AOW Photo Dive

[Mr Kawamura]

This was my first effort taking underwater shots on my AOW Photography dive.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.austin480/PuertoGalera

Was a little disconcerted with how hard it was to keep the subject in the frame with just a tiny current running, while watching that I didn't smash into the reef. Oh, and the fish kept swimming away...

 

[victor]

Fab pics. Hard to believe that was your first attempt.
What camera?
I know it is very hard to stay still, keep breathing, move very very slowly, and still avoid the reef, and fellow divers. Then you need to handel the camera as well. Talk about task overloading.
Buoyancy and trim are so important when using a camera underwater.

 

[Mr Kawamura]

Thanks, I was pretty pleased. I did the curves, saturation, contrast in Photoshop of course and sharpened them up in places, and cropped a few of them. Helps that I work in graphic design when not diving...

Camera was owned by my instructor. It was a Casio, compact style, but I can't remember the model. He said he bought it for superior macro capabilities within the price range. ($600 including housing, so he said).

 

[Dave C]

Great pictures. As I see you have figured out, it's a lot easier taking photos of stationary objects than it is fish. In a rich uw environment such as the Philippines, you should be able to get some good shots without even attempting to photograph fish. By the way, what you are calling "sea cucumbers" in your next to last photo I think are actually tunicates.

 

[Dave C]

Great pictures. As I see you have figured out, it's a lot easier taking photos of stationary objects than it is fish. In a rich uw environment such as the Philippines, you should be able to get some good shots without even attempting to photograph fish. By the way, the bright blue organisms in your next to last photo are tunicates. At first, I was a little confused by your caption, as I thought you were misidentifying the tuncates as "sea cucumbers" because the tunicates are the highlight of the photo and what really draw your attention. Finally, I noticed the sea cucumber "arms" in the photo.

 

[mglazer]

Nice Pics! Look foward to seeing more in the future.

 

[Mr Kawamura]

Thanks, Guys.

Dave C - The sea cucumbers are the yellow ones which I found in the Debelius Reef Guide. I didn't know what the blue things were, so thanks for helping with that. Tunicates are sea squirts, right?

I found out what the camera was - Casio Exilim Z40. £130 over here; £150 for the housing. Pretty good, I reckon.

 

[kapula]

Man! That's an excellent start! Thos pics are just great! I would love to get that anemone shot. If it really was your 1st attempt can't wait for your next pics Did it have an external strobe? That anemonefish pic looks like you used one..

 

[jonix]

This was my first effort taking underwater shots on my AOW Photography dive.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/simon.austin480/PuertoGalera

Was a little disconcerted with how hard it was to keep the subject in the frame with just a tiny current running, while watching that I didn't smash into the reef. Oh, and the fish kept swimming away...

nice photos you have there mr kawamura. when were you in the PI?

 

[Mr Kawamura]

Thanks Kapula. I see what you mean about the strobe - I didn't have one - this shot was pretty shallow and taken around midday, so there was a good deal of ambient light.

Jon, I was in the Philippines in May for about two and a half weeks (yes, just after a typhoon). Would love to go back one day as I didn't even visit the most renowned diving spots. I thought Boracay was good, considering it's less than overwhelming reputation - there were only three of us in the water, too. Loved all the little critters at PG, got to see the famous Pygmy seahorse. Also went up to Subic Bay - an interesting collection of wrecks up there. All this and the best still to see...