194 replies to this topic

[edpdiver]

Wow, what an assortment of underwater pics! I will put in two of my favorites, both from Wakatobi.

Here is a wide angle.



and a macro of two fire dart gobies that were uncharacteristically cooperative.


Both photos are from the set 2008 Wakatobi pics

[M.Henke]

WOW, really great pictures.
This is my PERSONAL favorite.

Taken in Bali, first time with a DSLR and now addicted to it. :-)
Merry Christmas
Michael

[gciavarella]

this is my favourite in pool


and this from Malesia

[jejochen]

Well, Belgian guy here !
At first, i bow humble to all the great photographers here...
Second, i love the spirit on this forum. Everyone gives great positive criticism, wich is rare to find these days. I already have learned a lot on this forum. Carry on!
Merry X mas and a happy new year to each, and above all, safe diving.

This photo works for me more for the story behind it rather than quality.
We were diving at Shark pit in Mauritius (no sharks though ) There was quite some current, and we were dragged from left to right, and back again. Taking this pic was quite hard )
I love this photo because of the diving conditions, and on the pic itself, the fishball with diver in front, the swells you can see on top, and the sunrays that are peeking through...
Sorry for the link again, i think this site hates my photos :-)

My photo

[Alex_Mustard]

This thread goes goes from strength to strength. Wow. Humbling.

Alex

[Damo]

For me it has to be my dear little friend below- taken one June afternoon at a place called Ishmael's thila- Lhiaviayani Atoll- Maldives.

Its my first frogfish shot ever- and I would like to thank Ian- my australian dive master- for his patience- his eyes- and his empathy....

Happy xmas everyone

Attached Images

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[DanBolt]

Awesome collection of images folks, here's my fave of this year: (Ixus 980is, Inon close-up & S&S YS-27dx)

Edited by DanBolt, 24 December 2008 - 04:48 AM.

[Nakedwithoutcamera]

Thank you to everyone for bringing warm smiles to my heart. What an awesome clan of uw photogs we have here. I just love looking at all of your images. Please keep them coming.

[j.ciurczak]

Here's my favorite photo from 2008. I guess you could call it an over-under, but not the kind you plan.

This was my first trip with with my brandy new Nikon D200 rig. I had been shooting with it for about a week and a half in Bonaire, happily swapping between the 60mm / flat port setup and the Tokina 10-17 / Dome port set-up. The morning that this photo was taken, I had been set-up with the 60mm, but it was such a bright sunny day, that I decided to swap the the wide angle set-up to try to catch some sunballs. So I'm down at about 40 feet taking the first few pictures of the dive. You may notice a strange arced line across the bottom of the picture. I SURE DID ! So without panicking, (OK, I panicked a little.), I pointed the housing Dome-down. There was about 1/4 of an inch of water in the bottom of the dome ! I signaled my buddy and slowly ascended. By the time I surfaced, there was about an inch of water in the bottom of dome ! Luckily we were not too far from the boat. So I hand the camera to the boat captain, telling him to keep the dome down. I get on board, towel off, and open up the housing.

The camera, lens, and even the flood alarm in the housing were completely dry! All the water was in the dome!
Even though the whole rig is insured against loss, flood, and operator stupidity, I was extremely relieved not to have to make a claim.

I never did find anything obvious on the o-rings or o-ring seats. I have to assume the leak was between the port and the extension ring. I had no leaks for the rest of the trip.
Anyway, If I hadn't noticed the arc at the bottom of the picture, I'd have never saved the rig from a complete flood.

Edited by j.ciurczak, 24 December 2008 - 10:27 AM.

[PIG004]

I was swimming along in the blue in Palau navigating parrallel with the reef using my compass at about 20 mtrs when this bad boy swam above me at about 5 mtrs.
Anyhow he saw me and came down to investigate. He got pretty aggressive towards me raising his sail and dipping the forward fins and at about 7 ft long I was a little bit worried.....well maybe not but afterwards I was.
Anyhow I got 11 shots off before he lost interest and swam off.

When I get around to it I'll tidy the shot up.

Attached Images

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Edited by PIG004, 24 December 2008 - 08:40 AM.

[Marcelo Krause]

Wow!!! Lot's of great pictures...

This one was shot in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Nikon D2x, Aquatica housing with superdome, Nikon 10.5mm, Inon Z-240.

Merry Christmas to all.

[Nakedwithoutcamera]

Anyway, If I hadn't noticed the arc at the bottom of the picture, I'd have never saved the rig from a complete flood.

What a great story!!!

[Nakedwithoutcamera]

I was swimming along in the blue in Palau navigating parrallel with the reef using my compass at about 20 mtrs when this bad boy swam above me at about 5 mtrs.
Anyhow he saw me and came down to investigate. He got pretty aggressive towards me raising his sail and dipping the forward fins and at about 7 ft long I was a little bit worried.....well maybe not but afterwards I was.
Anyhow I got 11 shots off before he lost interest and swam off.

How incredibly lucky!!! And I know what you mean about being worried in hindsight.

[PIG004]

How incredibly lucky!!! And I know what you mean about being worried in hindsight.

I guess there is luck involved but it was the second one I'd seen in 3 months. The other one never came down to me so all the shots were from below.
I strongly believe that if you're on your own things will happen, the fish just aren't that scared when its quiet.

[sgietler]

310-985-3553
The camera, lens, and even the flood alarm in the housing were completely dry! All the water was in the dome!
Anyway, If I hadn't noticed the arc at the bottom of the picture, I'd have never saved the rig from a complete flood.

Amazing story, thanks for sharing.

Scott

[Lionfish43]

This is my favorite shot for a couple of reasons:
1. I didn't think that reefs like this still existed in the Caribbean.
2. I shot it on my birthday. Can't beat that for a birthday, diving a beautifull reef in Bonaire.

[tomc]

This is my favorite.

It is my favorite because I am finally getting the hang of wide angle, well almost anyway. Thanks to the advice from some great photographers on a recent trip to Raja Ampat, I am making progress (a couple of their photos have already been posted on this thread). This was my first opportunity at this type of u/w photography and I don't think that I will ever look at shallow water the same way again.

Edited by tomc, 24 December 2008 - 07:14 PM.

[JimSwims]

Wow, really enjoying the images being posted on this thread. Some amazing creatures and moments on display
here. Its a joy to be able to view the work of such a talented collective in one place. I generally find it very hard
to come up with a best of as my experience and taste is very fluid (pardon the pun). But when I reviewed my
shots from this year I was able to narrow it down to a couple at least. So here's my fave macro and WA shots
for the year.





The bulk of my photography is macro as I love getting up close and personal
with little critters. My fave macro is this Sea-moth a critter I'd been wanting to
see for myself ever since I read about them and this year I had the opportunity
on a night dive at Blairgowrie Marina. I was aware before jumping in for the dive
that it was the right time of year and moon-phase to find them in shallower water
so asked my buddies to keep an eye out for them and alert me. I was so ecstatic
when I was shown this little beauty and proceeded to try and capture some images.
My rapture soon turned to perplexed frustration as I discovered it was the most
fidgety and flighty thing I had ever tried to photograph. Although happy to have
finally seen one I was disappointed as I was sure none of the images would amount
to much. But once I got home and was able to view the images on the PC I was
pleasantly surprised that I had nailed it on this shot!











For my Wide Angle shot, well I don't take a heap as I struggle a lot more to get
good exposure and often get some nasty Chromatic Aberration too. I've always
liked seeing large rays and on a great dive at Flinders Pier with excellent vis I was
treated to having a lengthy interaction with a 2 meter Melbourne Skate as it cruised
around of the end of the pier. It was totally unflappable with a very easy disposition
and not at all fussed by me following it around snapping away. It was also being followed
about by a small group of Trevally. I managed to get ahead of them all and capture this
image. Unfortunately I was shooting into the sun and there was a lot of glare and flare
in the shot so I decided on a B&W treatment for it. Its not a shot that has generated very
much comment but I like it a lot for the memories of a great interaction, the great subject
and the flow of the image.






Cheers,
Jimminy McSwimmit

[Gudge]

My favourite macro shot was taken in January. I'd set up for a bit of super macro with the 100 macro and a 2X teleconverter only to be confronted with a very placid 2m leopard shark. On closer inspection I noticed this cleaner shrimp at work and took a few shots as he worked busily around the eye. If I had any other lens combination I probably wouldn't have got the shot as I was at the very edge of the shark's comfort zone, if I had got any closer it would have swum off.



Favourite wide angle shot is of my wife Mary in Wakatobi. She hates having her photo taken and after diving with her for 24 years I finally got a keeper:

[Arne]

Happy holidays to everyone! Ploughing through this thread some great varied shots! Here's my 2008 favorite.



One of the first images I ever "made" by planning the shot, going to the divesite and subdueing some luck. Great nightdive where this Sepiola arrived on cue.