Rangiroa and Fakarava

Hi,

Just back a few weeks ago from heavenly Rangiroa and Fakarava in the Tuamotus. Finished keywording and all that fun stuff and just put a gallery together, found at:

http://mpostock.com/new.html

Everything shot using the D2x and 16mm and 10.5mm, two Inons and Aquatica housing.

Many thanks to friends Doug Seifert and Mike Vietch for their valuable insight and tips.

Regards,

Michael

mpostock.com

I can't find the gallery on that page... interested to see the dive sites. I was out there a year ago.

my favorite were the turtle and napoleon shots.

fyi - some of the shark pics look like you cleaned up around the shark with Photoshop. maybe just my eyes...

The gallery is on the link of the photo with the silvertips. The link says "Portfolio of 20 slides" or something like that.

Regarding the comment of cleaning up the photo of the sharks with photoshop. There is no cleaning up because those images were taken offshore in blue water. No background, just blue water.

Thanks,

mpo

Great photos and great place to dive! what surprises me the most is the ability you had to not burn the Big-Eye-Trevallies ¿how long are your strobes arms?

Re. Question about burning out the trevallies.

My strobe arms are pretty short. I use two TLC segments of 6 inches each on each arm plus the joint. I position the Inons either parallel to the lens/camera, or behind it with the 10mm.

The water in the Tuamotus can reach 200ft. of viz. Couple that with the sunlight, and you have super nice photo conditions but also the chance to over expose silver fish. For the bigeye trevallies, I shot my inons at -3 power and the camera settings were typically in the 1/320 to 1/400 sec with the f stop around 8 or so. ISO was set at 100.

Regards,

mpo

mpostock.com

Very nice, wish I had dove the Rangiroa lagoon. The pass dives were pretty awesome, not great for photography though.

Re. Question about burning out the trevallies.

 

My strobe arms are pretty short.  I use two TLC segments of 6 inches each on each arm plus the joint.  I position the Inons either parallel to the lens/camera, or behind it with the 10mm.

 

The water in the Tuamotus can reach 200ft. of viz.  Couple that with the sunlight, and you have super nice photo conditions but also the chance to over expose silver fish.  For the bigeye trevallies, I shot my inons at -3 power and the camera settings were typically in the 1/320 to 1/400 sec with the f stop around 8 or so.  ISO was set at 100.

 

Regards,

mpo

mpostock.com

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Thank you very much Michael!

I have another question :

Since your camera has a 1/250 sec X-sinc speed how could you shoot at 1/320 to 1/400?

Thank you again!

I think you're able to obtain the high-sync shots because the strobes are non-digital (discontinued Inon Z220s). They don't "talk" 100% with the D2x via the Sea&Sea cord and Aquatica housing I use (the strobe ready light in the camera never lights up, unlike when I used film cameras). I think if I had digital compatible strobes, then I would be limited to 1/250. Just a guess...and an idea to try with my Nikon speedlight 800.

At first this (ie., no strobe signal inside the camera) concerned me, but after testing the strobes in a variety of settings I learned the worked 100%, except for TTL - which for me is not an issue because I never use it. So I experimented and found out I could get shots in situations I never imagined, with correct flash exposures.

All the best,

mpo

mpostock.com

If you exceed the flash sync by too much, you will get one side of the photo that is dark. This isn't always visible, as sometimes there is just blue water in the area that is not strobe exposed, but it ruined some of my reef shark photos on my last trip when I wasn't paying attention and shot at 1/500th by accident.

Cheers

James

If you exceed the flash sync by too much, you will get one side of the photo that is dark.  This isn't always visible, as sometimes there is just blue water in the area that is not strobe exposed, but it ruined some of my reef shark photos on my last trip when I wasn't paying attention and shot at 1/500th by accident.

 

Cheers

James

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James. What is the highest shutter sync for the 5D? The 300D can be shot at 1/320 even though the rated x-sync speed is 1/200.

Incredible water clarity there. My favorite is the Wrasse O/U. The shark with the Travellies is also a nice set-up.

Have to admit, I've no idea where Rangiroa is. Guess I'd better look at the map.

I get a black line at 1/400. 1/320 is no problem.

Rand

Hi Herb,

I started getting the dreaded black line if I exceeded 1/200th. I'll have to go back and look at my shots to confirm this. I know for sure you can't get to 1/320th. Kind of a drag, but hey, it's a big sensor.

Cheers

James

I didn't include this one in my gallery, but I photographed it at 1/400 s @f9 with the D2x and 16mm and the Inons 220. Where are you getting the black line?

mpo

mpostock.com

Great gallery Michael!!

You spelled my last name wrong...

Haha..

Rand, Rangiroa is in French Polynesia, abotu 120 miles to the north east of Tahiti... (also where i worked for almost 2 years...)

can you guys show some of these shots with the black line/dark areas when out of sync?

Thank you very much Michael. I think it´s important to know which is the real usable sync speed for the cameras. In your turtle image there is no black line for sure