Brian McHugh

If they build it, I'll buy it. Hoping for Sea and Sea.

This first one was my favorites as I've been trying to capture this behavior all summer and finally got it. Sarcastic Fringehead showing off for his lady friend in La Jolla, California. This second one while not my best picture it was a lot of fun and reminds me of the very playful sea lions in La Paz, Baja California, Mexico.

Thanks Steve, La Paz while similar in many respects to the northern Sea of Cortez does have some unique attractions particularly in the fall when the sea lions are off the charts play full and you have a chance to see whale sharks and dolphins. Its pretty convent to get to from San Diego through the Tijuana Airport, cheap flights around $200.00 round trip. Thanks Matt, that sail fin blenny was a tough one to get as I only got one shot at him after waiting for about 20 minutes for thin to do something interesting.

A few shots from late last months trip to La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico. We had great conditions with very playful sea lions, bait balls, and whale sharks. More photos at my page: http://www.brian-mchugh-uwphoto.com

Farnsworth is my favorite site in California. Nice shots! Brian

Joe, Thanks, I did all the CFWA with a Sigma 17-70. The trip I went on was booked from Blue Water Photo in LA. I like going on their trips as it is all UW photogs. Brian

Went out on the Peace, it was a Blue Water Photo trip. The best food on a dive boat in California.

1.4:1 is 140% of the image size, 1:2 is 50% of the image size. The 60 without the teleconverter does 1:1 or 100% of the image size. All of these are only applicable at the minimum focus distance and represent the maximum magnification you can achieve. You really will only notice the difference when photographing very small subjects, really the greatest difference you notice with the teleconverter is an increase in working distance making it easier to light and giving you the ability to get a little farther away from skittish creatures. The downside is that in murky water sometimes you want to get closer to minimize the subject to camera distance especially when the subject is not super small. The 60 with the teleconverter is really like having 2 lenses, a 60 and an 85 that you can switch out between dives.

You are probably getting stray light from the internal strobe that is causing the reflection. You might try building a curtain that would fit around the lens and block stray light getting into the port area. Sometimes the zoom gears are enough to block the stray light.

Very nice Sean.

Thanks Abi!

A few from my recent trip to Baja California Sur, Mexico. These shots were all taken at the islands outside of Loreto in the Sea of Cortez.

I would keep your aperture up around f8 to keep the image sharper around the corners and be more forgiving on the focus. I shoot my D7000 at ISO 800 with minimal noise as long as you get the exposure decent. I would not hesitate to push the ISO to 1600 if needed to keep the shutter speed up.

Pygmy Seahorse taken at Wakatobi last May. My first trip outside North America, will always be memorable. Nikon D7000, 60mm w/1.4x Teleconverter, 2 YS110a strobes