Pics Sipadan and Tulamben

Hello all,

I just returned from Sipadan and Bali and got a pretty used cheap setup for the ride . It was my first time taking pictures underwater, and I am not all a land photographer. So I am as novice as they get. As a resutl, the pictures are not great, but I enjoy them! I couldnt get the strobe to work in Sipadan, but photo guru Jeff Mulllins had it working and had me taking better shots.

Anyway, feel free to critique, as all were shot in RAW and I can go back and adjust exposure etc. more if needed. Only the ones that say my name are adjusted already. All were shot with a olympus 5060 and pt-020 housing. The Bali series also used a Sealife 960d

Sipadan (no strobe): If you like turtles, even just a little..you will absolutly love Sipadan. I happen to love turtles so having two different species be with you at all times during most times never gets old!

Tulamben--great macro here! had the strobe working too. Its a cheap strobe, but the faults of the pictures certainly aren't the strobes. I thought it was well the worth the money...

A neon triplefin--the ultimate test your strobe subject for me!

My favorite sighting of the trip!

I like this white leaf shot the best. Really nice animal

Another-this time full body

I enjoyed watching these guys for some time. I forgot to take pictures at times..

Only saw it long enough to snap one shot...not such a good pictures, but gets the point across

Those look really fantastic to be your first time. You took the best advice very well: "get close, and then get closer". The pics look a bit "washed out" on my monitor (maybe too much shadow detail recovered in photoshop?), but it maybe just my non-calibrated monitor...

Wow, those are much, much better than my first underwater pics. I like the white leaf pic best too, though the triplefin and octo aren't too shabby.

Couple things I'm still learning - watch out for distracting background, like on the seadragon or the eels. Can make the difference between a decent shot and a really good one.

Hey thanks for the nice comments and the feedback.

Rocha, I tried to get as close as possible as I read a million times on wetpixel these words of advice. If you would not mind explaining what "washed out" means. Some of the pics i did use photoshop for , so maybe I can fix it! I have a really amateaur eye, and its hard for me to tell whats good.

Tjgreen--I understand completley what you are saying. I actually felt that way about all my shots. I want to experiment more with depth of field as well as trying to increase shutter speed to get some nice black backgrounds!

Thanks again