First shoot in Rainbow River, open to all suggestions!

Hi guys,

I recently purchased a Canon G10, Canon housing, S&S Ys-02 strobe, and INON UCL-165M67 Close-up lens. I'll be going to Crystal River in Dunnellon, Florida, to try my hand at underwater photography tomorrow. I would appreciate some tips from those with more experience. Maybe you've learned some tricks after trial and error, or have some personal experience with settings on the G10; this beginner is open to any and all advice!

http://www.therainbowriver.com

Advice in order of importance

• Be Safe
• Have fun - really, don't put too much pressure on yourself
• Don't chase subjects - (i see you have a macro set up) if you see something larger, just enjoy the interaction, don't feel compelled to take a photo of everything.
• Get close - clearer photos & less scatter
• High shutter speed/mid to high strobe power for black backgrounds; Low shutter speed for natural light backgrounds.
• have fun

I have taken OW students in Rainbow River for their checkout dives several times. If you go in at K.P. Hole county park, you can catch a ride on a pontoon boat (for about $10, I think) for a trip about a mile up river. They will drop you off and you can have a nice drift dive in depths that range from 25 to 2 feet. Since you will be shallow, you can stretch it into a nice 90 minute dive. Here are a few recommendations:

- Take a responsible buddy with a dive flag. Lots of boat traffic and your hands (and mind) will be full.

- Bring a lanyard to clip the housing to your BC. The river would love to take that camera from you.

- Do a freshwater dip to check for leaks prior to getting in the river.

- Drop down to the sand areas (20-25 feet) where the springs “bubble up”. You can recognize them because the sand is “dancing”! That’s where the fish hang out.

- Have your buddy take a flashlight and act as your model.

- Take some split under/over pics. Since the surface is calm and the trees hang over the river, it’s a great opportunity. For that shot , the strobe goes underwater.

- Lots of birds to photograph. Even comorants underwater!!!

- Don’t drift past the exit point. Swimming against the current is no fun.

- Have fun, get close, eye contact shots rule!

As this is a month old, sorry if I missed giving the OP this advice, but for others: BRING A SNORKEL!

I've done CR before, and it's easily one my favorite dives. I went years ago with my Dad, and we were absolutely spoiled because we had the boat to ourselves.

That said, I was kicking myself for not bringing my snorkel, because you can easily drift for 2+ hours if you float along the surface on Snorkel, and only switch to Reg when you see something to dive down to, then head back to the surface when ready to move on. (the section I was diving on was only about 15 feet at it's deepest).

Any good pics OP?