Ningaloo Reef, Exmouth, Western Australia | 1 April 2012

[alcina]

Last weekend was so much fun - I'd forgotten how great it is to get out and just enjoy being underwater, no clients, no commitments, no phones. Had super fun playing at one of my favourite dive sites - Blizzard Ridge - with some WA on Sunday.
Olive sea snake
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/alcina/2012%20-%20Ningaloo%20Reef/APR12_100kja.jpg
Threadfin pearl perch
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/alcina/2012%20-%20Ningaloo%20Reef/APR12_101.jpg
Estuary cod above a school
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/alcina/2012%20-%20Ningaloo%20Reef/APR12_115kja.jpg
Olive sea snake again
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/alcina/2012%20-%20Ningaloo%20Reef/APR12_117kja.jpg
bunches of fishes
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/alcina/2012%20-%20Ningaloo%20Reef/APR12_116kja.jpg

Canon 40D, Tokina 10-17 + Kenko 1.4TC, Subal housing, Zen mini-dome, 2 x Inon strobes

[alcina]

Thanks for the "like", lordhelmet :)

[yodelhawk]

very cool pix! Even tho I'm not real crazy about snakes!:scared::scared:

[smellzlikefish]

Gorgeous shots! You really can't go wrong with the Canon body/Tokina 10-17 combo.

[victor]

Love the Threadfin pearl perch.
Are the snakes dangerous, some where I read that these are the most dangerous in the world? Probably wrong the amount of misinformation about dangerous species is legendry.

[TSandM]

Sea snakes are elapids, which are primarily neurotoxic, and the venom is extremely toxic. However, they are generally not aggressive, and the structure of their mouth is such that, even when bites occur, there is rarely much venom injected. Human deaths from these snakes are extremely rare, and the snakes are not :)

[alcina]

Thanks, All!

smellz - oh, I can go very wrong wtih that combo some days LOL

Victor - TS&M has given great info (as usual). Our view here is, yes, they are extremely venomous - the olive's is the most potent of all the sea snakes, I'm told - but no, they aren't dangerous. I often have one wrapped up around me, peering curiously into the back of my camera or seemingly just enjoying being transported LOL They won't come viciously attack you, but you don't want to piss them off, tease them or try to otherwise make them miserable :) The people who get bitten by these guys are almost always the trawler fishermen not being careful.

[victor]

Thanks Alcina and TS&M for the info on the snakes. My only experience with the venemous ones is in Africa. There they normally will disapear long before us noisy humans come blundering into their danger zone. The exception is early morning where the cold makes them slugish, then you need to be more careful.

[Larry C]

Really nice shots, Kristin. The first one was my favorite. Wouldn't that look great in 3D? Did you take all of these with the 1.4 behind the lens? How does it affect your edge sharpness, especially with the small dome?

[alcina]

Thanks,Larry :)

You know, I have no idea on edge sharpness - I'm sure there are all sorts of guys out there with detailed analysis of this combo (yes, I did have the 1.4 on for every shot).

They all look fine to me but I'm not a pixel peeper at all. If they look sweet on the screen and when I print them, that's all I care about!

[smellzlikefish]

I'm kind of stumped here, but why would you use a 1.4 teleconverter on super wide angle glass instead of just choosing a tighter lens?

[alcina]

In a nutshell, it's mostly so you can have a macro subject and a WA background. Like the sea snakes here. Here's a link (http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=32955) where Alex Mustard and a few others talk a bit about it. I'd never read that thread before but wanted to find you something with some good examples.

Honestly, I only had a vague (very vague) idea on the "why" when I decided to use it. Why have I been using it? Because it's fun and something new for me to learn and explore :)