donauw

Don Dixon's Grand Turk Digitals

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Oops - here's the image

I'll try again: Nikon D100 in Sea & Sea DX100 Housing. Nikon 17 - 35 mm @ 25mm, 1/60th @ f11 w twin Ikelite 200s at 1/2. Shot last week on Grand Turk. 1st trip with the D100 and housing (more about the housing after I have a discussion with Sea & Sea this week...)

Schooling Parrots Nikon D100 in Sea & Sea DX100 Housing. Nikon 17 - 35 mm @ 25mm, 1/60th @ f11 w twin Ikelite 200s at 1/2. Shot last week on Grand Turk. 1st trip with the D100 and housing (more about the housing after I have a discussion with Sea & Sea this week...)

You would THINK Sea & Sea would test the funtioning of the multiple small, but important, buttons and knobs on the plastic portion of the housing at depth... What works at sea level does NOT work at 60 feet. Jeez!

Striped Grunt Nikon D100 in Sea & Sea DX100 Housing. Nikon 17 - 35 AFS @ 30 mm, 1/60th @ f1 w twin Ikelite 200s at 1/4. Shot last week on Grand Turk. 1st trip with the D100 and housing (more about the housing after I have a discussion with Sea & Sea this week...)

Hawksbill Turtle Nikon D100 in Sea & Sea DX100 Housing. Nikon 60 mm AFD, 1/60th @ f16 w twin Ikelite 200s at 1/2. Shot last week on Grand Turk. 1st trip with the D100 and housing (more about the housing after I have a discussion with Sea & Sea this week...)

Kasey - I used the "magic wand" tool in PS7 set to "noncontiguous" to select the lightest areas. I then feathered and copied the selection to its own layer and used the Image/Adjustments/Brightness&Contrast to reduce the brightness of the copied layer by 50% and increase the contrast 10%. I then merged the layers. Regards,

Example attached - I hope. Regards,

Nice shot! I find the bright yellow areas in the background distracting, however. A little work in Photoshop to tune it down a bit? Regards,

Cute shot! It suffers from blown highlights around the face, however. Also, although the eyes are sharp, more depth would have helped. A smaller aperture with the same strobe output might have helped with both issues. Regards,

Most excellent! An uncommon treatment of a common subject. You has isolated them to the point where they seem like an alien landscape. Lighting is soft, composition great. I like it! Regards,

Truk is definately worth the trip. You do not need to dive deep to enjoy most of the wrecks. In fact, many of the better photo ops are shallower where there is enough light for soft coral growth. The deeper wrecks are more historically interesting, but less photogenic. I was there in April of 2001 and will be going back this October. Re the Aggressor - I haven't been on them (we were on Thorfinn - don't, and will bey on the Odyssey this trip) - you might want to check out the Odyssey. I disagree re liveaboard vs shore diving in Truk. If you are into photography there are days where 5 dives does not seem to be enough! Also, I would describe Truk as "4th world." There is nothing to do ashore. Better to be on a live-aboard with first class food and support. I have some photos from my last trip linked on my web site. Regards. Don Dixon http://www.dixonphotos.net

I've used the lens for almost a year now and love it. WA has been sharp corner to corner at the f stops I usually use (f5.6, 8, 11, 16). Close focus is about 6". (I can post example later) Note that the photo was taken with an F100 - I haven't used it underwater with my D100, yet. I am wondering how the loss of WA with the 1.5 crop factor will affect its usefulness (waiting for the 12 - 24mm). Topside, though, it is the lens I use about 75% of the time - sort of a "normal zoom." Any D100 shooters on the list have UW experience with this? Useful? The photo was cropped only slightly - about 10%. Regards, Don Dixon http://www.dixonphotos.net

Aside from the better resolution - and I question that it will make for better quality work for most of us, who don't enlarge to poster size (and the problems with storage media it creates) - what will be the advantage over a D100 when the Nikon 12 - 24 mm becomes available? Will housings be available for the Kodak? I expect that only limited numbers of us will be buying the camera. Just as the Nikon 90 series became the UW "workhorse" for film, with multiple housing options available, I suspect the D100 will come to dominate the digital UW SLR market for a few years. Regards, Don Dixon http://www.dixonphotos.net

lNikon F100 in S&S NX100, Nikon 17-35mm AFS @ ~ 20mm, 1/100 f8, 2x Ikelite SS200s - manual 1/2 pwr on Fuji Provia 100. Scanned w Nikon LS 2000, cropped & sharpened w PS7.0. Don Dixon http://www.dixonphotos.net

Top view of carryon - synch cord, extra O-rings, lube, misc. items omitted but are tucked in before closing.

Bottom view of carryon

Everyting that fits in the carryon

Hi all - donauw is Don Dixon living in Wausau, Wisconsin and Big Pine Key, Florida, USA. I am not a pro - practice Emergency Medicine to support my dive and photo habits. Diving since 1996, shooting uw almost as long. First with Minolta in Ikelite housing, then Nikonos V (after flooding the Ike housing), then with F100 in Sea & Sea NX100 Pro, now with D100 in Sea & Sea DX-D100. I've been shooting digital topside for 5 years (Olympus point/shoot, Nikon D1 for two years, and now Nikon D100) and have scanned much of my uw work in the past. I'm anxious to get use of the D100 uw now! Current setup is the D100, Nikon 14mm f2.8 AFD, Nikon 17-35mm f2.8 AFS, Nikon 60 mm macro and twin Ikelite 200s. I travel with small Sony laptop and HP 200e DVD burner - shoot RAW and burn my files directly onto DVDs. Most of my diving is in the Keys and Great Lakes (summer only - no ice diving, thanks). Trips have included Roatan, Utila, Channel Islands, Palau, Truk, Silver Banks (whales) and Galapagos. I dive a Drager Dolphin in the Keys and on trips where there is rebreather support. (I continue to be amazed by how little impact my presence has on marine life with the rebreather c/w open circuit) This is so much more fun than work! Don Dixon http://www.dixonphotos.net

James - It was like a 3-dimensional puzzle. Camera is in the housing, macro lens is in the macro port. I will take a couple pics and post them later today. The case can be found at http://www.justcases.com/airlinecase.html. Regards, Don Dixon http://www.dixonphotos.net

I am able to get housing (DX-D100), camera, Ike 200 strobe, arms, cables, Sea & Sea Custom Flat Port and 4 lenses in a pelican style carry-on. I carry charger and odds and ends along with laptop in a separate bag. That way, I have control over most of the expensive gear and also have a complete setup to use if checked baggage gets "misplaced." I check the rest of my dive gear along with second strobe and dome port. I used to check everything, but with new inspection policies, feel less comfortable with that. Regards, Don Dixon http://www.dixonphotos.net