Introductions (original thread, now closed)

This feels a little like one of those AA moments you see in the movies

My name is Pieter and I joined in April. I've started diving in 1996 when I was on holliday in the Philipines. After that I did not dive for 6 years and started again when on holliday in Egypt.

2 years ago I bought a little sony camera and the housing along with it a few months later. Ever since I've been hooked.

I upgraded to a Nikon D70 last year and bought the Ike housing last August.

I've taken it on it's first dives now and have found out how much I still have to learn.

The road to becoming a better picturetaker, I'll not call myself a photographer yet, will be long, but on the bright side, also quite enjoyable.

Thanks to all for the invaluable posts that have helped me a lot already.

There are some UW pictures on My Webpage, the D70 ones are in the Egypt section

I always welcome comments, especially if they can help me improve my pictures.

Hi All, my name is Augusto Valente and I just come in to this forum.

I'm from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and I take pictures on underwater since 2001. I started with a MMIIex!! Now I have a Nikon N80 on hugyfot housing.

regards

Hello All, My name is Bob Bonner and I'm from South Dakota. My profile lists most of my interests. I'm an "Adult Industry" Photographer / Videographer who is about to get his feet wet and hopefully not his cameras jumping into Underwater Photography.

My long time wife, and Adult Model / Actress Yvette Wilde (My Avitar) after spending the last 10 years as a Clive Cussler fan (Dirk Pitt Novel Reader) decided we were going diving. Her interest is Marine Life and Adventure (interacting and or gamefishing) and mine is Photographing Females of our Species interacting with their environment, wherever that might be. Quite possibly a perfect marriage.

After getting our certifications I realized renting equipment netted me questionable and semi-unreliable gear so I began purchasing and purchasing and purchasing. I haven't even gotten to the camera gear yet. I realize that my housings are probably going to be more expensive than my cameras and dive gear.

It is our hope to do world travel and shoot in the most beautiful places on earth. Hopefully, I won't get the business end of Yvette's speargun; the good news afterwords is I will probably have filmed it. She'll most likely make millions on the movie rights.

I'm starting to think Dry Suit after 54 degrees for today's high and at this minute it is 35 degrees here in Sioux Falls. Unfortunately our Cozumel Vacation for Thanksgiving week was cancelled due to... High Wind and Rain. I was really looking forward to that trip all summer! Our local highlight was Sunday's underwater pumpkin carving contest. I would have liked to film that.

The shops here do cameras and accessories, however they aren't professional photographers. I found this website and was instantly JAZZED. I'm hoping to learn from those here on Wetpixel and possibly share some of my experiences.

I hope my jovialness is welcome.

Sincerely,

RB Bonner

I shoot a Hassie 500C in the studio, a Nikon D70S, Kodak DC-290 (my first digital) and a Canon XL-1 DV video.

Welcome Augusto Pieter and Bob.

Augusto, I am still trying to get down to Rio. Apparently there's a very magic spot known only to fishermen. Carioca style diving.

Pieter, If I may suggest. Put your best u/w images together and post at the Photo/Gallery Forum for comments. I loved Philippines for diving although it's one of those places which is deteriorating rapidly in many places.

Bob

Please skip still photography and get the XL HD. We need someone who shoots something different in the video forum(something other than Sony). Jovialness is very welcome here.

Hi,

We Elli and Ted just want to say hello to everybody.

there is a saying "When was the last time you did something for the first time". We started diving last year in May 2004 and we love it. The beginnig of this year we started taking UW pic's with our coolpix 4100 and now we are ready we think (gulp), for your critical opinions.

Have a nice dive and don't forget to put the chipcard in the camera

Welcome to wetpixel Augusto, Pieter, Bob, Elli and Ted! Wow, lots of new people!

Elli, Ted, coincidentally another member is asking opinions on the use of the coolpix 4100 underwater. It would be great if you guys could give him your opinions. Here is the link to the topic:

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10489

Also, you may want to resize your images to a smaller size before attaching. I can't see the one you attached in your last post because apparently it is too large. An image of 500 pixels (on the longest side) saved in photoshop with the "Save for Web" command will work fine, and it will be alot faster for us to download and see it.

Luiz

Hello i am chris cocks from malta. i need some tips about using a flash gun with my digital canon camera. can some body answer me please?

Hi Cosky,

Welcome to wetpixel! You should be more specific in your questions, otherwise we won't be able to help. My suggestion is that you start a new topic on the "Lights, Strobes and Lighting Technique" forum. Tell us what camera and strobe you have, and what problems you are facing, and I am sure someone will be able to help you.

Luiz

Welcome Bob,

It's interesting - we have one other member who previously worked as a photographer in the 'adult' industry - I believe for Penthouse. I'll let him comment or respond if he so desires, though the truth is that many active members don't check the "introductions" very often, if at all, particuarly those of us with slow modem connections.

There are a number of people here who dive areas where a dry suit is mandatory, or at least a good idea. I'm not one of them, however - call me the original Warm Water Wimp.

While I'm here, also hi and welcome to Julia (great seal shots), Ellie and Ted, Augusto, Danny, Chris and everyone else. I hope you'll find this site as valuable and interesting as I have.

Frogfish

Hallo all! I´m a diver from The Canary Islands, Spain. We are a big group of UWPs that dive everyweek and take a lot of pictures trying to improve everytime...If you ever happen to come to Gran Canaria let me know so we can take you diving around...

For some reason I can´t use my real e-mail to register but it´s where you can contact me:

davidbarrio@yahoo.com

Welcome David.....say hello to Ana

Karl

Hello, I'm Calvin. From Seattle, Washington. I am co-founder of a news media startup.

Hello all, I'm Chris from Kingston, Jamaica.

Learnt to dive last year and after seeing the photos that a local u/w photographer was taking with his big bad Ike setup and all the photos on the net...

I just had to join the fun, .

New member hailing from Long Island, New York.

17 years old, been diving since I was 12, taking pictures since i was 15.

http://www.newhousegalleries.com/roger

Welcome Calvin, Chris and Roger!

Calvin, your site is great, I really enjoyed your topside photos...

Chris, I heard you are the one to contact if I need dive buddies in Jamaica!

Roger, great shark photos!

Luiz

Thanks Rocha!

Lol, seems like my name is getting around .

Between the members of my dive club and dive club here in Kingston, they're sure to be someone diving B).

You just have to head over to my side of the island ...

Calvin great site! And not to sound condescending here, really i'm not.. Can't believe that you're 17 and have been so many places, why when I was 17 I was.........

!

Hi to All,

My name is Doug and I'm a certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist from Idaho, USA. I am a SSI AOW diver and have been using a Oly Stylus 400 with a PT-16 housing and an Epoque strobe for the last couple of years. Recently, I purchased a Oly E-300 dSLR and hope to have it housed and strobed (Ikelite) for Cozamel in April. I just registered here but have been reviewing the site for a couple of months. Hopefully I can learn to take some good pics like some of the ones that many of you have shared!

Thanks

Hi Folks, and welcome to Wetpixel.

Cheers

James

Hi folks,

I have been looking at this site for quite some time now, enjoying several threads on gear, travel, and lessons learned in the realm of underwater digital photography. I would like to become an active participant, but I can’t assume everyone knows me. By the same measure, I am long overdue in making a proper introduction. So, the best way for me to start is by working off Eric’s criteria “what defines a member of industry.â€

By definition, I’m a professional photographer going back 19 years, during which I have worked extensively for numerous publications in the dive industry - Skin Diver, Sport Diver, Scuba Diving, Scuba Times, as well as a few of the smaller pubs such as Discover Diving, Ocean Realm, Scuba Diving & Snorkeling, Southern and Western Diver, Sport Diver U.K. magazines.

Throughout most of these years I utilized a number of Nikon film bodies - FM, FM-2, F3’s, F4’s and F-100’s, as well as Mamiya medium format 6 x 7 rangefinders. However, with changing times, not to mention dealing with E-6 processing (or lack of), making the switch to Canon 1D mk II’s turned out to be a rather easy transition.

As a South Florida resident located in West Palm Beach, I am fortunate to be able to get out and dive quite a bit - from the reefs in the Keys to the caves in North Florida. As my colleague and friend, Steve Frink, has often said, “my diving habits are not those one should emulate.â€

I commend the work and progress this great tool, Wetpixel.com, has provided our community. I look forward to interacting with you all down the road.

Regards,

Walt Stearns

www.waltstearns.com

ps … I’ll post a couple of my favorite local images shot this year.

Hi Walt,

Welcome to Wetpixel! It is great that you decided to join in. Your photography is fantastic, I really enjoyed your website.

Luiz