When to use snorkel mode on a Sea Life camera

Can anyone tell me when it is best to use snorkel mode on a sea life camera?

I used it in the carribean without much issue (a few pictures got a slight red tint but were fine, and using it out of the water makes everything red).

But I used it in the ashuelot river and forest lake last week and everything was red



When I went to cas pond and used the auto mode I usually use on the surface things came out fine



The instruction booklet says to use snorkel mode at depths below 25 feet and dive mode deeper, but sometimes a surface mode seems better. Can anyone tell me under which conditions it is best to use snorkel mode?

It's compensating for the loss of red spectra in 10 meters of sea water. You won't be deep enough or in conditions clear enough to have that happen. Just use auto and then correct the yellow in these images (light scatter due to sediment). I put together a "how to" a bit back in the photography section using GIMP freeware.

Todd

Experiment.
Short answer. Different makes, models, settings, different conditions.
The hard part is remembering what your settings were when you are reviewing pics. Using windows "properties" helps somewhat.

It would be best to set a manual white balance with your camera. I do not have experience with your camera model, but the procedure is generally as follows:

1. Put the camera in manual white balance mode (it should be one of the options to choose from instead of auto, daylight, cloudy, snorkel, etc).

2. Bring a white or gray object into the water with you when you first start snorkeling. It should be large enough to fill the entire frame of your camera from a distance of 2-3 feet. The top of a plastic storage bin could work well. Set it on the bottom at the depth you will be snorkeling.

3. Position your camera so that the white or gray object fills the entire frame from a distance of 2-3 feet, and set a manual white balance. Refer to your camera's manual if you need help figuring out how to set a manual white balance.

That's it. Now your camera should be set up to take images with the correct color balance for your shooting environment. It is a little bit of a chore to set up, but it is well worth it as it is the best way to get accurate color in your underwater images. It is a good idea to do this at the beginning of each snorkel trip since water color and lighting conditions vary. You might want to practice this technique a few times at home to get the hang of it before you are in the water. Good luck!