A few days in Key Largo

Had a really nice week in Key Largo with Stephen Frink.

It's always nice to see the number of fish on these reefs when compared to many other places in the Carribbean. Easy diving, warm water. Got to meet Botso from Wetpixel.

Thanks Steve, it's always fun hanging out with you and your crew.

A few simple pics here:

http://gallery.mac.com/jeffinorlando#100016

Hey Buddy

Glad yo had fun down at the Keys . Did you found any Presidente ?

I tried to open the link to your gallery but was impossible , maybe is just my slow island connection ??? , anyway i will try later .

JA

Nice shots. I have not been to Key Largo, but seeing all of the healthy coral (even elkhorn) definitely puts on my "must do" list.

Had a really nice week in Key Largo with Stephen Frink.

It's always nice to see the number of fish on these reefs when compared to many other places in the Carribbean. Easy diving, warm water. Got to meet Botso from Wetpixel.

Thanks Steve, it's always fun hanging out with you and your crew.

Took a little bit of time to load, but worth it. Really like the shot of the 'Cuda and a Eel fully out is always good to see.

Great feeling in the stingray shot Jeff.

Cheers

James

Hey Jeff, Love the gallery, really like the eel shot. How did you like the instruction from Steven? Would you recommend it? Thanks for sharing.

Steve

Had a really nice week in Key Largo with Stephen Frink.

It's always nice to see the number of fish on these reefs when compared to many other places in the Carribbean.

http://gallery.mac.com/jeffinorlando#100016

Jeff, so glad you enjoyed it, good weather, instruction and pics!!! I liked the pics on your gallery.

I also agree that the keys are quite "fishy". Lad from REEF says that he thinks Molassas Reef in Key Largo is the "fishiest" place in Florida/Caribbean. Yes when you see how sadly fished out many places are in the Caribbean you really appreciate the keys. Unusual things can be found there also sometimes.

Happy it was a success! Best, Carol

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Steve, I can definitely recommend this course, particularly if you are looking for something here in the US. There is quite a lot of emphasis on digital workflow etc, and there are always guest Photoshop experts. 2 years ago when I did the course it was Daniel Brown, and this year it was Eddie Tapp. pm me if you want to know more about it.

Carol, yes the reefs are teeming with fish for the most part. This is not high adrenalin diving, but for a nice easy week in warm water, there's probably not that much in the Carribean with a higher concentration of fish life and healthier corals. The critter folks found quite a few unusual things and one of the ladies got one of the best shots I have ever seen of the underside of an Eagle Ray when it swam right over her. Here's one from Snapper Ledge that gives some idea of the school size one sees.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Steve, I can definitely recommend this course, particularly if you are looking for something here in the US. There is quite a lot of emphasis on digital workflow etc, and there are always guest Photoshop experts. 2 years ago when I did the course it was Daniel Brown, and this year it was Eddie Tapp. pm me if you want to know more about it.

Carol, yes the reefs are teeming with fish for the most part. This is not high adrenalin diving, but for a nice easy week in warm water, there's probably not that much in the Carribean with a higher concentration of fish life and healthier corals. The critter folks found quite a few unusual things and one of the ladies got one of the best shots I have ever seen of the underside of an Eagle Ray when it swam right over her. Here's one from Snapper Ledge that gives some idea of the school size one sees.

Great images,

Love the first one staghorn coral and the barracuda. The eel pic is really special.

Cheers,

Diggy

the reefs are teeming with fish for the most part. This is not high adrenalin diving, but for a nice easy week in warm water, there's probably not that much in the Carribean with a higher concentration of fish life and healthier corals. The critter folks found quite a few unusual things and one of the ladies got one of the best shots I have ever seen of the underside of an Eagle Ray when it swam right over her. Here's one from Snapper Ledge that gives some idea of the school size one sees.

Steve

Took a little bit of time to load, but worth it. Really like the shot of the 'Cuda and a Eel fully out is always good to see.

Hey Drew,

This guy was actually backed into a hole. It was the Tokina 10-17 with my camera jammed up against the opening, his face maybe 6" from my dome that made this shot possible.

Hey Drew,

This guy was actually backed into a hole. It was the Tokina 10-17 with my camera jammed up against the opening, his face maybe 6" from my dome that made this shot possible.

Interesting it looks like he was in open water looks like sand. Beginning to see the pluses of the fisheye. Looks like another purchase coming at some point But first I really need to get my 10-22mm and 60mm into the water, has not happened yet

Hey Drew,

This guy was actually backed into a hole. It was the Tokina 10-17 with my camera jammed up against the opening, his face maybe 6" from my dome that made this shot possible.

Great shots, Jeff. Were many of the others taken with your 10-17? (I still haven't pulled the trigger and ordered one instead of the Nikon 12-24...)

Mark

Great shots, Jeff. Were many of the others taken with your 10-17? (I still haven't pulled the trigger and ordered one instead of the Nikon 12-24...)

 

Mark

Thanks Mark.

The barracuda and #9 and 10 were shot with the 12-24 and +4 dioptre, #5 and #6 with the 17-35, the Angel and Tang with the 60mm. The rest were shot with the 10-17.

Next time I'll be sure to post with EXIF

I concur with Jeff's opinion - Steve's class was a good time, as expected. Key Largo is an excellent place for a class.

Here are some of my images from the week. I was shooting a new camera (1D III) in a new Seacam housing with new Seacam Seaflash 250 TTL strobes. It's a chore to change any one variable - I changed all three. Thanks to Chuckie from Canon, I was able to supplement my 1D with a 1Ds as well - amazing camera. The images in the gallery are split about evenly between the two bodies.

I am very happy with my Seacam 250 TTL strobes, btw. I think the entire class was amazed with how well the TTL performed. I'd say Seacam's TTL is better than Canon's. Nikonians have had an upper hand for years in that department.

Though I didn't capture any super fantastic images, I got what I wanted out of the class - a run through with all the gear. I'll be ready for the Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia trip next year...

OK, enough rambling.

Basim

I concur with Jeff's opinion - Steve's class was a good time, as expected. Key Largo is an excellent place for a class.

 

Here are some of my images from the week. I was shooting a new camera (1D III) in a new Seacam housing with new Seacam Seaflash 250 TTL strobes. It's a chore to change any one variable - I changed all three. Thanks to Chuckie from Canon, I was able to supplement my 1D with a 1Ds as well - amazing camera. The images in the gallery are split about evenly between the two bodies.

 

I am very happy with my Seacam 250 TTL strobes, btw. I think the entire class was amazed with how well the TTL performed. I'd say Seacam's TTL is better than Canon's. Nikonians have had an upper hand for years in that department.

 

Though I didn't capture any super fantastic images, I got what I wanted out of the class - a run through with all the gear. I'll be ready for the Wetpixel Ultimate Indonesia trip next year...

 

OK, enough rambling.

 

Basim

Thanks to Jeff and Basim for their kind comments. I really enjoyed the Digital Master class as well. Great people in the class; and for those who don't know, Key Largo in the summer is probably the best place in this hemisphere for fish photography. Since they began enforcing the SPAs (Sanctuary Preservations Areas) a decade ago, our fish life has exploded and as a result the predators come in occasionally as well. We've always had plenty of nurse sharks, but this was the first year I saw a Caribbean reef shark on the reef during one of the classes. Goliath groupers are alive and well too. By the second seminar I pretty much quit photographing them because the novelty had worn off. I didn't see it, but apparently the same week we were out they saw a manta ray on Molasses; and as Jeff mentioned, several of the students did really well with eagle rays.

For a photo class Key Largo offers shallow water for nice, comfortable bottom times, and plenty to shoot no matter what optic is used. We didn't do the Duane or Spiegel Grove, preferring to have more bottom time than to dive a deeper wreck, but its nice to know they are here. We were fortunate to have Eddie Tapp on hand to teach the Photoshop modules, http://www.eddietapp.com, which was a big asset.

Here's a shot of Basim, with a turtle he very graciously shared with me.

very nice, great work. I especially like the permit shot and the green moray.

We've always had plenty of nurse sharks ...

Here's one that Ana Maria Avila shot of me at the City of Washington shipwreck. Like I said, we do have nurse sharks.