halimi

Thanks for stopping by Ellen . BTW, just to add a bit more "experience" on Merpati Airlines here, a few friends of mine just returned from a trip to Raja Ampat last week and they flew Merpati from Jakarta to Sorong via Makassar. Unfortunately, their plane broke down in Makassar and they had to stay overnight there. Merpati gave them a bungalow house to stay in for the night (free, of course) and provided them with complimentary transfer between the airport and the house. The house was nice and clean so I guess that wasn't too bad.

I agree. It was difficult for me to take this picture. My 105mm micro lens had a tough time to focus on the small seahorse. Many times the focus went to the sea-fan and not at the critter. The picture above was the best I could manage out of maybe 15 shots.

Thanks a lot Todd. Yes, I do agree that it would be better to get the seahorse to face the camera a bit. Unfortunately, this was at 25 meters depth and I was diving on air so could not stay and wait for too long. Actually, a few times the seahorse even looked away, most likely due to my strobe I was hoping to be able to get a good, dark background on the subject but it didn't happen. I also didn't want to cause more distress to the little fella. Will keep your comments in mind the next time I do macro shots

Hello, This is my first posting of a picture here at WP and I'm really looking for lots of constructive criticism from you guys and girls here. The Denise's Pygmy Seahorse picture was taken at Angel's Window in Lembeh Straits during my last trip in December. The seahorse was a tad soft and was selectively sharpened in Photoshop. Some colour correction done as well. F/16 @ 1/250sec., ISO200, spot-metering, auto-WB. Nikon D70 + Nikkor 105mm Micro VR lense in Ikelite casing. 1 x Ikelite DS-125 strobe on TTL.

Hello, I've been using the Ikelite DS-125 for two years now and so far had no "reliability" problem whatsoever with the sync cord. You just need to be careful when attaching the sync cord and make sure the connection is tight, it's only logical. I also don't have any problem with adjusting the strobe in water. Most of the time I put it on TTL and the exposure comes out good so no need to fiddle with manual setting. Its a bit heave but that doesn't really bother me. On the other hand, I have a few friends who use a G9 with Inon D2000 strobes with good results. So, these combination seems to work quite well.

I agree with Spazm. If you're a newbie in photography and don't know or can't bother to read what's ISO, shutter speed and f-stops are all about, maybe it's a good idea to take the course so that somebody more knowledgeable (the instructor, hopefully) may teach you the basics. Then again, what others mentioned are equally true. A PADI instructor needs to have only 25 dives taking underwater photography to qualify himself / herself to teach the course so the quality of instruction has some serious latitude! My opinion, one has to assess himself / herself as to what level he/she is now with regards to UW photography. Then find an instructor who can teach you something that you don't know yet. I'd personally start with the instructor's online profile which not only will tell you how good he/she is but also perhaps his/her style of photography.

Hello, I run several dive trips to Sipadan every year. IMHO, it's better to be land-based when diving in Sipadan since the three major dive places - Sipadan, Kapalai & Mabul are all about 45 minutes by speed boat from one another. Sipadan has only 2 or 3 worthy dive sites so usually the land-based operators will do 2-tank dives there in the morning and in the afternoon, one or two shallower muck dives around Kapalai or Mabul. After years going there, I'd recommend Sipadan-Mabul Resort (SMART) for their service, accommodation and DM. Unfortunately, they are also the most expensive on Mabul. They run the Celebes Explorer liveaboard, which I would not recommend. An alternative is Kapalai Resort, on Kapalai island.

Hi Ellen, I've flown Garuda Airlines between Jakarta and Manado, with a stop at Balikpapan. Two meals were served, one during Jakarta - Balikpapan sector, then another full meal between Balikpapan & Manado. So far the flights I took were on time, the crew efficient and I've not yet experience any of my Garuda flights having technical difficulties during my trip to Manado / Lembeh Straits.