Introductions (original thread, now closed)

[onokai 18]

Welcome- great vid links

Thanks. Mark

[Rocha 0]

Welcome, welcome new people!

 

Doug, do I recognize that avatar from a recent photo contest? Nice shot!

 

Luiz

[hibbidydibbidy 0]

Hi all,

 

I'm Chris. I live in Santa Monica and work as a game programmer. I've been reading the forums a lot, deciding what camera/housing to get - I was looking for a relatively low-priced setup to use just for fun - so I thought I'd register ...

 

I haven't gone diving in 5 years, but I hope to return to it some day. When I WAS diving, I had a Sony Mavica FD-71? with an Ikelite housing. Never got serious with it though (no strobes, no extra lenses, etc.). Took some okay pictures underwater, but nothing fantastic. I just bought a Canon A620/Ikelite 6140.62 housing/DS-50 system ... BTW - Marine Camera Distributors Rocks! (the housing arrived today, just days after Ikelite.com put up the official 6140.62 page).

 

My fiancee' (Michelle) went swimming in the ocean for the 1st time last Summer (snorkeling in Kaua'i). She really enjoyed it which makes me thrilled (it increases the opportunities for me to return to the ocean).

 

Anyway, our honeymoon (late March/early April) will be in Tahiti where we plan to snorkel the Tiputa pass and probably some "beginner" sites as well ... sigh, wish I were diving instead Either way, I hope to get some nice pics.

 

Cheers,

-Chris

[claycoleman 0]

Hi all. I'm Clay from Baton Rouge, somtimes described as a writer with a photography problem. It's good to see so many names I recognize on this list, and I see from browsing that there's a wealth of talent here. While I've not yet taken a single photo underwater with a digital camera, I've recently been banging around with a D70s and I plan to house a D200 as soon as I can get my hands on one. Until then, I'll continue shooting with my old film cameras with my old analog strobes and my old full-frame lenses in order to save money to keep my young-looking wife happy. I'm looking forward to learning from you all during my transition to "the dark side".

[Kelpfish 15]

Welcome aboard, Clay. Glad to have you as part of the Wetpixel team. Looking forward to your posts.

 

Joe Belanger

[MikeVeitch 0]

Hey Clay... another forum i see you on

 

And welcome Mary, Chris, Steve, and Ralph

[psmoore 0]

Hello all. My name's Paul. I live in Lake Havasu City, AZ and will be taking the scuba course this June. I have a Canon Digital Rebel, but see that the housing is pretty expensive. Will be looking for something soon. Thanks for all the posts.

[Kelpfish 15]

Welcome! There is a vast amount of information on this site...I find it quite informative.

 

Joe

[miguelvideosub 1]

Hello all. My name is Miguel and I live at Canary Island. Sorry about my english, but I will try to do my best. I found this forum at google, and I will like to share my videos with you. I hope you like my videos , that you may find at My Webpage. Thank you..

 

[peace4theworld 0]

Hey brothers,

i`m Patrick from Cologne in Germany. I did my first Dive when i was seven years old and still loving it. ...I am working as a troubleshooter for key accounts in an insurance company. Usually i am diving in the lakes around cologne, but two or three times a year i pack my backpack and go travelling and of course diving. I started digital underwater photography last month at similan islands and i love it since the first moment.

I would like to learn as much as i can and help bringing the beauty of the Ocean to the people out there so that they see that we have to protect this treasure for future generations.

 

Peace & respect

 

Pat

 

@eric: making this website is good idea

[lutino 0]

Hi my names Gordon and I am taking this opportunity to introduce myself. I am not to sure what to say so I will tell you about my passion for breeding lovebirds. I have a little web site with plenty of information and great photos, so please feel free to have a look and tell me what you think, anyway thanks and see you around.

Fischer's Lovebird

[jams 0]

Hi everyone,

 

My name is James and I'm and Canadian living in Bali. Used to be a dive instructor, but it didn't give me enough time in the water with my camera, so I quit! (Now, of course, I don't get to dive as often. Win some, lose some.)

 

Been a background member for a little while, tinkering away with my little Sea&Sea Dx5000, but recently splashed on the Canon 5D and as soon as I can get a housing for it, will hopefully have some decent shots for you all to dissect!

 

Looking forward to being a more active member of the community, dodgy internet connections notwithstanding.

 

See you around...

[Quinn 5]

Hello,

My name is Cindy, and after a couple years of lurking, have decided to jump in here feet first by entering one of the weekly contests. Which I guess was the wrong approach, and I apologize for offending anyone. It was not my intent. I finally recognized a category that I might have been able to offer something a bit more unusual, which according to Alex , is the only place a P&S photo can hold it's own up against an SLR.

I've been diving since the late 70s, and quite a bit over the last few years, now that my husband is retired and we are able to spend winters on Grand Cayman.

Not sure how much valuable information I can lend to this prestigious board, other than my first hand experience, but I'll try. I fall into the lowly ranks of the P &S diver /photographer, but I enjoy, each and every minute of it. I have certainly gained a boat load of insight and information lurking these last two years.

Please feel free to contact me if your ever in Cayman during the winter months and are looking for a shore diving buddy.

Bear with me though, may take me a bit to figure out the mechanics of posting and such.

[Rocha 0]

Welcome, welcome! Lots of new members since last time I checked here, post up people!

 

Luiz

[Accipiter_13 0]

Hello everyone,

 

My name is Matthew and I live in Bristol. I have been diving for a while but don't get out as often as I would like .

 

I have been watching the forums for a while and have submitted a couple of images to the Improvement centre. I met Eric recently and said I would become more active so here I am.

 

Cheers

Matthew

[Kelpfish 15]

Welcome to Wetpixel. Lots of knowledge on here and good people, too.

 

Enjoy.

 

Joe

[d.abdo 0]

Hey everyone,

 

Dave here. Finally joined wetpixel. I have been diving since 1994 and it has now become my life. I am a Marine Ecologist - currently back at school working on my PhD. I am studying the population dynamics of two marine sponges. I have been a keen underwater photgrapher since i could afford it (about 1998). Moving from a nikonos V, to a C5050/ikelite system - to my up and coming Canon 20D/ikelite system. I have dived various places, but most happens in my local waters (the south west of Western Australia). Anyway, love the site.

 

Cheers Dave

 

West Oz

Australia

[MikeVeitch 0]

wow, lots of new members since i last said hello... welcome all

[fairybasslet 0]

I don't think I ever introduced myself since I tend to lurk, but I finally took some halfway decent shots in Bonaire which I will ask for comments on soon. (already posted the scorpion fish so feel free to comment on that one since I'm still in the confused stage of UW photography and editing).

I live and work in Northern NJ and edit a couple of newsletters for an education company (but please don't throw my typos or misspelling in my face. :-))

I only used my Oly 7070 on a couple of trips and most of the features are still a mystery to me. In fact, when I get a decent shot, it is still mostly a surprise to me.

I know some of you from other boards. Anyway, good to be out of total lurk mode.

[saeedrashid 0]

Hellooooo

 

Who am I you ask?

 

I'm Saeed, I live in the UK on the south coast about 5 mins dive from the sea which is great. I work as a design lecture in a university. Most of my diving is warm water in the Red Sea. I've been a contributor on dive forums for a while and was pointing in this direction by a friend on divernet, so I signed up.

 

I’ve been diving for a bout 6 years but only started taking photo a few years ago, so I’ve got loads to learn and I hope to pick up some tips and info here, and really looking forward to some great discussions with you all.

 

I’ve got a site if any of you want to look.

 

www.lovetodive.net

 

Cheers

[j_shine 0]

Hello,

Just wanted to introduce myself. I've been diving for a while, mainly in the US northeast. I made the switch to digital back in January, with a Nikon D70 in a Ikelite housing but am in the process of upgrading to a D200 in a Sea & Sea housing. Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to have a few dozen photos published in a variety of magazines, not so much because I'm a good photographer as that I'm a writer with photos that match what I've written. I'm really looking forward to spending some time here and sharing info with other divers.

Jerry

[Leagle 0]

Hello all

 

My name is Tony and I am from Guildford in the UK. I qualified as a diver (PADI OW and AOW) in Jan 2002 with the rest of my family. We have each done between 150 and 200+ dives each in that time, and qualified on Nitrox too.

 

I started to take some u/w pictures on a basic Sea&Sea MX5 35mm film camera in the Maldives and the Red Sea in the following year (2003).

 

Since then, I have moved on to digital, of the point & shoot variety - so far - all SONY brand cameras; I started on a DSC-P10 but moved up to the W17 model for the benefit of a 2.5" LCD monitor, faster shutter response and above all the ability to force some manual control. Now we also have a similar W5 model, and 2 housings, so that each buddy pair can take a camera rig if they like.

 

Each rig has a bracket and arm, and we have started to use Epoque strobes with them. This year I got an Inon wide-angle lens too, which push-fits on to the SONY housing using a simple adapter.

 

Our diving experience so far has included: two weeks on the Northern Red Sea (on a liveaboard); four weeks in the Maldives (island-based and liveaboard-based); Sabah (Layang Layand and Mabul/Sipadan); N Sulawesi (Tasik Ria, and Kungkungan Bay at Lembeh); the Laccadives; and most recently Bali (including a week at Menjanagan, with trips to Puri Jati and Secret Bay as well as diving Menjangan Island itself, followed by a week on the splendid Komodo Dancer liveaboard).

 

Recently I invested in a day's course with Martin Edge, who recommended that I also consider looking at this forum.

 

I'm looking forward to picking up the benefit of as many hints and tips as I can find!

 

Right now I am a little puzzled by red filters, and wonder how the Magic Filters released by Alex Mustard compare with SONY's own red filter ....

 

TonyF

[Kelpfish 15]

Welcome, Tony. Wetpixel is a wealth of information as you will see.

 

Regards,

 

 

Joe

[diver1364 0]

Hello All,

 

First time caller, long time listener...

 

I'm Marc Ellis, by day I'm an international training manager. By night, I'm an underwater photographer. I've been diving since 85, certified in 87. I've been riding the waves to the tune of about 1200 dives...give or take a beach dive here and there.

 

Originally from So. Cal.. Grew up diving with Truth Aquatics, and a number of other boats in San Pedro. Through the years, I've managed to hop aboard a few live aboards...Truk Agressor x2 Belize Agressor, Aqua Cat, Nekton Pilot x5, Nekton Rouqal, Caribbean Explorer, Dream Team, The Coral Star...All of which means...I DONT KNOW HOW TO MANAGE MY MONEY!

 

For the most part, I've had a camera in my hand the whole time. Stepping into the "Way Back" machine, the first camera I owned was a housed "disk" camera with a slave strobe. For those of you who have no idea what that is (because its NOT digital!)...think of a small flat camera that used something like a mini-disk with a slide negative at the outermost edge. I think it was 12 or 14 shots. On a negative about 1/4 the size of 35mm. Then came Nikonos II's and V's. Which is where I stayed until this year. I'm really starting on the ground floor in the digital world. I have a Canon d300 (6.3 digital rebel) in an Aquatica housing. I out grew this camera on its' first trip. Too many speed limitations. But oh the joy in being able to take more that 36 shots on a dive...pure heaven!!! The future holds a 20D, 30D or the 400D...$$ and housing availablity will tell...

 

I started a web site, H2opictures.com back in 99. What a great medium to share your images. The site has just completed it first face-lift. So please feel free to drop by and have a peek.

 

Diving is my passion. Work just affords me the revenue to persue it.

 

Well, I'm sure I've shared to much...or have I?

 

Eric, if you actually read these postings...know that I appreciate the time, thought investment and just plain being in a right place at the right time and ready to shoot preparation that are displayed in your top drawer images <applause>.

 

See you all in Orlando at DEMA (I'll be the guy crying at the Aquatica booth)

 

Marc

[teddib 0]

Hi folks,

 

I am a biochemist, a scientist at heart, who started in astophotography but was always interested in marine biology. I work for a major drug company, to remain undisclosed, and I manage new drug development for the most part. I seriously love the diversity and beauty of the undersea world which I see as the closest connection I can make to what I believe will be the diversity of life in the cosmos.

 

Regards,

Tom Stephens