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I rarely shoot video because I don't have a lot of patience for the editing process, but I love watching other people's videos. I recently dusted off my GoPro and shot a couple of videos at Hanauma Bay. Millions of people visit this spot each year but very few of them venture past the waist-deep waters of the inner reef. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cry3FGASU4

Hi all, I'm going to Hawaii for some blackwater diving later this year and looking to learn more about any tips/techniques that will help me maximize the opportunity. Shooting an RX100 rig with both macro and wide angle lenses, dual sea & sea YS-D2 strobes, and some video lights as well. What's the best way to get good photos of critters that come up? Are there good presets for that kind of thing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3J0Oq1RWzA

I just got back from a week of casual diving on the Kona Coast of Hawaii and was so impressed with Kona Diving Company that I wanted to post a review here. Most of the time when my husband and I go diving we opt for liveaboards or dedicated dive resorts. But this trip we would be travelling with a diving friend and his non-diving spouse and child so we instead decided on doing some day trips instead. We signed up with Kona Diving Company (http://www.konadivingcompany.com/) and were throughly pleased and impressed by their employees and their service. From the moment we stepped in their shop to sign all the paperwork to the last day when we settled up our bill everyone was polite, friendly and professional. Boat trips seem to be limited to 10 guests plus guides, split into two or three groups. If there are students on board then they are put in a separate group from certified divers. All guides are instructors so they are trained to work with inexperienced divers, but they are also completely respectful of experienced divers. The crew will happily set up your gear and swap tanks if you want them to, but they will gladly let you do everything yourself, if you prefer. They seem to be there if you need them, but they won't bother you if you don't. There is no attitude here, and no “I'm the divemaster so I'm better than you” thing going on. Other divers on the boat had anywhere from 20 to 2000 dives, and they all enjoyed their trips. Several locals were on our trips, and some of the off-duty employees even came along for fun dives, space permitting! The same attitude continued underwater. Our dive guide would point out rare and interesting creatures, while keeping an eye on everyone without being intrusive. We'd generally make our way back to the boat when the first person hit 2000-1500 psi, but you were allowed to stay in the water after the heavy breathers got out. While there were no enforced restrictions (other than dive safely and stay out of deco) divers were asked to be back on the boat with about 500 psi, and not to stay down too much longer than all the other divers just so everyone isn't waiting on you. That being said, 80 minute dives were the norm for me, and my last dive was 90 minutes long. Diving in Kona is generally limited to 2-tank morning dives and evening manta dives. Afternoon winds mean that as a rule dive boats don't do afternoon dives, although KDC does run 3-tank long-range trips on occasion. Dive sites have lots of hard coral and often have interesting topology with lava “fingers” sticking out from land and the occasional lava tube. There is a diurnal octopus species here (the aptly named day octopus) so keep your eye out for those--the highlight of my week was seeing a pair mating! Sadly we saw zero sharks (except for the tiger who hangs out at the mouth of the harbor, who we saw from the boat). The boat itself is a comfortable catamaran with an on-board head, hot water shower, and lots of padded seating, both in the sun and in the shade. It has safety equipment including life jackets, O2, and AED. Onboard is plenty of fresh filtered water and sodas to drink; hot water and instant hot chocolate, cup o' soup, and tea; and sandwich wraps (they have vegetarian ones upon request), trail mix and goldfish crackers to eat. Mask defog and rinse buckets are provided, and there are two dunk tanks for electronics; the tanks will fit a housed DSLR with strobes, but if more than two divers have that sort of rig then it would be crowded. Since we were diving with our own gear we were able to leave our BCs and wetsuits on the boat. The crew would rinse these and hang them to dry (locked up, at the shop) so that was one less thing you need to do. (They ask you to take your reg, mask and fins at the end of the day.) Kona Diving Company was an absolute pleasure with dive with, and should I ever find myself on the Big Island again I will definitely dive with them! -Gina

I just got back from Hawaii, and it was absolutely awesome! I'm very new to SCUBA diving, but I've been into photography for a long time. My wife and I went to Hawaii over Memorial Day weekend (plus a couple of days). On Oahu, I did two dives: Baby Barge, and a reef drift... I can't recall the name now. Both were great, but Baby Barge had some incredibly strong currents, so I sucked most of my air in less than 25 minutes. On Kauai I mainly snorkeled around Tunnels Beach, which was spectacular. Looking back, I wish I would have gone diving on Kauai as well, but I didn't want to spend too much time away from my wife while we were both on vacation (she doesn't dive). We ended up doing lots of hiking and other outdoor activities. Next time! In any case, these are my favorite photos from the trip: Striped Squirrelfish by Mike Cialowicz, on Flickr Yellow-Striped Goatfish, Oahu by Mike Cialowicz, on Flickr Snorkeling, Tunnels Beach by Mike Cialowicz, on Flickr Honu Bro by Mike Cialowicz, on Flickr My setup consisted of the following: Olympus E-PM1, Olympus underwater housing (PT-EP06), Zen glass dome lens port, Olympus 9-18mm, Sea & Sea YS-01 strobe, flex arm. Cheers! Mike

Here's a little compilation of the footage I took on the 2 night dives we did in February in Kona with Jack's Diving Locker. It was an amazing experience: apart from the guides, my husband and I were the only 2 divers and some pretty amazing things floated by. The biggest challenges were keeping the critters in frame, keeping them in my 2 beams of light from my Sola's (Matt, the dive guide, used 5 lights!!!!), keeping things steady, and getting the aperture right. Lots of things to consider. I think if I'd had a week, I'd have come away with some award winning stuff , but alas, 2 night dives of 75 minutes each was all we had. Song is "You're So Cool" by Hans Zimmer feature in the movie "True Romance". Filmed on my Sony HDR 550 with 2 Sola 1200 lights (painfully inadequate!!!) Hope you enjoy. https://vimeo.com/61169972

Just posted my Hawaii blackwater dive shots to my website. www.matthewramaley.com Many thanks to all of you blackwater veterans on Wetpixel that gave me advice before this trip so that I was able to get these shots. Two great nights of diving. Having the intel to set up properly before the trip made all of the difference in the world. Enjoy the pics. Matt

Ikelite underwater Housing for Canon EOS 7D with IK5510.24 Port Body IK5510.45 8" Dome Port with Shade and Cover (In warranty) (http://www.ikelite.c...port_canon.html) here you can check which lenses fit this dome Spare Silicone Lubricants Spare O ring used only a handful of times, for surf photography. I also have all the spare parts the housing came with. Excellent piece of kit.. can use nearly all the functions on the camera when in the housing, not like other housings that limit. Im on Maui until around the 3rd Jan , after that i will be on Kauai so contact me asap if you are interested could also meet in california $1750 below is the spec for the housing http://www.ikelite.c...two/can_7d.html Depth rating: 60m Controls for all camera functions exceept multi-controller and flash pop-up. Extension lever on back panel gives ergonomic movie start/stop control. Interchangeable port system. Port is supplied separately.(Port choice depends on lens to be used). Super-Eye long eye-relief viewfinder optic allows full frame viewing with diving mask. eTTL2 conversion circuitry provides full TTL operation with Ikelite DS-series substrobes. Two substrobes can be triggered using a dual sync cord. Exposure compensation buttons on rear of housing gives ±2 EV control range in TTL mode, or 8 manual settings in ½ EV steps. Non-Ikelite strobes can be used in manual mode only (with appropriate sync cord). Dimensions SLR-DC: With tray: 13.25"w, 8"h, 6.5"d. Without tray: 9.5"w, 6.75" h, including knobs. Weight: ~3.25Kg, 7.15lb without port. ~3.6Kg, 8lb with port. Buoyancy: slightly negative (depending on port).