Brett R

I second the Underwater Tribe comments. I have dived with Mike many times and all he takes is an underwater pad and a sense of humour! The instant feedback underwater reinforces the concepts given on the surface. I did attend a workshop here in Australia to shoot cuttlefish, dragons and white sharks...whilst the trip was great the instruction was non-existent, won't dive with that well-known alleged "instructor" again...!

Hi All I have gear for sale that I have accumulated over a few years and need to move it on. Instead of putting a price on the items I have decided to advertise if you are interested send me a message, I will send some photos, you suggest a price and we can take it from there.....I think I have been watching a few too many episodes of "Pawn Stars"! The gear is: Ikelite d300s housing with 8 inch dome port....you can choose a port to fit a 10.5 Nikon fe, 12-24mm Nikon or a 17-55 Tamron Depending on what port gets sold with the housing there are some 8 inch dome ports with bodies Ikelite ds125 strobe Ikelite ds51 strobe Recsea Sony RX100 mk1 housing with UWL-104 WA lens Ikelite Dual sync cord Ikelite single sync cord I also have a 40lb Halcyon Evolve wing that has never been used with a stainless steel backplate, and a well cared for but used 40lb Explorer wing. If you are interested in the d300s housing I could also sell the camera and lens as a package....and also if you are interested in the Recsea housing I can include a Sony RX100. There will be a few more items pop up over the next few days as I go through the gear. Cheers Brett.

Hi I had a small leak in my RX100 housing on my recent trip, nothing dramatic just a few drops....but little drops eventually become big drops! I suspect it came through the seal at the front for the aperture control ring. Does anyone have any suggestions of where I can get it serviced (I am in Australia....) or, any tips to have a go at it myself. Thanks Brett

Hi Fabian I have done two trips to Bali in the last two years...love Tulamben! The first year we stayed at Ocean View Dive and Resort....loved the access to the wreck, menu wasn't very exciting, but lovely grounds, lovely pool and the staff were great.........this year we stayed at Mimpi Resort, again lovely, a little further away from the wreck (a 5 minute drive!), meals were good, staff great. The reason I went to Tulamben initially was to do a photo class with Mike Veitch at The Underwater Tribe....it was so good I went back this year for an extended trip organised via "the tribe" and will go back again next year. The guides on the last trip were amazing, helpful, knowledgeable, keen and enthusiastic...cannot recommend them highly enough. The thing that impresses me the most about diving with Mike is the fact that he doesn't take a camera so all the attention is on your photos, which can be a bit daunting but the progress is amazing!....all the shots are reviewed and he makes suggestions via the "magic slate" so you get instant feedback and recognise what to look for and what to do.... No doubt you will enjoy your trip, best of luck and have fun. Cheers Brett

Hi Fellas Many thanks for taking the time to respond.....enjoy the festive season. Cheers Brett.

Hi All I will be in Dubai for the month of April next year for work, and am looking to add a personal dive trip at the end of it for for a week or so.....any suggestions? Thanks Brett

Ikelite d300s housing in excellent condition, 8 inch dome port with body extension to suit either a 12-24 Nikkor or 17-50 Tamron, zoom gear for lens, ds51 strobe with sync cord...all in great condition.... $850.....buyer pays freight. Cheers Brett

Mmmmmm....I forgot to raise the flash to fire the fibre optic strobes, after 10 minutes of scratching our heads trying to raise the flash (and failing!) the strobe session we and planned was very quickly changed to an "available" light session.... Cheers Brett

Hi Dustin Get a hold of Mike or Luca at The Underwater Tribe www.underwatertribe.com cannot recommend them highly enough. I dived with them last year and am about to go back in a few weeks....great service and great instruction.... Cheers Brett

Hi Bob PTGUI is the way to go, very easy to use. I use it extensively for all of my stitching and with a little practice and using layers you can eliminate a lot of the stitching errors that can pop-up…also with layers you can deal with moving subjects a lot easier... Not sure where you are at with your project, but the best advice I can give is be really conscious of the nodal point of the lens/camera set-up as that significantly reduces the errors when stitching. Have a look at www.underwatervr.com and have a look at the 360 Gallery, lots of images shot handheld, and yes that is my "office"I am the Dive Manager at the Melbourne Aquarium… If you have any question feel free to ask... Cheers Brett

Hi Andrew Hope you have the issue sorted out….I had a similar problem in my Ikelite housing for my Canon HV30 video camera where the reflections popped up. The solution I came up with was based on the tests I did by holding my hand over different parts of the housing whilst looking at the monitor….and there were times when the reflections disappeared. The only explanation I could come up with was that some of the light that got into the housing due to it being clear would bounce around and hit the lens at an angle where the rings/markings would show up. I gaffer taped an area on top of the housing and a few inches around the front of the housing…haven't had an issue since! Doesn't look great, but the video footage is fantastic! Cheers Brett.

I was a bit confused as too where the backscatter was coming from….

Hi Paul Sorry if they are a bit big….!

Looking for a break from the Melbourne winter I decided that Bali looked pretty good, and searched for Bali diving and underwater photography courses...the results of that search yielded the obligatory PADI underwater photographer course, but it also threw back a company called The Underwater Tribe....curious I looked further. The Underwater Tribe was started in March 2012 by Mike Veitch and Luca Vaime, is based in Sanur, Bali, and conducts photography training, diver training and private tours in and around Bali and Indonesia. http://underwatertribe.com/index.html Reviews and feedback found nothing but complimentary and positive comments about the outfit...and Mike must be a decent photographer as he just won the “World in Our Hands” category with a stunning whale shark photo in this years Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. After a flurry of emails and going over the course descriptions on the website and looking at courses titled “From Zero to Hero”, “The Quick Shot” and “The Brush Up” I booked in for the two day “Taking it to the Next Level” course. The two-day course consisted of four dives and theory/review sessions. I must say before I even got to Tulamaben I was impressed with the responses from Mike and Luca...quick to respond and more than willing to answer questions and assist in accommodation were all good signs this trip was going to be good...the trip wasn’t good, it was bloody awesome!!! Transport arranged I was delivered to the Ocean View Tulamben Dive Resort on the beachfront at Tulamben, barely a 50 metre swim to the wreck of the USAT Liberty. The Liberty went down in 1942 after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Attempts at towing the stricken vessel to reach a Dutch port, Singajara, failed as she was taking on to much water. The decision was made to beach the ship to assist in the salvage, and after tremors associated with the eruption of Mt Agung in 1963 she slipped into the water of the beach and lies in 10-30 metres of water....a combination of events has left us magnificent wreck to dive on. The first theory session consisted of some lighting principles and the use of strobes. You know those people that say they had one of those “aha” moments, or the “light bulb” went off...well I think the “strobe” went off for me about 10 times before we got into the water for the first dive! Dive 1 consisted of going over Mike’s plan for a shot: aperture, meter, shoot and review, make changes as required and shoot again. The first review session over lunch, supplied as part of the course fee, was used to show the differences that changes in aperture and shutter speed make and how they affect the shot...another 10 “strobe” like moments! Dive 2 was more of the same, but the we focussed on getting closer and how that affects the picture were touched on. When I had a look at the pictures I shot in those two sessions I can honestly say that I was a much better photographer after two sessions...what did the next day hold?...I was very excited. A quick review of yesterdays shots and some more theory on composition and we were off for dive 3...at this point I need to say I had just purchased a Sea and Sea housing, which I think is awesome, and the plan was to do more strobe work in the wreck....but I forgot to raise the flash on the camera...so the strobe/composition plan was ditched for a natural light/composition session...not only was Mike the Instructor but he also turns out to be a very capable model! Another review session over lunch and then we were back into it, this time I confirmed the flash was firing before we left the resort! A strong current on the last dive made things challenging which was used to work on some more composition techniques and how a slight change in angle, shooting up, shooting down, into the sun, with the sun at your back, impacts everything in the picture. Encouraged to shoot on manual for the whole course I can now say that I have a plan for each and every shot I am going to take, and if the result isn’t what I like or thought it would be I have an idea how to get to what I like! What impressed me significantly is that you know you are receiving individual attention when the Instructor doesn’t take a camera, Mike took a slate and was 100% focussed on my progression and improvement. I have a perfect excuse, and amazing opportunity to work on my underwater photography in my day job, but it really has been a bit hit and miss, when I get a good shot I am not exactly sure what I did, and when I get a crappy shot I am not exactly sure how to fix it. Having been keen on underwater photography for a few years before the course I would have described myself as a “lucky, mostly frustrated, clueless amateur”...after spending two days of personal photography instruction with Mike I would now describe myself as an “excited amateur with a plan and pointed in the right direction”. I cannot recommend diving with these guys highly enough...in fact I found the whole experience so pleasurable I will book in for one of their safaris next year. Many thanks to Mike for his time and patience, and also to Luca for his help and coordination of the accommodation....I cannot wait to go back!

Hi Doug Thanks for the info...have to postpone the upgrade to the d800..... Thanks Brett