Wahoooooo!

Boy was it fun ... and boy was it challenging ...

Dove with strobes for the first time. Burned soooo much air. Strobes were difficult to manage underwater ... I'll get better. Also had a magic filter on - very, very cool. The video with the magic filter looks spectacular.

Here's two shots ... one with strobes (with MF on and WB'd with strobes) and one without (WB'd without strobes).

Ok ... one more (no strobes) ...

I moved everything around on Flickr ... once I got home I took the time to gather up all the selects and review them carefully for color balance and exposure and sharpening, etc ...

The full set from my trip can be seen here ... comments most welcome!

Antigua Photo Album

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the diving in Antigua ... not a lot of "big" stuff, but the water was gorgeous and the "little" stuff was pretty. I was not expecting much, but it was a good chance to try my hand at taking pictures underwater.

Can't wait to go on the next trip. The Caymans are calling me ... last time I went I dove with the Cayman Diving Lodge, but they got wiped out by Ivan ... hear they are rebuilding. Anyone care to recommend any operators in the Caymans?

On this trip, during the daytime, I alway had both a magic filter for videos and some ambient light shots as well as strobes. I think next time I will separate them into two different "modes" ... some dives with no strobes and a magic filter and some with strobes and no filter. I need to give more thought to the planning of what I will shoot or be trying to shoot and the nature/profile/light available on the dive and select my rig accordingly.

any reason for touching these creatures?

pic 1

pic 2

pic 3

any reason for touching these creatures?

 

pic 1

 

pic 2

 

pic 3

Yeah ... I hear you ... I didn't ask them to do that nor would I ever do that myself.

My philosophy there is pretty strict and each time I said something to the individuals involved after the dive.

I get crazy about where I can put two fingers! I'd never even touch, let alone grab a fish or other denizen of the deep unless it grabbed me first!

Yeah ... I hear you ... I didn't ask them to do that nor would I ever do that myself.

 

My philosophy there is pretty strict and each time I said something to the individuals involved after the dive.

 

I get crazy about where I can put two fingers! I'd never even touch, let alone grab a fish or other denizen of the deep unless it grabbed me first!

The lobster was the man's lunch ... I don't really have a problem with that.

Grabbing fish or other creatures or harrasing them out of hiding spots to show people or for photographs is something I don't really want to participate in, but fishing for lunch is fine by me.

Perhaps I shouldn't publish such shots as there is an implicit approval of what they did. I'll consider removing them from flickr ...

Thanks for making me think about it.

....but fishing for lunch is fine by me.

 

Perhaps I shouldn't publish such shots as there is an implicit approval of what they did. I'll consider removing them from flickr ...

 

Thanks for making me think about it.

Hi Jeremy,

Thanks for the clarification. I was just wondering as I wasn't on that dive and all I saw was that picture. Many explanations could be given....maybe that litte fish got hurt and needed protection and special care

Best regards,

Bart

Were you using a magic filter with your strobes? I had thought that the magic filter were for use with available light.

Beware the obsession with UW photography. It will consume your life. Not a bad thing unless you have a wife and kids.

Nice exposures for your first time with a strobe!

Eric - Thanks! I've been diving for about 10 years and taking pictures on land for a lot longer - and it has been a desire of mine to put the two together for some time. I never would have done so well on my first trip without all the great tips I passively read and actively solicited on these boards, so thanks again!

Dave - I did use the magic filter with strobes. I wanted to see if I could have the best of both worlds ... good color on the HD video (1024x768 15fps) that the G9 shoots and strobes for stills. I found it was pretty easy to get good results with the G9 shooting RAW with the strobes and the magic filter. There are two customizable modes on the camera and I used one for ambient light shots and the other for strobes, each with their own custom white balance that I would reset as regularly as I could. As long as you can white balance with your strobes firing off you can get pretty good results in camera. I found I needed to tweak the white balance a bit in Lightroom on a bunch to get them just so, but often the "auto" white balance in Lightroom would come real close without my intervention and many were spot on "as shot". Someone had suggested a color temperature of 3200 as a starting point in the "lighting" forum, and that seemed spot on for land shots in daylight with the MF on. U/W it often looked best with a slightly lower temperature and often a little tint shift.

Beware the obsession with UW photography. It will consume your life. Not a bad thing unless you have a wife and kids.

Hah! I have a wife and two kids ... I've already started drafting the letter to my son about his college savings ...