Saba/Statia/St Kitts

[mandrake]

Hi guys, I just got back from a week aboard the Caribbean Explorer II, diving in Saba/Statia/St Kitts. I was using almost entirely new photo gear, including an Oly5050, Ikelite Housing, and 2 DS-125s with manual controllers and sync cords. It all worked flawlessly for me all week, and my only criticism is that it weighs a ton and has a very large form factor, which made it tough to fight some strong currents, but I mostly got the hang of it once I was properly weighted.

I shot entirely in RAW mode, and almost completely in manual mode. When in manual mode, I left the shutter speed fixed at 1/200s and kept each of the strobes at about 1/2 output. The only thing I changed repeatedly for every shot was the aperture setting. I probably could have shot this way all day without needing to recharge, because I wasn't using the camera's internal flash at all and the DS-125s seem to last a long time, but I didn't feel like running out of juice on any dive, and was frequently pulling the camera out of the housing for land shots anyway, so I kept things charged up (I was using the strobe modelling lights on night dives, and definitely didn't want to run out of power at night).

The trip was fabulous, and the ship and crew top-notch, as were my dive buddies. I got my SDI/TDI solo diving certification on this trip, but once I did, I scrapped the pony bottle in favor of my usual dive buddies.

I've edited about 2 days worth of pictures so far, and might get in another today (re-editing of course will go on for months!). Hope you enjoy.

http://www.pbase.com/dkusner/saba2004

 

[5615mike]

Very nice shots! Can't wait to finally get my 5050. Just not ready to take the plunge as of yet. What program, if any, did you use to alter the shots in RAW mode?

 

[Gilligan]

Great photos. Thanks for posting them.

 

[mandrake]

Very nice shots! Can't wait to finally get my 5050. Just not ready to take the plunge as of yet. What program, if any, did you use to alter the shots in RAW mode?

I have PhotoShop CS, so I can import 5050 RAW files directly into ACR.

 

[Aardal]

Great photos! Thats the first time i've seen a picture of one of those flying fish.

 

[mandrake]

Great photos! Thats the first time i've seen a picture of one of those flying fish.

Flying gurnards aren't actually flying fish -- it's just that their ventral fins are so big that they look like wings. That was the first time I've seen one. It was on a night dive, and I saw something moving across the sand some distance away. My buddy was occupied taking a picture and I was a little bored, so I went up to check it out, thinking it was just a goatfish or something. I was very pleasantly surprised.

That said, I wish I had taken more than three pictures. In fact, I should have spent the rest of the dive with it. I wish I had gotten a little lower to get the face and eyes better, but at the time I was concerned with getting the markings on the body and fins, and so only took top-shots. I violated my major principle of underwater photography -- when you find something great, take at least 10 pictures, maybe 20. If you're lucky, 1-3 might be good. As it was, I took a couple of quick shots and then made way for my buddy, and never went back to it although the opportunity was definitely there.

 

[boney]

Awesome shots! Sounds like a great trip!

 

[Dee]

Great shots! Thanks.

 

[Tortuga Roja]

Great pics Mandrake! Looking forward to the rest and your post editeds.

Glad you got outta that cold climate for a while. I got shivers just reading your posts from NE.

Cool gurnard. I've only seen one of them as well. I got a couple of shots off then tried to adjust the camera for him. Looked up and he was gone. Pix were ok since they were all I have but yours are much better.

http://www.tortuga-web.com/deepreflections/gallery09.html

Congrats on the Solo Cert. I need to do that too. Did you learn anything you didn't already do you might want to pass on?

 

[mandrake]

Great pics Mandrake! Looking forward to the rest and your post editeds.
...
Congrats on the Solo Cert. I need to do that too. Did you learn anything you didn't already do you might want to pass on?

Thanks Tortuga, you know it's weird, I was sort of freaked out on my first dive by the visibility! I didn't feel like I was descending and asked for an extra 2-lb weight. It's freaky after months of low-vis diving.

Solo cert -- only thing I learned was that I hate having a pony bottle slung on my side, I'd much rather have it mounted to my tank out of the way, like I've always done previously. I seriously doubt you'd have much to learn from it either.