Halabriel

Hi

Just got back from Roatan (more about that later), and as always when captive on the plane, I read SkyMall for all those gadgets that I never knew that I needed and I came across this....

 102674245d.jpg   8.89K   42 downloads

http://www.skymall.c...m...245&c=10280

Fun but useless I am sure...obviously no good for those using the Oceanic DataMask

So I thought we could all post our favourite, but completely useless gadgets.

Cheers

Hal

Hi

My mate sent me this photo, and asked "what is this thing".

 2607088185_ab6cb68c3c.jpg   230.06K   126 downloads

We see them all over the sandy bottom of our reef systems here in Bermuda, however none of the local guides seem to know what they are.  "A type of seaweed" or "an anemone" are the sort of responses we get.

Any ideas?

Better photos from Fickr here

Cheers

Hal

Hi

All over the news today is the announcement that Homeland Security have tightened international travel security again.

From Jan 12th 2009, all residents of all 27 countries using the visa waiver program (Europe,  Australia, Japan) will have to register with the US Embassy 72hours prior to traveling, including all their flight details and travel plans, this will include simple transfers via the US as well. Read it here

So gone are the last minute travel deals and the US tightens the screws on travelers yet again.

If you break a vase and fix it with sticky tape, it will probably still leak.  The more cracks in the vase, the more sticky tape is required, and the more it leaks - this is my view of US immigration today, a cracked old leaky vase that should be avoided at all costs.

Cheers

Hal

Hi all

Well my kit finally arrived, cleared customs (after 2 weeks) and today got wet.

I have dived with a Canon Ixus 950is for around a year and decided the time had come to add an external strobe.  After lots of discussion on this forum and with the very helpful Dave Hambleton from Backscatter I went for an Inon D2000s, and some Inon wet lenses (UCL165 and UWL105).

Well I deciphered the Janapenglesh instructions and assembled the kit and today went diving.

It was sheer terror as I lowered my rig into the camera bucket, but it didn't flood immediately, so my Japanenglesh must be OK.  Then down to depth (well 8m) to take some photos.

I never expected the degree of task loading that I felt    I am a reasonably experienced divermaster, but this was way worse than the task loading test    ...
Manual WB
Strobe setting
Strobe angle and position
Which lens
Fish refusing to stay still for their portraits
Hunting for critters
Oh yeah...and all the usual buoyancy nonsense   

Oh yeah BTW - When I first joined Wetpixel I said on my introduction page that luck played an enormous role in photography.  Well after today, I want to revise that statement - I was only in the water for 2x40mins today and I am exhausted - award winning pictures are jolly hard work!

So here are my first strobe pictures.  Don't judge them too harshly, I am amazed that I have got anything at all onto the disk. Can't wait to go back tomorrow.    

Cheers

Hal

Hi all

Well it has finally arrived, my spanking new Inon D2000s rig is here, and so naturally I am now overwhelmed with a whole slew of new questions, many of these I am sure have been asked before, but I can't find the threads for all of them - so here we go.

1) Pre-Flash
How do you know if your camera has pre-flash?  My understanding is that this is a micro-flash that is used by the camera to set the white balance prior to the main discharge.  My camera data sheets don't mention this at all (Canon Ixus 950is), and when I search the topic I get loads of data about anti-red-eye flash, which is a different thing all together.  Obviously I need to know if I have pre-flash before I can start to set up the strobe.


2) Which setting
The D2000s has essentially 2 settings s-TTL and Manual (the External Auto mode is not included with the 's' version of the D2000).  The data sheet says s-TTL is for "pre-flash" digicams only, the manual mode has no restrictions.  I guess I can sort this one out if I can answer question 1) above.


3) Testing
I have read threads about testing the camera/strobe sync.  Basically link the camera to the strobe, point the camera at the strobe and take a photo.  The resultant picture should show the strobe brightly lit, if it is dark, then the strobe and camera are out of sync with each other.  Is this correct?  Is this safe?  The data book for the strobe doesn't mention this at all.

thans for any help

Cheers

Hal