uw_nikon

You should be able to turn off the your MacBook Pro's dynamic screen brightness. (sysPrefs/Displays) Most monitor calibrators will calibrate screen brightness when set to advanced mode. (note: high screen brightness will amp the colors way up. But, the colors get pretty whacked.) If you're serious about color, consider using an non-Apple external monitor connected via DisplayPort (I've used the Dell 2408wfp, U2410, and currently U3011). In advanced mode, you can calibrate RGB and contrast before the color calibration occurs. That makes the monitor's color profile as good as you can get it. Take Care, ChrisS

A guitar pick works really well. (they come in many thicknesses.) take care, ChrisS

Other world computing has good memory. http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/2011/DDR3_21.5_27

observations: -probably shot with one strobe w/a diffuser -no backscatter (good job in temperate water) my opinions: good: 5 (lighting, composition) and 2 (lighting, composition, good negative space: not sea barf; cropped too tight: more space in from of fish, back edge of gill cover cropped) neutral: 4(good detail, lighting, & negative space; form of nudi eggs: hunt for better spirals; cropped too tight) things to work on: 3(good detail on navanax face/head, kind of a C-curve; very distracting negative space: too much sea barf), 1(distracting foreground, no space in front of fish), 6(pogo stick shot* on so-so negative space) *pogo stick shot = camera pointed straight down on subject (I like to shoot tube anemones out on the sand flats and get the tentacles flowing in the current/surge) get low, get close, get closer, shoot up (this separates your subject from the sea barf background) eye level or slightly below your subject (make it a conversation) search for good background first; then look for subjects on that background crop in the viewfinder, not in the computer (I'm kind of old school. I prefer the 35mm aspect ratio instead of freeform cropping.) take care, Chris

I have the Dell U3011 connected via DisplayPort. -better calibration -larger color gamut (see attached profiles created with i1 Display2; the snow leopard version of the calibration sw allows much better tweaking of u3011 monitor) -anti-glare (I wish Apple would get away from the glossy screen look. Yes, it makes very clean packaging and better color saturation; but, there's way too much reflection from the screen in most lighting conditions) Apple Thunderbolt Display profile: Dell U3011 profile: The Apple Thunderbolt display has a huge advantage _only if_ you have a 2011 MacBook Air and need FireWire, 1000BaseT Ethernet, and three more USB2 ports.

First, look at your Sony HD video camera (or it's manual). Search for an iLink connection (that's what Sony calls FireWire/1394). If you camera has iLink, you could buy a FireWire 800 to 4-pin FireWire cable to connect your camera and iMac. ($10 to $15) I don't know what formats iMovie supports for import from cameras. You can always try connecting the camera via FireWire, launching iMovie, and seeing if your iMac sees the video camera and can import footage. Take Care, ChrisS

There are plenty of bad images taken with superior equipment. I've seen people shoot 400+ images in a day of diving and get 2 or 3 decent images, nothing outstanding. (Your pencil draws pretty images. Not really true.) For: composition vision capturing the moment exposure point of focus lighting, etc., it's the photographer not the equipment. (knowledge and experience) Great optics can provide an edge (but, without applied knowledge and experience that edge is very limited).

For the 60mm and the 105mm I use this technique: -camera in manual (too many cameras make dumb choices underwater) -camera in Single Servo AF -f/16 or f/22 for aperture -1/250s for shutter speed (max flash sync on my camera) -wide angle focus light edge lighting subject -press shutter release half way to activate then Lock focus on your primary area of focus -recompose -depress shutter fully (note: some cameras will not fire if AF sensor says image is not in perfect focus; this can be very frustrating in surgy conditions; most cameras can be set to fire when shutter release is fully depressed regardless of AF status) another trick when shooting closer than to 1-to-2 (half life size on sensor): -pre-focus -set camera to manual focus -use careful bracing and body movements to get your images (become a human macro rail) (note: camera will fire regardless of what the AF sensor tells it when in manual mode) remember, depth of field is shallow when shooting macro, the closer to 1-to-1 you are the shallower it gets; 1/3 in front of perfect focus and 2/3 behind perfect focus.

Maybe, a rubber band and couple (or more) of layers of white plastic shopping bag? or Look up a local lighting supply house. They normally stock different grades of white plastic to diffuse overhead lights. take care, ChrisS

Your images look fine on my Dell U2410 calibrated with i1 display 2 (2008 MacPro w/5870, OSX 10.6.6). One thing I always do when calibrating is to make sure the monitor has been turned on and running for over 30 minutes. The back light for many non-LED back-lit flat panel displays needs time to warm up. Take Care, ChrisS

The D40X requires AF-S lenses to autofocus (AF motor built-in to the lens; the camera body has no focus motor to drive standard AF lenses). Maybe, -nikon 10-24mm AF-S f3.5-4.5G -sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6D plus zoom ring and 8" dome port. Another thing you could consider: -buy a low cost Manual focus or standard AF (not AF-S) lens -pre-focus it to the distance range you want to shoot -use the view finder to check focus before you shoot Take Care, ChrisS

A couple of methods: both require: -a focus light (or diving in clear shallow water) Note: I use a wide beam focus light to edge light the focus area, the main hotter area of the beam is used to spot subjects from a distance. -flash sync to Rear curtain (flash button on left side of pentaprism, use back command dial until flash mode in LCD reads Rear) -f16 to f22 #1: -single servo mode AF -single point focus (normally, the center point) -maybe, change AF-S mode priority to Release (menu= pencil/a/a2/"Release") Note: allows you to take shot with out camera locking you out when AF point thinks focus is bad. (AF-C is defaulted to "Release") -focus on what you want tack sharp by pressing shutter release halfway and keeping it half pressed (locks focus until full press) -recompose shot for final composition -pay attention to depth of field (it can be very shallow when shooting 1:1 a 3-4 mm; maybe 10mm when shooting 1:3; one-third in front of optimum focus point and two-thirds behind will be "in focus") -move camera in and out to achieve focus -take the shot by fully pressing shutter release #2: -decouple shutter release and AF activation -set the AF activation to the "AF-ON" button on the back of the camera (menu= pencil/a/a6/"AF-ON Only") -maybe, change AF-S mode priority to Release (menu= pencil/a/a2/"Release")(see note above) -set focus point and mode to whatever you want To shoot: -press AF-ON and get initial focus -release AF-ON (focus is locked) -recompose -pay attention to depth of field -move camera in and out to achieve focus -shoot by pressing shutter release Note: if your housing doesn't have access to AF-ON button, use single servo to focus on something of similar size, then switch camera to manual focus mode locking focus. Take Care, ChrisS

I tried with Keynote '09 version 5.0.3 (791) on 10.6.4 by dragging QT movies from a finder window to a Keynote slide. That copies/embeds the dragged QT movie into the Keynote presentation. result: aspect ratio doesn't change (16:10 movies stay 16:10) Using the "Media" palette (near upper right corner of Keynote's main window, 3rd icon from right), appears to work correctly also. result: aspect ratio doesn't change (16:10 movies stay 16:10) Using menu: Insert/Choose..., same results. Hmmm... The movies you're importing don't happen to be a video format with non-square pixels? Take Care, Chris

You cannot use the camera's LCD to judge exposure. (turn the LCD illumination to minimum gives you a very slightly better idea of exposure) Instead use the RGB and combined histograms to determine if you have correct exposure. (histograms crashing in to the righthand side are over exposed, crashing into lefthand side are under exposed, there are no ideal histograms.) for wide angle: Red = flash exposure Green = ambient light (in most temperate waters) Blue = ambient light (in most tropical waters) Balancing strobe and ambient light can be tricky. Get used to shooting in manual mode. (most, if not all, cameras make very dumb mistakes when shooting underwater in program mode) Have a start point i.e., ISO100, f/8, 1/30s, strobes at 50% and adjust from there depending on conditions and which way you are pointing the camera relative to ambient light direction. To adjust red histogram: adjust strobe power, adjust strobe distance to subject, or add diffuser to strobe. To adjust green/blue histogram: adjust shutter speed (higher = darker, lower = lighter) You may have to increase ISO if you dive deeper. Also, use the "blinky blacks" to look out for highlight over exposure. Take Care, ChrisS

Lack of delicate feel is normal for thick gloves. A possible solution: -buy a pair of 3mm gloves -on your thick glove (I assume the right one because the shutter release on most housings is on the right), mark between the base of finger and the first joint out from the base on glove's index finger. -cut off index finger on the thick glove at the mark (make a careful straight cut) -cut off one of the fingers on the 3mm gloves at the base so you have plenty of adjustment room (you've have 7 spares to use in the future) -put on your right thick glove -do test fits and trims of the 3mm finger until you reach the correct length of the new 3mm replacement -use wetsuit/neoprene glue to attach the 3mm finger to your thick glove -allow the glue seam to dry completely -think about doing some careful surface stitching to keep the nylon facing of each part from pulling the seam apart Take Care, ChrisS PS, I use five-finger 4mm skin-in gloves for all my cold water diving (Monterey, SoCal, and BC); I also dive a dry suit.