Greetings from a snorkeler

[iancampbell]

Hello all, I'm a long-time reader but finally got around to making an account to post. I'm probably an odd member out in that I don't dive at all but am an avid snorkeler with a weight belt. Perhaps someday I'll try SCUBA, but for now I'm happy duck diving with my camera. I've snorkeled many places throughout the Caribbean as well as Indonesia and Palau.

I won't bore you with tons of pictures, but here's a photo I took of my nemesis as a snorkeler, the Titan Triggerfish. I don't know they're less aggressive to divers on the bottom than they are to me on the surface, but these beautiful beasts have been none too kind each time I've been in Indo.

 

[Cthippo]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Trilobite]

Hi and welcome. I'm another snorkeling enthusiast--got serious in the last couple years. There is a snorkeling subforum here, but hasn't been too active. Do you snorkel independently or on dedicated snorkeling tours, or both? (I do both, but currently focusing on the latter). What's you current camera? (I'm using the Oly EM10 mk iv for underwater stuff.)

 

[iancampbell]

Hi and welcome. I'm another snorkeling enthusiast--got serious in the last couple years. Do you snorkel independently or on dedicated snorkeling tours, or both? (I do both, but currently focusing on the latter). What's you current camera? (I'm using the Oly EM10 mk iv for underwater stuff.)

Thanks! I've done a few Snorkel Venture tours and have been extremely pleased, but I also do some solo shore snorkeling when I get to a coast. The organized tours are certainly a better experience, but they require a lot more planning ahead by 1+ years which is sometimes hard to predict. Having now been to resorts like Misool and Wakatobi in Indo and knowing how much they value snorkelers, I would be comfortable traveling there without a group in the future.

At the moment, I'm shooting an OM-1 in an AOI housing. I worked my way up from a TG-5 to an E-PL10 to my current OM-1. Since I'm a snorkeler, I haven't used strobes thus far, but I just bought a pair of the new Backscatter Hybrid Flashes (they haven't gotten wet yet). Even with the superior ambient light at the surface, I still end up with a lot of slow shutter speeds unless I crank the ISO on cloudy days, and I'm hoping the strobes will help decrease my missed shots.

 

[Endler's]

Titan Triggerfish

You are in their nest cone zone, which is wider at the top. Turn around, putting your fins between you and the fish, then swim horizontally in the direction you came from to stop attack.

Titan triggerfish – mean or misunderstood?

 

[iancampbell]

Ha! That image is pure gold. It makes sense, I suppose, that I'm perceived as a threat. I got bit once by a Picasso Triggerfish exhibiting the same behavior in shallow water in Guam, and that was a tiny 8-inch fish. Hurt like crazy. I can only imagine what it's like if a Titan gets its buck teeth into you!

 

[Endler's]

It's their world. We're just spectators.

 

[Trilobite]

...

At the moment, I'm shooting an OM-1 in an AOI housing. I worked my way up from a TG-5 to an E-PL10 to my current OM-1. Since I'm a snorkeler, I haven't used strobes thus far, but I just bought a pair of the new Backscatter Hybrid Flashes (they haven't gotten wet yet). Even with the superior ambient light at the surface, I still end up with a lot of slow shutter speeds unless I crank the ISO on cloudy days, and I'm hoping the strobes will help decrease my missed shots.

Great! I'd like to pick your brains about a few things if you don't mind. Haven't encountered another snorkeler who used a camera with a sensor larger than 1" before. And I think snorkeling and diving present quite different photographic challenges/requirements.

– I've used the OM-1 and its predecessors for many years above the water for bird and insect photography. But I find I I'm not missing much about the OM-1 versus the EM-10 iv (which basically has the same sensor) underwater. The main thing I wonder about is the autofocus. I get a lot of mis-focused shots when a subject (usually a fish) is moving against a busy background – in my experience that is the most challenging situation for any camera's autofocus. I find above the water it is also challenging for the OM-1 (e.g. birds in flight), though I find the creature detect AI can help a lot with birds jumping around in foliage. How do you find the OM-1 autofocus for fish? A clear improvement over the E-PL10? I would think creature detect might help in some situations, but less so when there are multiple fish in the frame, as is often the case.

-- What lens or lenses do you use? I use the 14-42mm EZ; super light and gives me flexibility similar to a TG to shoot both wide and close as the situation dictates. (I also have the 60 and 90mm macro lenses but only use those above water because I want the flexibility to go wider and don't want to carry bulky dome ports; plus, I'm skeptical that high end optics have much benefit in most underwater situations given the other limiting factors.)

– How are you carrying your rig? One of the reasons I opted for the EM-10 iv was I wanted something light that would be easy to carry on a wrist lanyard, like a TG. I'm leery of the big metal bracket approach, especially if I need to battle the current. But I assume you will need to go that route if you opt for strobes.

– I'm considering getting maybe one strobe for night snorkels. I haven't had much problem with low light – though so far I've been fortunate in having plenty of sun during my snorkels. My exposure approach so far is to set a minimum shutter speed of about 1/200 and Max ISO of 12,800. I then use auto exposure and DxO pure raw in post to control noise if necessary – though my ISO rarely gets high.

Jim

 

[Trilobite]

Thanks! I've done a few Snorkel Venture tours and have been extremely pleased, but I also do some solo shore snorkeling when I get to a coast. The organized tours are certainly a better experience, but they require a lot more planning ahead by 1+ years which is sometimes hard to predict. Having now been to resorts like Misool and Wakatobi in Indo and knowing how much they value snorkelers, I would be comfortable traveling there without a group in the future.

...

I went on my first snorkel venture tour last October (to Raja Ampat). It was very good, and I saw a lot of stuff I would not have seen on my own. Before that I did several days of snorkeling solo at Walindi Plantation Resort in New Britain (before I joined a bird tour). They definitely didn't value me as much as if I had been diving, so that was a definite downside; I haven't heard of any snorkel tours going there – so perhaps how they treat you at a dive resort is a matter of getting educated by those tours.

I'm going on snorkel venture's Alor/Komodo tour in October. Really looking forward to it. But their tours are getting quite expensive now – especially if, like me, you have to pay the single supplement. I'm next going with Oceanic Society to Gardens of the Queen in Cuba in March. I'm now looking for something for 2026 (I'm recently retired, so timing isn't complicated for me). Do you recommend Palau? Any other recommendations of places to go, bearing in mind that the Caribbean isn't what it once was and is unlikely to get better soon.

 

[Trilobite]

You are in their nest cone zone, which is wider at the top. Turn around, putting your fins between you and the fish, then swim horizontally in the direction you came from to stop attack.
View attachment 845244
Titan triggerfish – mean or misunderstood?

Ha! I had read they had a cone-shaped territory, but I think I had assumed that the narrow part of the cone was towards the surface. But I have swum with them several times, and haven't had an issue yet--though a local guide with my group reportedly got chased. (I think they usually nest some distance from the shore?) Going backwards might be difficult because of current and need to keep with a group; but I guess it depends on the situation and what risks you want to take.