304 replies to this topic

[Chris_Duncan]

Hello Everyone,

I have been reading the posts on this forum for a few months now, so I thought it was about time for me to introduce myself. My name is Chris Duncan as you could probably guess from my username! I got my Open Water certification when I was 16 (I am going on 26 now), but didn't get an opportunity to dive much until the past few years. When you are young and the only one in your family that scuba dives not a whole lot of opportunities present themselves, especially since I was living in land-locked Kansas City at the time. I finally convinced my Dad and two brothers to get certified four years ago, and since then we have gone on many trips together, mainly to the Caribbean. On the past four or so trips, I have rented 35mm camera equipment and have really enjoyed showing my non-diving friends (including my wife) what I have seen, and also being able to look back at past dive trips and remember the stories around the dives and the photos themselves. Since I have been shooting digital on land for a couple of years now, and I am a gadget freak (according to my wife), it was only a matter of time before I purchased my own u/w digital camera rig. I just completed the setup (Oly 5050), which I detailed in another post.

As far as how I try to support my expensive hobbies, I am a financial analyst at a technology company in Ohio (yes, there are technology companies in the midwest). I am looking forward to the day when my wife completes graduate school and can get a paying job to help support all of my hobbies (don't tell her I said that)!

Other than that, I can't wait to posting pictures from my first dive trip post u/w camera purchase (Bonaire this July), and learning many things from all of the experienced u/w shutter bugs on this forum.

Chris

[Debbie]

Hi everyone -
I guess after anonymously reading stuff on this site for quite a while, it's probably time that I actually joined in on the fun.

My husband and I have been diving for about 15 years and still use every possible vacation day to blow bubbles. We mostly dive the Caribbean, since it's so easy to get to from Houston, but in the last few years we've been venturing out into the Pacific. We're going to Thailand next month!

I upgraded to digital (Oly 4040 in Ike housing, DS-125 strobe) from a Reef Master point and shoot, so I had much more to learn than those of you who used SLRs underwater.... all those f-stops and other technical things to remember!!!!!

Debbie

[Scuba_kiwi]

Hi all! I'm from Sydney in Australia .. well actually I'm from Christchurch in New Zealand but I've been living in Sydney for 5 years and learnt to dive here, I'm a PADI DM and was doing the deep and cave stuff but have since decided I'd rather just take pictures! what got me keen originally was my purchase of a Sony P9 and housing, to which I added the Sea & Sea 16mm wideangle lens and the 2T and 3T macros, I was just starting to investigate strobes when I got burgled and lost the lot, including my Laptop with 90% of my photos on it (that'sll teach me not to copy them! :angryfire: ) anyway, I didn't want the low life who stole my stuff ruin my fun, so I've gone heavily into debt and bought a Nikon Coolpix 5000 with Ikelite housing and twin DS125 strobes, it should all arrive next week so I'm looking forward to adding some new pics to my site scubakiwi.net

[james]

Welcome to Wetpixel. Sorry to hear about your loss (hope you had your gear insured) but you've certainly made a nice comeback!

Cheers
James Wiseman

[KimInNB]

Anyone in the group from Maine or Mass or somewhere close by interested in getting together to tell some lies or  jump into the balmy North-West Atlantic?

Bob.

Hi everyone!! I'm Kim from New Brunswick, Canada - all the way over on the East Coast. So, Bob, I'd be willing to meet you half way for some dives. But it's North-East Atlantic... not North-West Atlantic. I love the Bar Harbor area, but never dove there. Deer Island (go to Campobello Island and take the ferry to Deer Island) is a wonderful place for sealife, but the tides and currents can be quite tricky.

I've done most of my diving in Atlantic Canada - Halifax (Nova Scotia) is my favorite place due to the sheer volume of wrecks - but have also dived in Australia, Bahamas, Cuba, and have a trip planned for the Florida Keys in a couple of months.

It seems as if I have always had a camera on dives - started with a Bonica Handy Snapper and bought the strobe (yeah, right!) and lens accessories. Then I decided to get a Canon Powershot A40 simply because it had an u/w housing available. After the first digital dive, the Bonica went up on EBay. There is no way I am ever going back to film above or below sea level.

I have no desire to move to the hugely expensive setups most of you seem to have here, but I did just shell out what I consider to be a large sum of money for an Ikelite DS125 strobe and Sea & Sea 16mm wide angle and 3T macro lenses along with the conversion adapter for my housing. That's probably going to be it for me (but I think I said that after the housing purchase a while back).

I've been mostly lurking, but want to thank a few of you for input on strobe information - couldn't have made the decision without you. Haven't used the new purchases yet, but I'm supposed to be heading under the ice (yes, we're still iced over here) tomorrow for a try out.

I do have a few photos posted at PBase Photo Gallery if anyone's interested. Cuba, Bahamas, and Canada - Underwater galleries were all taken with my little powershot camera & housing - no strobe, no additional lenses.

Cheers,

Kim

[paul.hunter]

Hi everyone

My name is Paul and I'm from Johannesburg, South Africa. I started diving in December 2000 an have been hooked ever since. Both my wife and I are both qualified as advanced divers. I just can't get enough of this sport, I love it. I think what makes it so special for me is that I live some 600+ kilometers from the nearest coast. So every chance we get it is to either dive the South African coast like Sodwana or Aliwal or the Mozambique coast(which is my favorite place). What we are planning to do now is try different dive sites around the globe.

I have only been a member of this forum for +/- 2 weeks but really enjoyed it, great to interact with people with the same passion for the sport.

Paul B)

[grasshopper]

Scuba Kiwi,
I empathize with your loss. Last month, I had both my mountain and road bikes stolen from my locked garage in Pacific Heights, San Francisco (supposed to be a decent neighborhood, go figure). Just to make it interesting, they came back two weeks later and stole my briedfcase and cd's out of my pick up truck! :angryfire:
Looking forward to your pics on the site in the future.

Sean

[Rob Esaw]

I guess it's my turn.

I'm Rob, and I am Abe Froman (the sausage king) of the US pacific northwest (though I live in BC).

In my spare time, I got hooked on diving around 7 years ago (oh man...gettin' old).

I never thought I would be able to say that I was a DM, or had dived the Coral Sea, or Honduras, let alone owned an UW camera.

I was going to Honduras for the trip of a lifetime, and I foolishly bought a used Nikonos and strobe. The seller insisted I do not service it, as it was just done. The strobe flooded on my first test dive at home. The camera made it for 20/22 dives in Honduras a couple of weeks later before flooding. I actually salvaged part of that roll and had some of my best stuff on it. Interesting technique...

I joined the Underwater BC Photographic Society, to learn how to shoot. So far, all it's done is make new friends and a lot of work as Vice-pres. (anyone want to become a member????)

Anyway, a few years later and a new NikV, several lenses and strobes, and tubes, and framers, etc. What a lot of stuff. I guess the next progression was the SLR.

I'm glad I decided to jump into digital instead though, with a CP5000. I do like the camera, though I had to learn to love. I think I'm sold on using it UW, though it will take some time.

I'm super happy I found this site. I thought digital underwater would be a lonely place, but I'm surprised by how digital has spurred a new growth of underwater photography.

[Jesse]

hey everyone, ive been poking around this site for the last 2 months and am now just realizing how advanced it is as soon as i finally registered which is today. sweet site i must say. my names jesse, im a 20 year old male from florida...i started diving about a year ago and i love it. . Until about a week ago i was taking photo's with a cheapo reusable camera i bought for 100 bucks...gotta start somewhere right? so last week i bought a reefmaster digital and havent been able to get off work to use it yet but i cant wait...even though its not a professional camera, and i know the quality of the pics i take arent gunna be that great im movin my way up the ladder. =]
ill get there some day. but in the meantime ill enjoy looking at everyone else's AMAZING pictures. which is pretty cool anyways in it self cuz i am just blown away by some of the pictures ive seen from this site and others like it.

alright im outta here, everyone have a good one

[patriko]

Hello all underwater photographers!

My name is Patrik and I'm a 29 year old man? (or maybe boy) from Sweden.
I've been diving for about 3 years now (got my first certifcate in 92, but didn't dive for a few years after that) and got my camera setup just a few weeks ago.

I've been cruising this site for a time and I must say I'm pretty impressed with all the fine work you do. I just hope that I can take pictures that's half as good as some here.
Well, anyway, nice to be with you and happy diving.

Cheers, Patrik

---
Nikon CP 5k w WC-E68 Wide Angle Converter, Ikelite DS125, Ikelite Housing

[nickdivr]

Hi to all!!!!
My name is Nick, and we are as land locked as you can get in St. Louis, MO. I have been certified since 1985 but didn't get to do a whole lot of diving until I convinced my then wife to be to take a cert. class before we went on our honeymoon. Thank God she got hooked almost as much as I am. After her very first ocean dive in Curacao (the wreck of the Superior Producer) she got back on the boat and she didn't even have to say a word, her face said it all. Shortly after we returned from our honeymoon we both joined the dive staff of a local dive operator here in the midwest who has developed an old lead mine into a dive destination of remarkable awe. Loved the diving and all the wonderful divers that I had the privledge sharing our little underground swimming hole. I think I would have ran the business quite differently though. A fellow staff member was wanting to upgrade his rig so he recently sold me his Nikon Cool Pix 950 and Ikelite housing and strobe. I finaly got to use it in Hawaii last June and had a few problems that I have yet to figure out. I look forward to learning from all of you and hearing from anyone who has some input.

[james]

Hi Nick,

Welcome to Wetpixel.

I recently got back from a trip to Tobago where I used the Coolpix 990 and the Ikelite housing to get some great shots.

Why don't you start a thread in the Cameras and Housings section/forum and we'll see if we can help out.

Cheers
James

[Billy]

Hi everyone.

My name is Billy, I live just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. I have been diving for apporximatley 21 years. Currently I am an SSI AOWI with The Dive Shop II located in Little Rock. I primarily do lake diving either at Lake Ouachita, or Greers Ferry. I don't get to do much blue water but I hope to improve that over the years. I am new with underwater photogragy and have many questions which I will post elewhere.

Thanks

Billy

[calllothewildsilence]

hello, Im Matt, I live in Miami Beach, Fl. luckily I even have water access. Am currently rebuilding a Kayak (crushed by a tractor no less) and have zilch for underwater photography, but am looking to learn. My wife and I love to snorkel aim to pick up diving and just love living on the warm side of the Atlantic ocean.
I own a small lawn and tree service, Orr-Ganic.

[bobjarman]

Hi to all!!!!
My name is Nick, and we are as land locked as you can get in St. Louis, MO

Nashville Tennessee isn't to far behind ya my friend!

Welcome!

[pencil]

Well I lurk far too much for my liking, but I havent been diving recently so no new pictures...


My name is Mark and I am a System Analyst (Computers) working in the UK..
I am qualified as a BSAC Sports Diver, currently taking the advanced Nitrox course.

My first u/w picture taking started in April with a Fuji 6900z..
After looking at the pics posted here I have a long way to go, I will get there, I think..

[Chris Bangs]

Hello

Found out about this list just the other day, took a peek, and joined

I am getting ready to make the conversion to digital, therefore time to do a bit of reaserech before I have a clearance sale on my film based systems.

I live in Tochigi Japan, My wife and I operate a small hotel in the mountains near Nikko. Yes you can dive in Japan, IZU (just south of Yokohama) offers some very unique and beautiful diving.

We also have a home on Guam, where I do most of my shooting.

Regarding photography, my current focus in on super macro. Now pushing the 10:1 limits. I just love spending over an hour sitting in one spot shooting stuff other divers can't even see. Good luck trying to find a buddy for these dives, (my pony bottle never complains though).

If interested, I have posted some of the super macro stuff on the Yahoo group "uwphoto" including a couple of images of the "macro Bazooka" used to get the shots. I also posted a few Sperm whale shots there as well.

Soon I hope to do the same with a digital SLR in some sort of Aquatica housing.

Kindest Regards

Chris Bangs

[Simon K.]

Welcome,
I would really like to see some of your Super Macro Shots here on Wetpixel. How do you achieve 10:1?

I also posted a few Sperm whale shots there as well.

Oh that is really Super Macro ;-) or did you mean Sperm of a Whale ;-)


Simon

[nickdivr]

Welcome aboard Chris,
I have very fond memories of Guam. I was stationed there 1982 for about 9 months with my Batallion. I have to say that at that time boonie stomps through the jungle and trips to Telefofo falls had to be my favorite. Although walking back to base after a night in Agana and finding an awsome little white sand beach to take a swim at 1:00 am was near the top too. Everyone here has been a lot of help so I am sure you will be able to get something out of it.

[Chris Bangs]

Welcome,
I would really like to see some of your Super Macro Shots here on Wetpixel. How do you achieve 10:1?


Oh that is really Super Macro ;-) or did you mean Sperm of a Whale  ;-)

Hello Simon

I will try to post a few later, (if film based shots are allowed).

10:1 macro is a pain in the butt to say the least,

I use a Nikon 8008 in a Aquatica housing with a 105 micro lens and combination of converters and extension tubes depending on what magnification I desire. everything is full manual, focusing is achieved by moving the camera back and forth.

I am new to this forum thing, but I guess this should be directed to another point.

Regarding digital, I just found out that Kodak now has 2 cameras that use the Nikon F5 body. This would elininate the need for me to buy another housing, BUT at $4000 US, it may be a while before I get one.

this is 10:1 +

Regards

Chris