lukeROB:
I think like 11?
I'm back from BALI with photos !!!
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I think like 11?
slee416
Guest
LukeRob did you shoot strictly in manual mode or did you use any of the priority modes?
Also...with the D180s strobe did you put the little magnet in, or leave it out?
Also...with the D180s strobe did you put the little magnet in, or leave it out?
OP
lukeROB
Contributor
slee416:
I shot only manual.
Hence the magnet is in always.
slee416
Guest
lukeROB:
I plan to shoot manual as well. Do you know what would happen if you are shooting manual (magnet in) and then switch over to shutter or aperature priority without taking the magnet out?
Once again great pics! I know you must be busy with uploading pics,writing the dive report and school work, but when you get a chance it would be great if you could give us a little insight into how much underwater and/or land photography experience is reflected in these pics. Huge difference from when you first started out? I'm going to Bali this Sep with the same rig and shooting for the first time with strobe. Just want to set realistic expections. Thanks!
Jchoby
Contributor
Very nice pics -- thanks for sharing
JC
JC
OP
lukeROB
Contributor
slee416:
It sometimes syncs. Sometimes not. The preflash triggers the strobe and it doesn't have time to recharge. It does work often for macro shots as the discharge is so small it can make the required flashes. I wouldn't bother and just shoot manual it is just as easy.
For aperture priority - set shutter at about 125 - then just change aperture for rest of dive. When lighting scences with flash only (like macro shots), shutter is almost irelevant.
Shutter priority programs for underwater are pretty useless IMHO. High shutters almost always end in an aperture which is to large for your camera (not enough light). The metering on small digi's is not great or hard to use. So for shutter just use manual set aperture to big (F2.8 on mine) then select a shutter and see if the exposure is about right. This needs some experience and practice.
Try learning about wide angle, reading books etc. Learn about lighting techniques and how to expose foreground with a strobe and background with natural light. This I found improved my photography the most and with digital it is easy to learn by your mistakes.
slee416:
Underwater experience - I learned to officially dive in Cocos in Jan 2003. I had done about 40 dives before I got a Sealife reefmaster film camera. I did about 10 dives with it an got some pretty good shots but a lot of rubbish. I decided that I should get a digi to give me a quicker learning curve. I bought just the A70 and housing at the end of July 2003 for a trip to Exmouth. I went snorkling heaps and made 4 dives and got some good pics. Some are in my gallery - the crocodile fish for example. I bought my strobe in Feb 2004 and when to busselton which has a great jetty and is great muck diving - the strobe was a bit harder to learn but within 5 dives I had sort of worked it out. I then bought the two attachment lenses about a month before I left for Bali and had done only 4 dives with them. I found it quite difficult and thought I'd only get a few good shots in bali. I read an article and practiced distance and light on land to get an idea. Took me the first dive in bali to get the hang of everything working together - the results are here.
This is my experience - I had taken a few shots with an SLR on land before I bought the film underwater. And Since I bought the canon have shot a lot both above and below (mainly below). So all my experience has been within a year. Also remember I love technology and so find things like digital cameras easy to use and understand, others may be different (like my dad), set goals and try to achieve them. The best advice is to try and get some constructive critisism form someone to tell you where improvements must be made, then try and replicate photographs that you have enjoyed.
September is meant to be one of the best times to be there and dive, lucky you. Hard to say what realistic expectations are, put some pics up and me and others here will offer suggestions on improvement. Photography is subjective so we can only improve technical aspects but once you get the technical part right you only have to focus on composition.
OP
lukeROB
Contributor
PART 4 The Drop-Off and Amed
The next addition begins. I will say that I really dont think I dived the Tulamben Drop-Off enough to fully appreciate it. I did only a single dive after diving Seraya so it seemed a bit lackluster to me. The vis was not really fantastic but it is apparently dive-able in most conditions. So when the swell is up a little it is probably the pick of the spots in Tulamben. There is a massive Gorgonian at about 30m which I guess is the landmark of this site. I did find a heap of different things here including a reef stonefish, several types of scorpion cod, lionfish, clown triggerfish and some very interesting small shrimps and squat lobsters. The dive we did was over 80 minutes as there is lots of interesting stuff both on the black sand heading out to this wall and in the shallows at the top of the reef. I found the site a little weathered and wasnt as memorable as some of the others - as we never saw anything that was extraordinary. But it is a worthwhile dive and with more time it would be advisable as it looks like an area (similar to the wreck) that something special could happen. There are defiantly a lot of good opportunities for close focus wide angle shots as well as some tiny critter macros.
We headed to Amed for a full day of diving and I wasnt expecting anything fantastic as I had heard it had been bleached quite badly. This was the case and the top of the reef had been hit hard. There is some re-growth but it is really sad compared to the photos of how magnificent this area once was (perhaps one of the best in Bali). I really like the actual place and it would be a nice place to relax as well as dive. The diving here is done from tiny Jukungs with a motor threatening to fall off or just chop your arm off adds a bit of extra survival to a dive. The flats have had some cement blocks dropped in (made into pyramids) to try and encourage regrowth of the shallow reefs. The diving is basically below 10m on either slopes or walls. Below 15m is best and doesnt look to be bleached at all. Hence dive times were shorter here, lasting just over an hour, with max depths of 29 meters. Stuff we found here was a strange pipefish (it was an identical match to the reef), crown-of-thorns, some small sharks, some little scorpion cods, shrimps and the usual tropical reef bustle of life.
As you can probably tell I am not as excited about Amed as other places we dived. Dont get me wrong it is a nice site and quite relaxing, but with other places like Kubu, I would see little point in going out of the way to dive here. The Tulamben sites offer more variety and other special treats on top. Amed is much better than diving my local areas, but it just failed to produce much that was extraordinary (except the pipefish and Tanya saw a swordfish that nobody else did so she probably liked it a little more).
To be Continued
(the final adventures Part 5 Secret Bay (Gilimanuak) and Menjangan)
These 4 shots are from Amed, I'll put up a few from the Drop-Off later today or tommorrow.
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery
The next addition begins. I will say that I really dont think I dived the Tulamben Drop-Off enough to fully appreciate it. I did only a single dive after diving Seraya so it seemed a bit lackluster to me. The vis was not really fantastic but it is apparently dive-able in most conditions. So when the swell is up a little it is probably the pick of the spots in Tulamben. There is a massive Gorgonian at about 30m which I guess is the landmark of this site. I did find a heap of different things here including a reef stonefish, several types of scorpion cod, lionfish, clown triggerfish and some very interesting small shrimps and squat lobsters. The dive we did was over 80 minutes as there is lots of interesting stuff both on the black sand heading out to this wall and in the shallows at the top of the reef. I found the site a little weathered and wasnt as memorable as some of the others - as we never saw anything that was extraordinary. But it is a worthwhile dive and with more time it would be advisable as it looks like an area (similar to the wreck) that something special could happen. There are defiantly a lot of good opportunities for close focus wide angle shots as well as some tiny critter macros.
We headed to Amed for a full day of diving and I wasnt expecting anything fantastic as I had heard it had been bleached quite badly. This was the case and the top of the reef had been hit hard. There is some re-growth but it is really sad compared to the photos of how magnificent this area once was (perhaps one of the best in Bali). I really like the actual place and it would be a nice place to relax as well as dive. The diving here is done from tiny Jukungs with a motor threatening to fall off or just chop your arm off adds a bit of extra survival to a dive. The flats have had some cement blocks dropped in (made into pyramids) to try and encourage regrowth of the shallow reefs. The diving is basically below 10m on either slopes or walls. Below 15m is best and doesnt look to be bleached at all. Hence dive times were shorter here, lasting just over an hour, with max depths of 29 meters. Stuff we found here was a strange pipefish (it was an identical match to the reef), crown-of-thorns, some small sharks, some little scorpion cods, shrimps and the usual tropical reef bustle of life.
As you can probably tell I am not as excited about Amed as other places we dived. Dont get me wrong it is a nice site and quite relaxing, but with other places like Kubu, I would see little point in going out of the way to dive here. The Tulamben sites offer more variety and other special treats on top. Amed is much better than diving my local areas, but it just failed to produce much that was extraordinary (except the pipefish and Tanya saw a swordfish that nobody else did so she probably liked it a little more).
To be Continued
(the final adventures Part 5 Secret Bay (Gilimanuak) and Menjangan)
These 4 shots are from Amed, I'll put up a few from the Drop-Off later today or tommorrow.
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGalleryImage by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGalleryImage by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGalleryImage by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGalleryslee416
Guest
Lukerob, once again thanks for the fantastic information. How many days did you dive in Bali and how did you spend your first 8 days?
I have 10 full days (9 days possible diving) and I'm finding it tough to squeeze everything in. We spend the first 3 diving days at Tulamben, after that I'll probably try Gili Selang on my own and then do a night dive together at Seraya. On the 5th and 6th days we dive Nusa Penida and then rest on the 7th day. On the 8th and 9th days we'll dive Menjangan and rest on the 10th day.
Our days off will most likely be spent checking out the local markets and culture. If I cut out the trek to Menjangan I feel like we'll have more time to do other things...maybe paraglide, learn to surf or kitesurf, or tour the countryside...I don't know yet, but I'll be eagerly awaiting part 5 of your trip report.
I have 10 full days (9 days possible diving) and I'm finding it tough to squeeze everything in. We spend the first 3 diving days at Tulamben, after that I'll probably try Gili Selang on my own and then do a night dive together at Seraya. On the 5th and 6th days we dive Nusa Penida and then rest on the 7th day. On the 8th and 9th days we'll dive Menjangan and rest on the 10th day.
Our days off will most likely be spent checking out the local markets and culture. If I cut out the trek to Menjangan I feel like we'll have more time to do other things...maybe paraglide, learn to surf or kitesurf, or tour the countryside...I don't know yet, but I'll be eagerly awaiting part 5 of your trip report.
slee416:
Shooting with a strobe is totally different than shooting without. Practice before you go - in a pool, in the bathtub, in your garden - wherever. It really truly is different and you will get much more pleasing results on your holiday if you have at least some sort of idea of how the new light plays. I just used my new strobe yesterday for the first time and need a lot more practice with it...and this is NOT the first underwater strobe I have had - only the first one with this new set-up. There is still a learning curve.
OP
lukeROB
Contributor
slee416:
I'll try answer some of your questions in the last part of the report. Anyway here are some of the photos from the Tulamben Drop-Off.
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallery
Image by lukeROB (Copyright) posted at ScubaGallerySimilar threads
