First time Diving with New Camera

[IwakuniDiver]

Well I just got me early Father's Day present which is a Reef Master DC500 and External Flash. Of course, the day I got it in the mail, I had to go do a night splash and check it out.

So far I'm pretty happy with it. Once I got down to the bottom and got my buoyancy set I started getting my camera set up. Unfortunately I had forgotten to put the camera in Underwater Mode before the dive but the buttons were easy enough to use with 5mm gloves on. Visibility at my local area is usually around 6-10 feet but I really lucked out with 20 feet the other night.

Very quickly I realized that I had finally reached my task-loading limit for night diving. Since where we were taking pictures is incredibly silty, buoyancy control is paramount. But I also had to deal with managing my dive light, my gauges, computer, camera and as usual, I was the one in charge of navigation down there. My hands where definitely full and I have a new respect for underwater photographers!

I managed to get some pretty good shots for my first time as a would-be photographer even though I made the mistake of having the camera in regular Underwater Mode, instead of External Flash Mode. live and learn.

 

[alcina]

Looks like a great time out!

Congrats on the new toy!

 

[IwakuniDiver]

It really was a great dive. There were cuttlefish literally everywhere! Every time they saw our light they would change colors half a dozen times, lay on the silt and put on that "bumpy" look as if to say, "don't mind me, I'm just a really fat sea cucumber!"

Octopus mating season just ended here and I think cuttlefish mating season is starting since I saw multiple pairs of them in the silt.

 

[Darnold9999]

Be careful this is a very slippery slope you have started on Diving is expensive, diving and taking pictures is REALLY expensive.

I have the same camera, and strobe. Find that a diffuser works wonders when you do get it into external flash mode. The flash is so bright that anything white washes out when I get real close - the diffuser fixed it for me. Otherwise a great little camera.