Pooley

Sorry for the autocorrect spelling errors! I can only seem to edit the shots and not the text

Great colours Chris, I never knew they were so big. I'd love to have a go at these if I ever get back down under again ( I love Australia!) The eggs really add an extra point of interest, I just wish the head wasn't tilted downwards Mike

A nice set, and the reposts are definitely moving in the right direction. I'd try and keep a closer eye the white balance - I had a play with a couple and needed to do WB alterations each time. The ray shot is just a white balance adjustment, then moving the blacks slider further along. I don't mind the background losing details on this occasion, just make sure you don't block any details on the actual subject. With the following shot I did a WB adjustment but greens and cyans remained in the sand so I used a selective saturation adjustment to remove them. Set black and white points, used a dodge and burn technique to lighten the sand then boosted the colours a little (maybe too much) These are only pointers, not the be all and end all by any stretch, but maybe something to look at Mike

I don't think there will be a huge real world difference between the WWL-1 and the WWL-C when it comes to image quality. I have the WWL-1 and love it. It can be taken off underwater, but the size of it becomes a real pain if its taken off unless your buddy is willing to hold it for you. I think it all depends on how you want to dive. If you want to have a larger choice of subjects, and are willing and able to spend plenty of time with your subject, moving strobes around, maybe rebalancing the rig it you need to go vertical, then the MWL is your answer. If you prefer to dedicate a dive to one particular style, then I think you'll find one of the WWL variants better. Personally - and this isn't right for everyone - I prefer to go into the water with a particular mindset, be it macro or wide angle. Yes, I may miss some opportunities, but I'm usually set up pretty good from the start and I find I'm more tuned into looking for a particular shot if my lens choice is a little limited. Mike

That's some really nice work. I'm going back to Tulamben next year - is therenmuch difference between Tulamben diving and Amed? Mike

I have a pair of Retras and have zero plans to change them. Yes, they are expensive, but they give out great light for wide angle and the aiming light works really well with the retra snoot. My old YS-D1s served me well but I hear of too may problems with Sea and Sea these days, so I'd be tempted to look elsewhere if I were you The backscatter flash looks decent but seems limited to macro and snooting, so for me its a choice of Retra, Inon 330 (my old Z240s did me good) and the new Marelux which I know nothing about Mike

First up, that's a lovely photo, well balanced composition. Yes a little cooling down was needed. Nothing that's a problem shooting in RAW though Mike Cheers Rich - I wish I knew of somewhere that rented this gear, could have saved myself a small fortune! Mike

Thankyou. I have 2 retra pro's mounted near to the front element way out in front of the camera, just slightly behind the lens. I changed the angle they were pointing a couple of times. I bought 2 large inon float arms just before I went as the kit is very nose heavy and they were a very useful addition Mike

Thanks Davide, I think the IQ here is pretty representative of what I see in photoshop. Obviously a little hit due to lowering the quality to around '70' to get a reasonable image size. (I know nothing about how effect much posting large photos has on a forums hosting allowance) I think there is plenty detail available for people to be able to offer genuine critique on composition lighting as well as the technical side Looking at the 2nd picture - which is in my mind the sharpest - I don't think there is much of a negative affect. Happy to send you the originals via email if you want to do a test at home. Gear wise Sony A1, 90mm lens, 160 degree objective Hardest part for me was getting a sharp image with a blue background as you shoot at really los shutter speeds and clownfish rarely stop moveing Mike

Totally unjustifiable purchase - but isn't that what we're all good at doing? Although I shot other subjects as well, here are a few anemone fish from the Red Sea a week or 2 ago 1. 2. 3. All resized to 1500px and sizes lowered to around 700-800kb to see what, if any, IQ hit posting them takes Mike

Hi everyone, Mike Poole here from over in the UK, Just getting to grips with this new forum, great to see some names already here that I haven't seen on a certain other site for a while! Lets get posting and critiquing some photos as well as all the gear talk! regards Mike