Tiger Shark trip, Bahamas Dec 08

http://www.flickr.com/photos/benarthur/set...57612169701600/

Nothing here that most people on this website won't have seen....and certainly far more people on these JASA trips have taken much better shots than these!

Still, it was my first real go with my newly acquired DSLR , after upgrading from my p&s : Canon 40D, Ikelite housing, Tokina 10-17, twin Ikelite DS 125 strobes.

I'm quite pleased with the results but recognise I've a long, long way to go. I've never had so much fun taking photos underwater though!

Wetpixel's very own Mr Shawn Heinrichs was on this trip and I have him to thank for a 'Happy Hour' / sunset dive under the boat at El Dorado with tigers and reefies, that no-one else seemed to want to go on....although I did dither a bit before making my mind up, as he'd attest!

Ben

Nice Ben; it sure is a blast isn't it?

Great collection there! I do like those full-size screen Flickr slide shows.

Nice shots!

I especially love the sunset photo with the sharks on the surface in the foreground...

Super stuff Ben. Some of the blues you captured are really stunning. Looks like you had a great time. Congrats and thanks for sharing with us.

Steve

good stuff Ben. I will never tire of looking at photos of tiger sharks. it is a trip i tried planning for this year, but didnt manage it and am looking forward to planning a trip there for next year.

stew

Still, it was my first real go with my newly acquired DSLR , after upgrading from my p&s : Canon 40D, Ikelite housing, Tokina 10-17, twin Ikelite DS 125 strobes.

Really great pics. Especially your close-ups and the ones shot under the boat.

I wish that we had Tigers and good wiz in Denmark

Mads

Great pics Ben!

I did the trip in November with my 40D and was amazed at the shots Jim got compared to mine...kinda pissed me off actually!

To watch him feed sharks, watch over the divers (bark orders!) and take killer pictures at the same time is quite a sight!

Visit My Website

Check out my pics and let's trade notes on strobe positioning and camera settings. I plan on going back this summer and want to get it right this time.

Mike

Nice photos. I have to do one of those trips.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone!

Mike, you're right, Jim gets incredible shots...especially given all the stuff he's doing at the time. It's also hilarious when you're close up to him and you can hear him talking at / to the sharks! The guy has to be completely unique and it's easy to see why he's very well liked and has an army of fans....certainly I'm one of them!

Some nice shots on your website. Re settings etc, I tended to ask Jim for his recommendations at each site - they varied across the range from manual, aperture priority and shutter priority, but almost always with 200 ISO. Most times though I tended to use Aperture priority, typically f8 or 11, center weighted metering.

As for strobe positioning, I've got relatively short arms at the moment but still tried to get the strobes behind the lens and pointing outwards - generally I got relatively little backscatter as a result. I didn't move the strobes about too much though as to be honest, at my level, it was just going to be overload for me.

My goal on the trip was simply just to get some reasonable shots, nothing fancy or technical, and I'm happy with what I got. The processing aspect is an another area I have a lot to learn about - I always shot in raw though and used Canon's Digital Photo Professional, cropped here and there and changed the white balance if needed.

I agree that it's easy to get frustrated seeing Jim shoot such great pics.....but he's been doing it for a while and is a real pro. For me it was about setting realistic expectations but also trying to learn from Jim and seek advice where required.

Ben

Loved the divers under the boat, that looked great along with the Tiger over the reef. Man that must be so cool.

I'm happy with what I got. The processing aspect is an another area I have a lot to learn about - I always shot in raw though and used Canon's Digital Photo Professional, cropped here and there and changed the white balance if needed.

You should be happy Ben! Very nice pics. In looking through you shots again on Flickr I noticed a couple shot low to the sand you might want to play with a little more. Pull up image #4562 with the nice pair of sharks and maybe play with the white balance a little more. I used Lightroom and balanced off the right sharks lower jaw. You 'll see a little less green I bet;

There are a couple that you might want to pull up the exposure just a little too. Take a look at #5799, That a great shot to my eye. When I look at the histogram there is almost nothing on the right side. It's great that you shot in RAW. You'll have something to play with when you're not diving. Try this one on;

Hope you don't mind me practising on your great photos.

Have fun!

Steve

great pics love the one with the two tigers approaching the guy with the crate!

Steve, thanks for the input on the processing side on some of the shots - much appreciated.

I'll have a little play with the ones you suggested. I'm sure many of my shots could be improved further and I've probably not accounted for the histogram enough in a lot of cases.

Thanks again

Ben

Thanks for sharing: I've seen professionals' shots (including Jim Abernethy's own), but your best are as good as theirs. I'm joining a Shearwater trip later this year, and your collection has made me look forward to it even more.

What lenses did you take?

Tim

Hi Tim

All the underwater shots I took were with a Tokina 10-17. I had a Sigma 17-70 with me but I only used that topside in the end (mainly as it was too much hassle trying to get the 'body' for the 10-17 out of the dome port!)

Ben

Great pics! I'm going in two weeks and now I'm really excited I hope mine are 1/2 as good as yours!

Phil

Looks like great fun.

Probably more so because of your

great shots