Pooley

I got a couple of family members to chip in to get this for a Christmas present - and downloaded it early obviously. Picked a shot where I got pretty much everything wrong, but as an example and my first go with the software I am pretty impressed No other editing done so not supposed to be the final product, but a fantastic starting point in my opinion. I'm pretty proficient with photoshop, but doubt I could have done this so well manually - at least not within 30 minutes! Mike

I think you've got the right idea of the best areas already. From my experience with the manatees around crystal river, its best to do your research well in advance with which operator you go with. Most of them just want to out you near to them for a nice snorkelling experience which is great without a camera, but often in the worst viz for photos. Try and insist on trying to find the in clear water, even if it means they are not at their most active. I asked for a photo specific trip but still ended up in dim green water There are a couple of reputable outfits around Jupiter and it goes down to personal choice whether you're up for baited dives or not. Last time I went it was with Jim Abernethy bit I'm not sure they do dedicated shark dives any more. I have heard good things about Emerald Charters though. If you go baited its normally a bit of time on the sea bed attracting the sharks then rising to around 10-12 metres and drifting around the bait box where you get the Lemons really close I don't know anything about the springs and there are plenty of centres for blue heron and blackwater, I've been happy with Pura Vida. For the birds, without a doubt the best place is Lake blue Cypress for the Ospreys, but you must time it right with the wind coming in from the east otherwise they'll spend a lot of time facing away from you. East wind on a sunny morning is incredible . You also have Stick Marsh close to the lake for the Roseatte Spoonbills. Another favourite place for me is Cape Coral for the burrowing owls where they live amongst the general population and you just walk around the streets and find the owls looking you of their burrows - and that's totally free! Mike

Mark, Whereabouts are you going in the Red Sea? There are a couple of places where fisheye is useful, but unless big reef scenes are your thing, in my experience the WWL / WACP variants should be the best bet. It can be dependant on the exact itinerary though Mike

I was there in September- flew into Mexico City then on to Cabo. they are definitely still on the lookout, I dropped lucky only because the official I had thought my housing was a drone which she wanted to tax. I said it wasn’t a drone then I developed a ‘language issue’ when trying to explain what it was 🤣 she got bored of my stumbling and sent me through - very lucky. certainly put me off planning another Mexico trip no matter how good the diving is

Not necessarily Mark, it's a great site. When I return next year I'l;; be with a non-photographer friend, so will do more dives around the liberty, coral garden, drop off etc and less at places like Seraya, Baturinngit and Germobong. It'll still be great fun with lots pod photos opportunities, just not quite as intense. Time to go back for you I reckon! Mike

In a nutshell, the Nauticam water optics stretch your lens wider than it would normally go, so you're looking at around 130 degrees diagonally. There is still some distortion but less than a fisheye distorts but more than say the 12-24 behind a dome. Image quality is superb. I don't know much about Sipidan but with Socorro you'll be aiming for big animals up close, and I've seen lots of reports that the WACP range work well. Personally I have the WWL-1b on a Sony A1 with the Sony 28-60mm. lens and the best comparison for what you're going for is when. I went to Tiger Beach and it was brilliant for 12 foot Tiger Sharks right up against you. Maybe if you do an image search on Alex Mustards site you'll be able to get an idea with what the water optics can do. In his image search box, type 28.0 and it'll take you to lots of shots with the water optics. Just be careful that some of his very latest shots may be with the FCP rather than a WACP. The fisheye option is great, but you're going to lose the zooming ability unless you start putting a teleconverter behind it. For macros, I have the 90mm and I think its excellent.

From my own experience, the 2 most important aspects are a strong and accurate targeting beam and the ability to control with size of the light beam. I've seen lots of people trying to use home made and sub standard snoots and equally seen their frustration afterwards. this really is one of those times where if you buy cheap you buy twice. Like Tim, I have the retra strobes and LSD and think its a great bit of kit. However, I'm not sure if the focussing light on the YS-D1 will be strong enough for your aiming. If you can afford the backscatter combo then it looks promising. After that its all about how you get the strobe in position. Easiest way is have a willing buddy to hand hold the strobe. After that I think the Wolf method of setting up is good - https://www.uwphotographyguide.com/snoot-mounting-macro Here's a link to some of mine a few weeks ago with the retra LSD - https://www.mikepoolewildlife.co.uk/bali24 A few were lit more traditionally but you can see the snooted ones and see how sometimes the beam needs to be narrower / wider Mike

Mrs P has just crashed her car twice in a month. If anything she needs to earn brownie points from me 😀

Make sure Mrs P doesn't get to hear about this - I got a reserve spot on Alex's boat this autumn and she's not impressed that they can't fit her on! A good itinerary that one, should be a great trip for someone

Cheers for the reply - but you did have me a little confused with the bigger stuff! Mike

A nice variety of shots. Whereabouts did you dive? I've done 2 trips to Tualmben the last 2 years, and will return 2025/26 so am happy with that area. I snorkelled Menjangen this year and will dive there next year, but I'm guessing you were further south - Nusa Penida maybe? Please can you let me know who you dived with (if you were happy with them!) so I can start looking around for the future cheers Mike