First time snooting

[stewsmith 14]

My recent trip to Lembeh produced a few firsts for me.

 

1st time using the 100mm

1st time using the 1.4Tc

1st time using the mini Zen dome

1st time snooting

 

Oh and first time getting stung by a scorpionfish, much to the amusement of Simon Buxton who was with me for this dive.

 

All these snooted images were from the same dive. Not in the same league as Keri's but had great fun with Simon trying to capture something different. I would loved to have have had a good sized Harlequin Shrimp to shoot, unfortunately I had to make do with this little chap who was no more than an inch long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All comments welcome

 

Stew

Edited May 25, 2010 by stewsmith

[loftus 42]

Nice Stew; the snoot really adds some nice drama to the images. Really like the second to last pic.

[TheRealDrew 0]

Oh and first time getting stung by a scorpionfish, much to the amusement of Simon Buxton who was with me for this dive.

 

 

Great shots there, like the second and the next to last one. Sorry to hear about the Scorpionfish sting and hope it is all okay now (sounds like it is.)

[yahsemtough 0]

Nice work for the first efforts. Well done.

 

Todd

[Steve Williams 0]

Love 'em all Stew but no. 5 is seriously cool! What snoot were you using and how was the learning curve on figuring out how to use it to get the great results?

 

Steve

[james 0]

Did you lie on the scorpionfish? I always worry about that - I'd hate to think where you got stung if you did! :-)

 

And great images - it looks worth it.

 

James

[Alex_Tattersall 90]

5 is my favourite, you've placed the light well on that one.

[Ed_Dman 0]

Looks good for snooting the 1st time and I really like the 5th one too... Simply awesome!

 

Ed.

[Aqua_soul 1]

Love the last two!

And please tell more about the sting. How it happened, how you were treated? What were the sde effects and how long it took to recover?

All the details;)

[ornate_wrasse 0]

Lovely images. # 5 looks like a magazine cover shot to me.

 

When we were in Lembeh, a woman had unknowingly placed her hand in the wrong spot and got stung. I took a picture of her wound, which was quite nasty looking two days after it happened. I was told it was twice that size when it first happened but the swelling had gone down considerably in two days.

 

Stew, I hope your sting was not painful and I hope it didn't swell up too much. And I hope that Simon didn't laugh even though he was amused I know from seeing this woman's wound and talking to her about it that it can be a very painful experience.

 

Thanks for sharing these images.

 

Ellen

[MikeVeitch 0]

don't worry, he used a nice bit of rum to kill the pain.. Simon laugh? heck no! haha.. i did

 

Good job Stew, did you forget your snoot here?

[stewsmith 14]

Love 'em all Stew but no. 5 is seriously cool! What snoot were you using and how was the learning curve on figuring out how to use it to get the great results?

 

Steve

 

Cheers for the kind words Steve. 5 is my favourite as well.

 

The snoot was homemade. I just cut the top 6 inches off of a 2 litre bottle of coke. Applied black duck tape to the outside and double sided sticky taped some foam around the cut edge to give a nice snug fit ove my YS90's. I did add an electrical waterproof gland cover to the threaded end as well. This didnt seem to add anything to the lighting so was removed.

I was doing my snooting with Simon and what we did discover that witht the strobe on full power and with this kind of snoot, we had to have the end of the snoot right next to the subject to get the lighting looking correct. A lot of trial and error. it was a lot easier to remove the arm and strobe from the housing and place it where it was required.

 

Stew

 

don't worry, he used a nice bit of rum to kill the pain.. Simon laugh? heck no! haha.. i did

 

Good job Stew, did you forget your snoot here?

 

I told Simon I would leave it for you guys to have a play with.

 

Stew

Edited May 26, 2010 by stewsmith

[stewsmith 14]

With regards to the sting. I think I was one hell of a lucky chap.I was laying flat on the sand snooting, as you do. I inhaled a good amount of air to lift me up off of the sand as to not kick sand everywherer . As i was a foot off the sand i went to grab my octopus and i just caught the tip of a scorpionfishes stinger. I looked at Simon, he looked at me, I looked at my finger which had now started to bleed. Simon grabbed my camera, i grabbed my finger. Simon started to laugh, I started to worry. The way i can describe the pain is like this. Imagine what it feels like to hit your thumb with a nice heavy hammer, well imagine what it feels like to hit it right in the same spot again a few minutes after hitting it the first time. After surfacing it was submerged into boiling water for a good 10 minutes. Touch wood i had none of the things happen to me that I thought were going to happen. The pain was there for a day or so, and i could feel a lot of pressure inside. But luckily for me that was all that happedned to me. Deffinately a lesson learned.

 

Lesson learned : dont expect sympathy from Simon Buxton.

 

Stew

[Scubysnaps 9]

Awesome Stew, well done, 5's the one too for me

[Scuba_SI 39]

I'd like to state that this is all photoshop, Stew didnt even have a snoot with him...

[TheRealDrew 0]

I'd like to state that this is all photoshop, Stew didnt even have a snoot with him...

 

 

I would say that you and Mr. V are very mean, but I won't on the off chance that I wind up on the same boat as you two one day and you cut my air line just for giggles. Plus, I have also seen the photos of Mike with a rifle

[ornate_wrasse 0]

I hope your injury didn't look like this:

 

 

And the above shot was taken a couple of days after it happened to an unfortunate diver who happened to put her hand in the wrong place when diving in the Lembeh Straits. I was told it looked much worse than this.

 

The reason I'm posting this image is so that folks realize that a sting from this creature is no small matter. Avoid it at all costs!

 

Ellen

[Scubamoose 0]

Sorry to hear about the sting Stew. Glad to hear You'r OK now tough.

 

But You shots are great! I like #1 and #5.

Great work!!!

 

Cheers

Karel

[DiverPam 13]

Thanks for sharing. I really like the next to last shot the most.

 

Hope you are better now. - DiverPam

[frisco 0]

Phto #5 is just fantastic: love the light and the composition !!!

 

Well done !!!

 

All the Best ..... Francesco

[stewsmith 14]

I hope your injury didn't look like this:

 

 

And the above shot was taken a couple of days after it happened to an unfortunate diver who happened to put her hand in the wrong place when diving in the Lembeh Straits. I was told it looked much worse than this.

 

The reason I'm posting this image is so that folks realize that a sting from this creature is no small matter. Avoid it at all costs!

 

Ellen

 

 

It certainly didnt look like that. That looks very painful.

 

Stew

[Alex_Tattersall 90]

Ouch!

[Tjsnapper 0]

Hi Stew, you have some really nice shots there, it looks like you had some great subject matter too. Can we tempt you into the UK waters this summer as I recon that snoots are the way forward in murky waters. Do you have any shots of the rig, were the snoots a la wilk?

[DuncanS 0]

Simon grabbed my camera, i grabbed my finger. Simon started to laugh,

 

Good lad, always go for the treasure first.I bet Lou took the piss as well!!!

 

Seriously though, glad you are ok and really like No5

 

Duncan

[stewsmith 14]

Hi Stew, you have some really nice shots there, it looks like you had some great subject matter too. Can we tempt you into the UK waters this summer as I recon that snoots are the way forward in murky waters. Do you have any shots of the rig, were the snoots a la wilk?

 

I left thwe snoot at lembeh for simon mike and zee to play with. literaslly it was a 2 litre bottle of coke, cut 6 inches from the top. coated in black duck tape. hey presto. Nothing too fancy but it does work with a bit of trial and error.

 

Regarding me diving in Uk waters this year.....I dont know. I am extremely busy at work from next week until november so it is very doubtful. Having said thast I will be housing my MK2 soon so a trip to Lundy might be in order.

 

I wont say yes but I wont say no.

 

Stew