TylerMoore

Oh, and the lens was a sigma 18-50mm. I wouldn't mind using a wider lens next time, and I used the 50mm to do close up portraits of of small things like christmas tree worms and such. I don't know if this is a common way to do things, a True macro would have probably been better for that. I was having problems having the photos in focus when I was at 50mm shooting smaller subjects, but I think it might have been a problem with my buoyancy, and holding still long enough for focusing. More practice will help I guess.

Thanks a lot for the comments and suggestions. We actually took an old Subaru station wagon, and we got the chance to break down in the small town of Odessa Missouri on the way down there (only about 5 hours into the 28 hour long trip- which was 14 hours longer because of the breakdown). A very nice local resident offered to fix our car, and we ended up making it down in time for all of our dives still. Hopefully I'll get the chance to make it out again soon for photos and for great dives.

3 friends and I went on a road trip from Lincoln, Nebraska down to Key Largo Florida to do some diving and free-diving as well for lobsters. This was the first time I've used my housing in the ocean, I had only shot with it one time before in murky Nebraska waters. I was trying my best to not get backscatter in photos when using a flash, because I never really mastered that technique on the 2 or 3 dives I made with my Nikonos setup. Let me know what you guys think I should do better for next time. I know the composition and photo content is lacking in most because I was so worried about having somewhat decent lighting. All photos with a 20D in ikelite housing with a Nikonos SB105 shot manually. Spotted spiny. Taken while free-diving. School of fish around a Brain Coral at French Reef, Key Largo. This was taken while actually diving. This is one of the swim throughs on our French Reef dive. It was pretty cool. Being my first dive in the ocean, I was excited to do some different stuff like that. This is 2 of the 3 friends I went with on the trip. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks a lot guys. Tyler

thanks a lot! that actually helped a ton! tyler

Thanks for the comments and tips guys. I'll just try and limit the need for changing settings as much as possible.

I have been shooting with a Nikonos V up until this spring where I bought my first housing for my 20d. I live in Nebraska, where there isn't much diving, but I finally got the chance to drive out to the clearest lake in the area (some sandpits off the platte river). These are a couple from the 2 days of diving. The visibility was less than 2 feet the first day, but up to about 6 feet the second day. A couple friends and I are diving down the Key Largo to do some diving for a week (taking some dives out with Quiescence), so I wanted to make sure I knew how to work the housing. If you guys have any tips for a beginner to get the most out of the housing, let me know. It seems like the settings are difficult to change under water, and the shutter dial couldn't be turned on most dives. Is there a way around this? Am I putting the camera in wrong, or do the dials need some repair? All photos were with a 20d, and if there was a flash, it was just a nikon sb105 shot manually.

I use a Minolta Dual Scan IV for slide scanning. It does a great job, and it is much cheaper than the Nikon counterpart. I would say that it is comparable if not better than the Nikon cool scan. Google it to get some specifics and stuff.

Stephen, your gallery was the one to actually rent out the housings for this show? That's interesting. What do you guys think of the show? I've never really watched it before. Do the photographers look pretty legit?

i love it

So if I'm shooting with 2 sb 105's what would be my wide angle options? Could I use flash for wide angle at all if I was within 4 feet or so? I'll look at the coverage area of the two flashes combined, and then of my lens to see if it will cover the whole area. Any body have experience shooting with a setup like this?

I'm going to be getting an ikelite housing for my 20D here soon. I already have a nikon sb105, but I would like to get a second flash as well. I'm wondering what is another good flash for underwater that I could get for less than $400. How necessary is TTL underwater? It can't be any more accurate than above water, where I generally manually meter my flashes anyways. Should I just get a more powerful flash without e-ttl, or get a less powerful one with it? Any opinions on different models to go well with the ikelite?

Thanks guys. I think that I've made up my mind on getting an ikelite housing. And i did see that ebay listing, thanks. Now that i'll probably get an ikelite housing, what is a decent flash that doesn't cost $800? Is there anything good for around 200-300? Could i use my sb105 as a second flash, would anybody recommend that?

okay, so with an ikelite housing, could i get ttl or e-ttl with flashes that arn't ikelite? what would my choices be?

Thanks for all the info guys. Is there any reason why ikelite housings are so much cheaper than subal and sea&sea? are there specific differences? Also, will any housing allow me to use my sb105 flash with it? and... Does anyboy know if any of the ikelite wide angle ports will fit a sigma 18-55mm lens? Thanks

I have 5 days left on ebay for the lens I'm selling in order to buy a housing. I would most likely be interested in this if it is still available at that time.

I've been shooting underwater with my nikonos v and sb105 for a while, and I decided to sell a lens of mine plus pitch in a little extra to get an underwater housing for my 20D. I'm really excited about actually being able to shoot more than 36 frames when underwater, but there are SO MANY underwater housing brands I'm swamped by them. Is there a standard for which brands are better? My budget is probably $2000 tops for a used housing and at least one port. I like the ikelite housings that I've seen because they are rated so deep, have ettl, and seem to have simple to use functions. Are there key features that I should definately make sure to look for in a housing, and ports later? Thanks a lot guys, you've all been so helpful on here.

I went to florida this august like we do every year, but the past 2 years i've tried underwater photography. Only going once a year is hard on the learning curve, so any help is appreciated. I'm 19, and have been a photographer for many years now, and I work at a local newspaper as a staff photographer while going to school for bio sciences. I'm hoping to work as a photographer for a nature oriented magazine. I'm still working on getting certified with my busy schedule, so all these photos were taken snorkeling in 10-20 feet of water. Shot with a Nikonos V, 17mm Sea and Sea lens, SB105 flash, Velvia 50F, scanned on Minolta Dual Scan IV Also, I was having a lot of problems with backscatter in my photos. I was talking to stephen frink's wife while down in key largo, and she was mentioning that a main cause for this is aiming the flash in front of the subject. The reason people do that is because the subject appears closer than it actual is. Is that a solid way to elimit the backscatter problem? Let me know any techniques or critiques you have. Thanks a lot. oh, and a fun one to finish it off (testing out the gear in the pool on a friend):

I saw a Pterois volitan in the key largo area last year, about 10 miles out, on the reef. I was so surprised to see him. When I got back I looked it up on the internet and read that many have been introduced (whether purposefully or not) to that area. I'm curious as to whether smaller reef fish can sense this animal as a predator even if they are not native to the area. These fish wouldn't have any contact with this species in any of their ancestors. Rather interesting. I'm sure something will stand up and be the predator of the lion fish in this area.

Does anybody use any type of diffuser on their flashes underwater? I was looking over my photos from last year and the light seemed so harsh. It was my first time doing underwater photography ever, and I was shooting film with a nikonos V and a sb105 flash, so I really couldn't correct it at the time. We go to key largo the first week of august like every year and i'd like to at least get one photo or two to make a print of up on my wall. I was thinking about wrapping some white cloth around the flash and rubber banding it on there for a diffuser? anyone try anything like this? Also, this weekend i'm going up to south dakota to dive some of the clearer lakes up there and my friend and I are going to test our cameras out before the florida trip. Does anybody do any freshwater lake photography? Especially in the midwest here? I'd like to see some photos from peolpe if you have them, and some tips you have as well. Thanks a lot! -Tyler

he's right. even with good lenses, the rebels really arn't that awesome as far as focusing goes. In taking husker football photos I rarely have more that 50 out of focus images out of 500 in one game using my 20D. If that helps you any.

thanks for the remarks. In all honesty, i'm not a bad freediver at all. We've been going down there all my life so i have no problem spending half a minute under or more if i have a weight belt on. I was planning on getting one of the closeup kits before I went down. Now I might buy another lens too, if I get the money in time (we leave first week of august). Will I be fine with only 1 flash? Is there a huge difference between the nikon close up kid and the helix ones (or other ofbrand ones, for that matter)?

Hey, my name is Tyler. I'm 19 years old and have been involved with photography most of my life. I'm currently a photojournalism student at the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Every year my family and I (and usually a friend) go down the key largo and stay with some friends and go out on the ocean. We go down there to lobster, and since its so shallow we always snorkel instead of scuba dive. Last year I bought a Nikonos V setup with the 35 3.5 lens and the SB105. I wanted to try and take some underwater photos since i've enjoyed the underwater for so long, and even with my 75 gallon saltwater reef tank i can't get enough of the ocean back here with me. I was wondering if you guys have any specific advice for me as I will be snorkeling instead of diving again this year? I didn't get any images that I was happy with last year, and I would really like something that I could be proud of and make a print of. I shot about 5 or 6 rolls of velvia 100 over the course of a week or two. Also, any advice on little quirks the camera has, or the flash would be good. Any general tips as well. The lighting seemed tricky for me to get perfect. Thanks, there's a lot of talent on this website. Underwater photography was quite challenging for me last year. Here are a couple of photos that i took (again, not at all happy with them):

I use a nikonos V for underwater, but I just wanted to chime in with saying that I always focus with the * button on my 20D. I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm a student photojournalist as of now, and the * focus is the best way to focus and reframe, and hold the same focus if necessary, or focus quick before shots. Hope that helped somewhat, even though it was somewhat out of context.

My parents and I have gone down to Key largo since i was 4 or 5. Its great. I would recommend hitting up reefs like mollasis (which is a ways off if your in key largo, but worth it) and pennykamp which is very close. Also the statue of the christ is a popular one. There's also a number of wrecks there, most of them are apparent above water because of the shallowness of the ocean there. You should be able to find coordinates of the spots mentioned on any brochure or anything you find down there. Have fun. We're actually going to key largo this August, too. Maybe we'll be there at the same time.