Bonaire Trip Report 2/21 - 2/28/10

[DiveMaven]

Great report, thanks for sharing it! Photos take me back to our previous trips and make me excited for our next one.

With the travel taking 12+ hours, we decided that 2 weeks was the perfect length for our first trip, and our second trip, and now our third trip....simply can't imagine going for less than that. We don't mind the redeye out of Houston since it gives a full day on Saturday to dive a couple of times and get groceries, etc.

 

[jl_va_21]

Great pictures. I'll be making my first trip there in June. I'll be happy if I see half of the cool fish you have in your pictures. Dolphins would be awesome.

 

[Bedford Wife]

Nice pics!

Did you use the internal camera strobe or manual white balance, or neither?

Could you let me know the piece of software you downloaded to get the reds back?

I am making my first trip to Bonaire, next Saturday. Staying at Buddy Dive, and am really getting stoked.

Thanks.

I used the camera flash (turned on always) and auto white balance for most of the shots. I did learn about manual WB for the last few dives, but I didn't have a white slate to practice it well. To edit, I downloaded this action play for Adobe Elements:

Adobe - Photoshop Actions

It did a pretty good job at putting some red back in. I also played a little with color saturation and temperature, but I'm only playing. It's not my goal to be a professional, only to enjoy the memories

Have a great time next week...I KNOW you will

 

[Jersey]

Great pictures thanks for sharing. Are you using an external strobe or just the camera flash and white balance? I'm shooting a little Sony cybershot in their housing and haven't had much success to date. May rent a strobe to see if that helps and play with settings...

I have noticed that most folks start off with a week trip, this is then extended to 10 days; then 2 weeks and then 3 weeks for subsequent trips.
We're now on island 5 weeks a year and it still isn't enough!

Yep - We always said one week is just not enough, so we are doing to 2 weeks...(this could be interesting - I don't think we have ever spent 2 weeks/24 hours a day together, just us, in 21 years...)

Tailspin - when are you at Buddy's?

 

[Tailspin]

Tailspin - when are you at Buddy's?

March 20-27 ... can't wait so I did some ice diving the last two Sundays in Upper Michigan.

Air temp 27 DegF and snowing, water temp 39 DegF. It was refreshing!

I assume I will be able to thaw out a bit in Bonaire?

 

[Jersey]

You're crazy - ice diving! Getting cold just thinking about it.. Yep, Bonaire will be a bit of a thaw for you, I'm sure . Hoping you don't pass out from heat exhaustion in that 80F water...and be sure to pack the bug spray for the mosquitoes! At Buddy 3/13 - 27, safe travels and will see you there!

 

[Tailspin]

... To edit, I downloaded this action play for Adobe Elements:

Adobe - Photoshop Actions

Thanks for the link. I just downloaded and installed it and it works sweet!!!

My big goal in Bonaire is to try to become a better UW photographer. With unlimited shore diving right from the resort I imagine I will have that 'front yard' reef pretty well figured out by the end of the week, and a bazillion photos to edit when I get back home

 

[DiveMaven]

Tailspin, if you really want to make an improvement in your photography, consider taking a course with Tim at Fish Eye Photography at Den Laman. He is an outstanding instructor and made a huge difference in my husband's photos and my editing. We're actually even taking another class with him this summer to refresh and continue to improve.

 

[Tailspin]

Tailspin, if you really want to make an improvement in your photography, consider taking a course with Tim at Fish Eye Photography at Den Laman. He is an outstanding instructor and made a huge difference in my husband's photos and my editing. We're actually even taking another class with him this summer to refresh and continue to improve.

I just completed the PADI Digital Underwater Photography class at my LDS. Does this instruction go beyond that?

 

[DiveMaven]

Tim constructs the class based on YOUR needs and doesn't necessarily follow any specific curriculum. We did our PADI Digital UW class with him and it went FAR beyond what the book had us learning. As a matter of fact, we didn't use the book much at all, instead Tim instructed us on what the book wasn't telling us (strobe angles for optimal lighting, macro v. wide angle, using the histograms for editing, etc)

If you're interested in exploring it, stop by his shop and chat with him. Decide for yourself if you think he can help you become a better photographer. He has classes that range from 1/2 day to 3 days....