My First UW DSLR photos (Bonaire)

I just got back from a Bonaire trip. Just before the trip, I impulsively bought an Ikelite housing for my D200, port for my Tamron 90mm macro, and a 2nd Sea & Sea YS-90DX, plus additional ULCS parts. I decided to keep it simple, and only use the 90mm lens with a short-arm setup on the strobes. I used a single 5" ULCS arm on each strobe, but with the two clamps and the adaptor for the strobe, I found I had plenty of extension and angle options for the strobes. Strobes were usually "toed-in", angled in sharply, and slightly down. One was wired to the hotshoe, the other was in slave mode. Through some trial-and-error I wound up with the strobes on full power or a click or two down from that, f22-f32 (usually 29 or 32), ISO 100 or 200, and varied speed from 1/100 to 1/400 to get the ambient light what I wanted.

For my first UW DSLR pictures, I'm pretty happy. I think I made good choices for first-time UW DSLR to learn (simple strobe setup, single prime lens), even though it has been a challenge to explain to others why I ONLY have pictures of small stuff, up close. I have a lot to learn, but I feel I made some real progress on my first trip with this rig. All questions, suggestions, and criticism welcomed. The photos are pretty much untouched, except for some cropping. The odd-looking lettuce sea slug was the result of cranking up the shutter speed and relying solely on the side-lighting of the strobes. I didn't do any color-stretching or balance adjustments. I *did* use the D200 "vivid" setting (but not the More Vivid setting), and shot mostly in high-res jpg. When I thought I had somethign special dialed in, I used RAW + JPG on occasion.

Great stuff for any trip, especially the first one! Very nicely done. I really like the lettuce slug image. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Steve

Great stuff for any trip, especially the first one! Very nicely done. I really like the lettuce slug image. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Steve

Thanks for the kind words, Steve! I found there was a bit of a learning curve with handling the unit, getting reasonably fast with the controls, and managing two strobes, but after a week I was feeling fairly comfortable with it. I spent a bit of time snorkeling with it, and I find that trying to get a good 2nd or 3rd or 4th shot while holding your breath at 12 feet facilitates a certain kind of learning.

I took this clam my very first time in the water, snorkeling:

It's nothing special, but it made me feel I was going to be able to achieve basic competence on exposure and lighting. I took this flounder at eye-level, also snorkeling the first time in the water:

Had I taken it later, I would have turned the strobes up and scrunched down the aperture...

With a tank I found it considerably easier to hang out and get these critters:

Your secretary blennies are particularly good! Those guys can be skittish and you got some great shots! You should be very proud of your first efforts!

Your secretary blennies are particularly good! Those guys can be skittish and you got some great shots! You should be very proud of your first efforts!

Thanks! As long as I didn't mind taking them while they were in their holes, they didn't seem to mind me getting their picture.

But hey were typically much more shy when out and about, which is why I didn't get a second chance to improve the dismal lighting on this one:

OTOH, this one (haven't ID'ed it yet) was under a ledge, and didn't mind the camera:

As the others: great results for any trip, for the first time - realy impressing.