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dmoss

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Posts posted by dmoss

  1. Posted

    Eric

     

    I have been to Little Cayman twice and consider it the best place I have been in my limited experience. There is not much on Little Cayman above water. The bird sanctuary (third largest in the Caribbean) offers some good telephoto oportunities of rare birds, lilke the red footed booby.

    All of the dive sites along Bloody Bay Wall are good. Great Wall East and Great Wall West are simply spectacular. The shear drop from 30' to several thousand feet is breathtaking. Swim out over the abyss about 50', turn around and look back at the wall. I think you will be impressed. Lots of turtles in the water there as well.

     

    I haven't been to Brac, but the Russian Frigate Tibbetts is reported as a must do dive.

     

    Land based, liveaboard or just passing through ?

     

    Looking forward to your trip report and lots of pictures.

  5. Posted

    Hello Dennis,

     

    I think you would like the 17-85. I use it with +4 diopter and special Ike port and it does a good job for fish portraits, etc. As far as the IS, my shutter speeds are generally high enough under water that I don't have to worry about camera shake, but it's still nice to have. The 17-85 is a good all around topside lens and I have found the IS handy for surface pics.

    It stayed on my camera topside until I sprang for the 24-70L.

     

    Hope this helps.

  7. Posted

    Danny,

    I used both lenses in Bonaire and preferred the 10-22 for underwater use. As James said, the 17-85 is a good topside lens. For underwater wide angle, the extra range down to 10mm was very nice. The 10-22 is also 1 stop faster than the 17-85 at the wide end (f3.5 compared to f4). I noticed some corner softness at 10mm behind the Ikelite 6" dome, but from 12mm on up it was better. I'm considering the 8" port, but haven't made up my mind yet.

  9. Posted

    Thanks for everyone's help on my little crab. I learned a few things. Everyone has their own preference for composition. In the end, it boils down to what the shooter is pleased with. Personally...I like the entire shell in the shot, but that's just me.

    Eric should rename this form topic to 'Learning Curve Reduction Center'.

  11. Posted

    Thanks for the input folks. I did lean a little heavy on the unsharp slider in an attempt to bring more of the shot in focus, with a result of making the crab look too digital. I'll experiment with rotating the shot to get a different angle. I'm trying to concentrate on composition before I hit the shutter. The never ending learning process is what makes photography so addictive.

     

    And Mike...don't tell anyone about the 'crabs' thing...hopefully my doctor can help with that Monday :P

  12. Posted

    Took this in Bonaire a few weeks ago. Like many of my shots, I liked this one at first but the more I look at it, the out of focus sand in the foreground seems to stand out as just wrong.

    1/80...f9....100iso on a night dive. Cropped and hit with unsharp mask.

     

    Fire away....what would help this, other than moving the sand out from in front before I shot it.

    post-2595-1137817108_thumb.jpg

  14. Posted

    Although I only have a lowly 20D :) , I experienced some of the same problems as you while I was in Bonare a few weeks ago.

    Some shots were overexposed when they shouldn't be, lights not working on the TTL board, lights not responding to button press, etc. I had to switch the strobes off and back on to get things working again.

    When I got home, I took a close look at everything. Turns out it was the sync cord. The part of the cord that goes into the metal connector that screws onto the housing bulkhead takes a lot of abuse. I could wiggle that part of the cord and the TTL lights would flash. I even got the strobes to fire simply by moving the cord a little !! There appeared to be no sign of corrosion on the contacts. I suspected an internal wire had shorted out.

    I sent the cord to Ikelite and they responded that the cord had flooded and also suggested I send the housing back plate to them as they suspected the bulkhead had flooded as well. I received a new sync cord and everything works fine. It has been pool tested so I feel the problem has been resolved without sending in the housing backplate. Hopefully I won't regret that decision.

    I now also have a backup sync cord and plan on taking zip ties along to keep the cord in place on the arms and handles.

  15. Posted

    Joel,

    You can't possibly be considering 'Da Bigga Doma'. You're supposed to be leaving enough room in your carry on for my extra stuff. :lol:

     

    Ike...just wanting to confirm it will work on my 20D with the 15 Sigma. Website doesn't list it yet. I know you will get around to it, but just wanted to make sure.

     

    I guess my wife can be included in the "knowledgeable type" category. I showed her the new toy on my wish list and her response was 'that's a silly name'.

  16. Posted

    Neil,

     

    Filters are designed to bring out the natural colors and remove some of the blue cast to pictures, but you need good ambient light for them to work well.

    The filter will help with your wide angle shots. Use the custom white balance and reset it when you change depths by a few feet. You will get better results with the filter by not using any flash. Filter photography is best done on bright sunny days with good visibility. You need this sunlight or the colors won't come thru. With only 25 feet visibility and 1/200 shutter speed, you just didn't have enough light hitting the camera sensor.

     

    For macro, remove the filter and get as close as possible to your subject. You can experiment with strobe positioning and intensity until you get the hang of it.

     

    Wide angle UW photography is very challenging and takes practice. Concentrate on macro at first to get accustomed to how everything works.

     

    Hope this helps.

  17. Posted

    Neil,

     

    The 7070 has a custom white balance option and you can use a white slate , gray card or even the palm of your hand to set it for the depth you are at. If in an area with a sandy bottom, I generally take a picture of the sand and use that shot to set the white balance off of. Keep in mind that if you change your depth by a few feet, you will want to take another shot to reset the white balance. Keep the filter on while adjusting the WB.

     

    Hope this helps.

  18. Posted

    Jeanne

    You indicated you have the Ikelite arms sections and therefore Ikelite clamps. I'm not sure how well the Ikelite clamp attaches to the ball on top of your ULCS handle since it has the rubber o-ring. If it clamps down OK, you might try these components.

    ULCS triple clamp #AC-TCS. Connect to the ball on top of your handle and the strobe arm. Into the third hole, attach ULCS #AD-TTL for mounting your EV controller. The ULCS website has a dealer list you could try if you can't wait for Ryan to open up after the weekend. He could probably overnight you the parts or recommend a better option.

     

    Edit---This may also work.

     

    Actually, I'm kind of a 'rig it up however you can' kind of guy so I would probably take Karl's suggestion and just zip tie it on. :(

  19. Posted

    Just noticed this on the TSA website.

     

    Effective today, you can carry-on small tools and other previously banned items. Last trip I had a small allen wrench and box wrench taken from me at the security checkpoint. The new rule allows small tools, including screwdrivers, in carry-on luggage as long as they don't exceed 7" in length.

  20. Posted

    Thanks for the input.

    Larry...looking at the image and thinking about the focus issue..I think you're right. I got focus lock, but without a prime taget to focus on, I don't know what was locked. Where's that big tarpon when you need him. It is definitely soft. I used the recommended Ike port for the 10-22 and had other pics with this setup that were much sharper.

  21. Posted

    I tried to work on Sunball/Sunburst pictures in Bonaire last week. I liked this one at first, but it just doesn't 'pop' like some I've seen on Wetpixel. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

    F14, 1/250, ISO 100, 10-22 @ 22mm

    post-2595-1134175846_thumb.jpg

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