Pics from Grand Cayman 09-2006

[rjsimp]

Great collection of shots

I really like the guy looking directly at the camera - he's a hoot!

Its funny, when I took that shot and reviewed it on the camera at the time it was shot, I was upset that the fish was too close to me and looking right at me. I had my 10.5mm lense on, so it has a great depth of field and was able to keep things in focus. After I looked at it on the computer, and looked at it some more, it grew on me. You're right, its funny looking! :lol:

Thanks everyone for the compliements. I was very pleased with the outcome with my new camera. They are by far better than I was getting with my point and shoot camera in June. I thought the June pics were pretty good until I got to see these and compare them.

 

[matva]

nice shots! what lens were u using for each pic?

 

[rjsimp]

nice shots! what lens were u using for each pic?

Thanks!

All the macros were with the 60mm Nikon lens. Many of the wide angle were with the 10.5mm with only a few taken with the 12-24mm lens.

If you have a specific picture, I can tell you what lense, but generally the ones with the 10.5mm will have some sort of bending going on, where the 12-24mm lens doesn't bend.

 

[Fastmarc]

Gosh, those shots are nice.
What speed were you using and did you have a strobe?

 

[rjsimp]

Gosh, those shots are nice.
What speed were you using and did you have a strobe?

Thanks Fastmarc!

Yes, I used dual strobes on most shots. Of course they were all in various positions. The "speed", well everything was ISO 100. The F-stop varried between F-22 and F-8 with shutter speeds from 1/60 to 1/250. Macros use a faster shutter speed, and wide angles use the slower shutters. :blinking:

 

[Fastmarc]

Thanks.
Big novice here, trying to improve my skills.
Again, great work.

 

[matva]

Thanks!

All the macros were with the 60mm Nikon lens. Many of the wide angle were with the 10.5mm with only a few taken with the 12-24mm lens.

If you have a specific picture, I can tell you what lense, but generally the ones with the 10.5mm will have some sort of bending going on, where the 12-24mm lens doesn't bend.

ah, thanks. I am considering going dslr soon, that is why i ask. Which lens was the turtle shot with? I was actually just in the caymans... we did sunset house and turtle farm. The cudda shot reminds me of turtle farm. where was that pic taken?

 

[rjsimp]

The turtle picture was taken with the 10.5mm lens at sunset house on my way out to the wreck. I was snorkeling and we saw it down below so we dropped down to take the picture. It would have been easier to take the shot with the 12-24mm lens since I had to get pretty close to fill the frame and even then it was a little small.

Again, the "cudda" was taken with the 10.5mm lens at the turtle farm and again would have been much better with the 12-24mm lens. Both pictures were taken because I came across the opportunity when I was actually shooting other kinds of shots. So, you go with what you got

One thing that is nice is the quality of the pics off a DSLR are far better than the point & shoot cameras. Even the nicer P&S cameras just can't produce the quality of image. So, if you go with a DSLR, you'll have a great time shooting better shots and getting more enjoyment. It is a bit more to handle however, so be prepared to deal with more technical shooting and a heavier rig.

 

[matva]

ah, i knew that looked familiar. did you run into any schools of tarpon? edit: nvm, i see you ran into some.

out of curiousity, what are you doing for whitebalancing?

if only the dslr rigs weren't so damn expensive 1300 just for housing... ouch!

 

[rjsimp]

Matva,

Oh yea, the tarpon are always there at the turtle farm. This trip there seemed to be fewer than in June, but I did make a point to get a few shots of them.

The baracuda had a gash in the side that I didn't see until I was looking at one of my "not so great" pictures I had with my macro lens. Pretty big wound and this guy was big. I would figure about 6' because you could lay next to him and be shorter than he was.

White balancing is really a non issue. I can't believe the people that spend the time to white balance (I'll probably get ripped on this, but oh well). First off, if you are using a strobe, you don't want to white balance because the strobe will fill with color. To pump up the colors a bit, I set my camera to "cloudy" and leave it there. Since I shoot raw, ALL white balance adjustments can be made in editing software. However, it is really never needed unless you have a picture that didn't get the strobes set right and it was all natural light. Anyone that takes the time to white balance the camera under water is just wasting good bottom time IMHO. Take care of any balancing you need to do in post, but if you use strobes, it shouldn't be necessary.

1300 for the housing would be for an Ikelite or something.. The subal housing I use was about $4500 for the housing. Yes expensive, but worth it I believe. It will last forever and is built very good. As Ferris Bueller says.. "If you have the means, I highly reccomend it."