer's eye toward the center of the image. Use a radial gradient mask, zoom all the way out and hit "invert" and draw a large radial gradient (larger than the image itself) so that the radial gradient is only impacting the lower portion of the image. From here, lessen the exposure.
Here you can see the radial gradient tool being used to lessen the exposure on the bottom half of the image in an effort to draw the viewer's eye away from this area and toward to fish eggs in the center of the photo. © Logan Wood
Back in global adjustments I'll add just a touch of saturation and vibrance to this image, but not too much. I think the image is looking pretty good without overdoing it, the image was great right out of the camera.
Clownfish eggs. The final product. © Logan Wood
Need more editing tips? Visit the Editing Photos section of our Underwater Photography 101 page to see more techniques and tutorials like this one. If you're looking to pick up this system for yourself visit our OM System TG-7 page, or contact us to help you find the best system to suit your personal needs.
Additional Viewing
OM TG-7 Underwater Macro Setup and Review [VIDEO]
Packing Made Easy for the TG-7 Deluxe Kit [VIDEO]
OM TG-7 Underwater Housing Deluxe Kit Assembly [VIDEO]
Setting Up Your Ecko // Ecko Fiber/DS Strobe Assembly [VIDEO]
TG-7 Microscope Mode Settings for Underwater Photography [VIDEO]
One-Touch White Balance with OM System TG-7 and Olympus TG-6, TG-5 [VIDEO]
Logan Wood is a published photographer, cinematographer, and Producer at Ikelite. Stemming from a great appreciation for the outdoors and living an active lifestyle, his work focuses on capturing and sharing the natural world through the latest technologies. When not in the studio, Logan can be found cruising on his bike, going to concerts, and researching where to go next. You can see more of his work at loganwood.net and on Instagram @jlowood
