Introductions (original thread, now closed)

A few days ago I saw somewhere the three turtles frame and sought to myself 'I have to get more details on Walt Stearns' now I have them

Great shots!

Hey Walt, good to see you on here

I know who you are Walt, you are a God in my eyes... and I see you like to shoot beautiful women in "their" environment. Thanks for joining up.

RB "Bob" Bonner

Thanks, it's good to know I am among good company.

Well, I suppose this is the proper place for introductions, so here goes.

My name is Blake Young, and I am full-time college student at the University of Texas. I have only been diving for about a year or so, but I am eager to get into underwater photography. I went diving in Cozumel, Mexico last summer, and unfortunately I discovered that every single one of the pictures I took with my little $30 SharkDiver disposable underwater camera somehow ended up completely ruined. The reason for this is most likely...because I was using a $30 underwater camera. So, I received a nice digital camera for my birthday (Canon PowerShot A520), and I am now in the market for a nice housing (and possibly a lighting system). I will be creating a post about this in the Beginner's Forum in case anyone would like to help me out.

Man, I'm glad I found this site!

Hi all and welcome,

Blake, welcome from another Texan (Houston).

Cheers

James

hi everyone!

my name is melody, i am belgian, left the cold side of the globe over ten years ago working in the diving industry as diveguide/instructor. Currently not so active any more, except with my little olympus C50 and its housing. i am in need of upgrading and am looking into the new oly SP500 uz. have posted some questions about it, but like my sweet neighbour tells me, nobody knows it yet, so i'll just have to wait and see. i joined wetpixel last week, and happy to be part of the family!

merry x-mas and happy new year to ALL!

mel

Hi Gang,

My name is Todd Winner from Hermosa Beach, CA. I've been lurking around on the site for the past few months. I've been inspired by some great photography and picked up some very useful tips. So I'll do my best to try and return the favor.

I'm a long time film shooter and swithced to digital a couple of years ago. I spend most of my time diving the local Channel Islands and oil rigs but also get to warmer water a couple of times a year.

I posted a few images on my home site if you'd like to check out my stuff.

http://users.adelphia.net/~tswinner/

Todd

Hey Todd! Joe Belanger here. How's things? Glad to see you here. Have you heard from George Tillack lately? I wonder if/when he is still shooting (or golfing) and if he will go digital.

Glad to see you here.

Joe

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Doug Sloss and I love diving. After 5 years diving in and around Asia and the Pacific, I have returned to Colorado with my new wife Lorenza, also a avid diver. We both love underwater photography and shoot both digital and film. I have always enjoyed reading the forums here on W etpixel over the years, and now with a fast internet connection and some time on my hands, plan to participate as well. Besides, my good buddy and partner in crime, Mike Veitch was starting to feel a little lonely. Anyway, I look forward to becoming an active Wetpixel member. Talk to you soon...

I taught the long haired bugger everything he knows and he gets the major mag covers!?!?!

Sigh, must be the wife....

Hello to all on here!

I too have been lurking for a while - and already picked up some great tips.

I started diving relatively late in life (40's) and got into u/water photography 3 years ago. It has become a passion with me, seeing some of the images taken by my peers on this site & in magazines just spurs me on to do better and better........

Although based in the South West of England I have only dived abroad so far (something to do with viz & temperature in the English Channel?!) and am planning to do 5 photo dive trips this year; mainly Red Sea, but possibly Indonesia if funds allow.

I have joined my local club (Bristol Underwater Photography Group) BUWG and had the pleasure recently of hearing Alex Mustard as one of our guest speakers showing his images - needless to say, I am now the owner of a set of Magic Filters & am looking forward to trying them out in 10 days time when I join a liveaboard out of Sharm!

I do hope to be able to give something 'back' to the forum before too long!

Ralph Mortimore

Hello, my name is Steve Dodge, from the Menominee Indian reservation in Wisconsin. I have enjoyed snorkling in the caribbean, and have now bought a Nikonos III with the 35mm lens, strobe, extension tubes, and the wrong viewfinder.(28mm, the add said it fit Nikonos III) Have not used the camera yet, and have only taken the intro diving course. Hope to take great pictures!

Good man Ralph..More Brits the merrier

Welcome to the shooters orgy

Alex's magic filters...It's amazing what you can do with left over quality street wrappers, old Blue Peter video's and one spare hand

Give us a write-up about your Red Sea trip and post some pic's. I'm hoping to visit there at sometime soon. So any recommendations and Idea's will be appreciated.

Dive safe

DeanB

I'm Mary Lynn.

New to this forum as a registrant, I've been on the sidelines as a guest for a bit, and figure it's about time to take the leap and get more invloved. My base is San Diego, and my interest is digital imaging of all kinds. I've been shooting underwater (video) since 1995, and doing a labor-of-love website dedicated to showcasing underwater video, DiveFilm.com, since early 2000. My latest obsession is video podcasting—underwater video, of course. And I'm totally enthralled with new methods of content delivery, and the whole future of digital imaging and communication. This is a great forum, and I'm looking forward to being a part!

Welcome- great vid links

Thanks. Mark

Welcome, welcome new people!

Doug, do I recognize that avatar from a recent photo contest? Nice shot!

Luiz

Hi all,

I'm Chris. I live in Santa Monica and work as a game programmer. I've been reading the forums a lot, deciding what camera/housing to get - I was looking for a relatively low-priced setup to use just for fun - so I thought I'd register ...

I haven't gone diving in 5 years, but I hope to return to it some day. When I WAS diving, I had a Sony Mavica FD-71? with an Ikelite housing. Never got serious with it though (no strobes, no extra lenses, etc.). Took some okay pictures underwater, but nothing fantastic. I just bought a Canon A620/Ikelite 6140.62 housing/DS-50 system ... BTW - Marine Camera Distributors Rocks! (the housing arrived today, just days after Ikelite.com put up the official 6140.62 page).

My fiancee' (Michelle) went swimming in the ocean for the 1st time last Summer (snorkeling in Kaua'i). She really enjoyed it which makes me thrilled (it increases the opportunities for me to return to the ocean).

Anyway, our honeymoon (late March/early April) will be in Tahiti where we plan to snorkel the Tiputa pass and probably some "beginner" sites as well ... sigh, wish I were diving instead Either way, I hope to get some nice pics.

Cheers,

-Chris

Hi all. I'm Clay from Baton Rouge, somtimes described as a writer with a photography problem. It's good to see so many names I recognize on this list, and I see from browsing that there's a wealth of talent here. While I've not yet taken a single photo underwater with a digital camera, I've recently been banging around with a D70s and I plan to house a D200 as soon as I can get my hands on one. Until then, I'll continue shooting with my old film cameras with my old analog strobes and my old full-frame lenses in order to save money to keep my young-looking wife happy. I'm looking forward to learning from you all during my transition to "the dark side".

Welcome aboard, Clay. Glad to have you as part of the Wetpixel team. Looking forward to your posts.

Joe Belanger