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ornate_wrasse

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Posts posted by ornate_wrasse

  3. Posted

    Great shot of the dancer, are there some special events like this that we'd need to book reservations for ahead or just roll with it when we get there?

     

    Just roll with it when you get there. There are people on the street selling tickets to the kecak dance and it won't be difficult to get them when you are there. The price was reasonable as I recall and cost only about $7.50 or $8.00 or something like that.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Ellen

  4. Posted

    Hi Steve,

     

    You've already gotten a lot of great information. Add me to the list of those who think Scuba Seraya is a great place to stay. I stayed there one year ago in October before heading to Wakatobi. I loved the atmosphere at Scuba Seraya and would go there again in a heartbeat. Although I didn't do any massages there, some folks in our group got them. In Bali, the massages are very inexpensive especially compared to cost of massages back home. You can do shore dives nearby and you can also go by boat to dive the wreck of the Liberty. I also took a photo workshop from Jeff Mullins, who lives in Tulamben. it was well worth the money spent. Jeff's wife Dawn served as a spotter on our dive at Seraya Secrets and located a Mimic Octopus, Coleman Shrimp and other cool things.

     

    When in Bali, I would try to attend a Kecak dance if you have the time. I've attached an image of this not-to-be-missed performance that is quite special.

     

    Also if you or your wife is into shopping, I can give you the name of a kind and courteous local man named Eddy that I hired for 1/2 day. He used to live in the United States so speaks perfect English. For only $25, he took me around in his air-conditioned car to the local shopping places to buy silver, artwork and other assorted things that I bought as gifts for friends and relatives back home. It was money well spent.

     

    Enjoy your anniversary trip! Bali is a wonderful place and I think you will have a great time.

     

    Ellen

     

     

    Kecak_Dance_Ubud_Bali_PA110160.sized.jpg

  5. Posted

    Very nice shots! Especially for someone like yourself that hasn't been doing uw photography for very long.

     

    I was there the first week (January 16th-January 23rd) and I agree that the staff at Ocean Frontiers was fantastic. And, most importantly, Alex's instruction was top notch.

     

    Thanks for sharing.

     

    Ellen

  6. Posted

    Also, they take years to pay out in Egypt. Wildcat which was lost a couple of years back has still not been settled. Yes they burn quick, they are mostly wooden boats.......

     

    It's a shame that this claim still has not been settled. I was on the Wildcat in October 2000 for a week. The owner, Adham, is a very good man who seemed to really care about the divers on his liveaboard. I had an accident during the week I was on the Wildcat and was hit by a boat propeller. I was rushed to the hospital in Sharm El Sheik and spent some time recuperating there receiving 6 stitches in my head and 4 in my shoulder. Adham couldn't have been nicer, even making phone calls back to the US to tell my family what had happened while I was in the hospital, unable to make outgoing calls to the US.

    I hope his claim is settled soon.

     

    It's a shame to hear about the other boats lost in the fire. I hope their insurance claims are settled sooner than Wildcat's claim.

     

    Ellen

  7. Posted

    Question for clarification: If I'm shooting in RAW, do white balancing under water make a difference? I mean, if you can color correct in post production, is there an advantage?

     

    Generally speaking, I would say that you should not bother to do white balancing underwater. The white balance changes with depth and it would really increase task loading, so to speak, to continually do manual white balancing throughout the dive. That being said, I can see where it could be useful in a few situations. One of those situations was what I experienced while diving in Grand Cayman last week while at Alex Mustard's UW Photography Workshop. We were at Stingray City shooting the sting rays and Alex instructed us to do a manual white balance for that shoot. We were standing in very shallow water which was no more than waist or chest deep water. On my D300, I used the PRE setting to do this, which manually sets the white balance. Alex felt it was best to do a manual white balance setting in the specific situation in which we were shooting.

     

    Ellen

  9. Posted

    I hope you fix was as easy as mine. You really have to put it face down and push straight down on the levers ALL the way then move the level outward ... like the others said.

     

    Thanks for everyone's comments. I have been pushing straight down on the levers ALL the way, then moving the lever outward, just like I did with the one lever on my Subal housing for the D70S, but with no luck. .

     

    I'm going to take it in to work tomorrow and see if other folks have any luck with it. I did call Reef who told me the springs on new housings may be stiff and not as easy to push as older housings.

     

    Ellen

  10. Posted

    Was it on a plane recently? Is there a port on it? If so can you remove the port? Of course you know that you need to push down quite hard then rotate the latch, then

     

    It was recently shipped to me from Reef Photo but it went by ground shipping. There is no port on it.

     

    I've been pushing down on it very hard and then rotating it outward but it still doesn't budge ^_^

     

    Ellen

  11. Posted

    Hi all,

     

    I finally got a Subal housing for my D300. However, I'm having considerable difficulty removing the back of the housing. This was never an issue with my Subal housing for the D70S. which has only one latch on the back of the housing. The Subal D300 housing has two latches on the back, but all my efforts to push down the latches don't result in it opening.

     

    Has anyone encountered this problem? If so, I'd be curious to know what was done to resolve the issue.

     

    Thanks in advance.

     

    Ellen

  12. Posted

    I have a non-diving cousin who retired a few years ago and now lives in Thailand. He is quite pleased with living there and has written me about the many benefits of retiring there, especially the excellent health care that is less expensive than in the U.S. I should add that he's a retired schoolteacher from Florida and he's doing quite well living on that pension.

     

    It sounds so good that he has almost convinced me to retire there.

     

    Ellen

  13. Posted

    Technically this shot wasn't taken in 2009. However, it was taken near the end of 2008. Since I didn't go on any trips in 2009, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that no one will object too much ;) It was taken at Wakatobi Dive Resort and everything seemed to come together for this shot. I was using my Tokina 10-17 lens for the first time on this trip and was quite pleased with the results.

     

    4142955974_a34bf05c5e_o.jpg

  15. Posted

    Well the shop didn't have any 100 iso so 200 it was. Out I went to go to the park and take photos. I didn't get to the park because after taking 5 or 6 of a church along the way the camera decided to rewind the roll. :good: And it was a 36 as well. :)

     

    It did this with the roll that was already in when I switched it on, but to be fair it had been switched off for 10 years and the one photo I took was no. 24 - so I just figured that the camera thought it had a 24 rather than a 36 roll in.

     

    I'll pop in another today and hope it doen't do the same.

     

    You might want to have a camera technician take a look at your camera. Perhaps the technician can determine why it rewinds the roll after 24 pictures have been taken instead of waiting until all 36 have been exposed.

     

    There is a gizmo called a film retriever and you may want to buy one so you can use up the remaining unexposed film in the roll. Not underwater, of course.

     

    I'd also suggest using Velvia slide film, either 50 or 100 ISO.

     

    Ellen

  17. Posted

    It will be interesting to see what additional security measures will be on American Airlines for the flight I will be taking from Grand Cayman to Miami in a couple weeks. I'll be on my way back from Alex Mustard's UW Photography Workshop.

     

    I wonder how many terrorists fly from Grand Cayman into the US? :)

     

    Ellen

  18. Posted

    Being relatively new here, please accept my thanks to all for a wonderfully informative and friendly site : I've learned a great deal, but obviously have a long way to go.

    I recently purchased a Nikon D300, Sea and Sea housing with a Tokina 12-24 and dual Sea and Sea 110a strobes. Photographing has been a great experience.

    However, a friend was using a sigma zoom lens on a D90 with Ikelite housing, and I realized that it would be very useful to bring the larger, and sometimes rather shy bigger fish in closer.

    Can I ask what you guys recommend?

    Many thanks!

     

    Hi,

     

    I generally prefer to use prime lenses (the Tokina 10-17 zoom being an exception to that rule), but I just bought the Sigma 17-70 based on the recommendations of others using that lens. I'm not familiar with the Sea and Sea housing and ports, but sometimes it's necessary to use the older non-HSM Sigma 17-70 rather than the newer HSM version due to the size of the lens. In my case, I bought the older version of the Sigma 17-70 but your situation may be different.

     

    Ellen

  20. Posted

    Very nice!

    Bravo for you for getting a shot of the Splendid Toadfish.

    In four trips to Coz, although I've seen them a number of times, I've yet to get an image of one.

     

    My favorite of the images you posted is # 5.

     

    Well done!

     

    Ellen

  21. Posted

    I met with the seller and I decided not to purchase the Nikonos kit...everything was in really nice shape, but I think it is not what I am looking for...I did purchase a Nikon Fm2 and 3 lenses from him for a really good price though

     

    Micheal,

     

    I think you made a very wise decision. I really wanted to react to the comment one of the posters made on the Rangefinder forum when he said something like you would be happier with a quality film camera like the Nikonos rather than a point and shoot. But I perhaps wisely declined to say anything :lol:

     

    When you're ready to buy the housing for your Canon G10, I suggest you get in touch with Reef Photo. Ask for Ryan Canon.

     

    Finally, congrats on your FM2 purchase. I recently bought one and have been having lots of fun with it.

     

    All the best,

     

    Ellen

  22. Posted

    Does anyone have a good recommendation for a really high quality printing service? I've found that snapfish and a number of local print shops don't deal with u/w photos too well, probably because the color temperature beings slightly off makes the colors look very strange. I think that they're used to doing topside photos, which is the vast majority of their business.

     

    I have two suggestions for you and both are in the Pacific Northwest, which may be an added plus :lol:

     

    You might check out Jack and Sue Drafahl for your prints. When I went to their presentation at the Northwest Dive and Travel Expo last year, I found out they are willing to work with you on your prints. They are located in Oregon

     

    Jack and Sue Drafahl

     

    The second suggestion is a place I use in Portland called Digicraft. They do work for an local underwater photographer who sells her prints at Galleries, exhibitions, etc.

     

    Digicraft

     

    I'm at work now, but I'll try to put in the links later.

     

    HTH,

     

    Ellen

  24. Posted

    Very nice images!

     

    Jeff is definitely a super guy to work with for underwater photo instruction in Bali. I had the pleasure of taking a workshop with him last year.

    His wife Dawn was an excellent spotter, too, and she found the very first mimic octopus that I ever saw.

     

    I'm guessing that's Jeff who is the diver in some of your images. It certainly looks like him.

     

    Thanks for putting up that very nice gallery of images.

     

    Ellen

  25. Posted

    Hi Michael, nice seeing you over here :lol:

     

    I'd like to extend to you a very warm welcome to Wetpixel. I'd glad you decided to post your question. As you can see, it didn't take long for some friendly folks to reply to you.

     

    can you guys recommend what kind of rubber band I should use......are you talking about a specific rubber band or any "heavy duty" rubber band....I guess if there is a chance of flooding using this lenses while snorkeling, I don't have to use the 15mm, I can always use the 20mm or the 35mm while snorkeling or playing around in my pool

     

    I don't know if the kind of rubber band makes so much difference other than the fact that it should be strong enough and big enough to go around the lens and camera and apply pressure that will in effect take the place of the pressure you would experience at depth. One time a friend of mine recommended I use a white piece of fabric over my strobe as an emergency diffuser to soften the lighting coming from the strobe. I brought along a plain old rubber band that would go over my SB 105 strobe and the white cloth. I never did actually use it, but the point is that an ordinary rubber band will do the trick.

     

    As far as which lens to use, I don't know if any of them are more prone to flooding but I think it's important that you understand what each lens will do. For example, the 15 will be a great wide angle lens but one that can be hard for beginners to master. It's easy to photograph subjects from too far away. The 20mm lens "the poor man's 15" will probably be easier for you to use than the 15mm lens. It's great for portraits of divers and marine creatures. The 35mm lens, similarly, has its own set of do's and don't's.

     

    I strongly recommend you get a copy of the late Jim Church's classic "Essential Guide to Nikonos Systems" It's been a bible of users of the Nikonos and the RS.

     

    You might also want to contact Bob Warkentin at Southern Nikonos with your questions.

     

    Again, a most warm welcome to you.

     

    A warning though: you might find underwater photography highly addictive, so much that you will want to get certified to dive, buy a very expensive housing, camera and strobes, , etc. all the while moving toward depleting your life savings. :D

     

    Ellen

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