Shallow and slow on the South side of Roatan

[craracer]

Doc, more photos please:blinking:. Whatcha got?

 

[Doc]

Doc, more photos please:blinking:. Whatcha got?

These are getting pretty microscopic, but they are fun. I only noticed them at night under UV Black Light... all these day-glo orange specks were moving about.

This, again, is with that antique Olympus and the $1 glass magnifier clapped on the front of it.

Santia Isopods or something or the other.

 

[Reef Tank]

Does your Olympus have a white balance?

 

[Doc]

Does your Olympus have a white balance?

No- In that these are all w/flash, it is irrelevant. I did rig up a piece of curved plastic- like a hood/bounce panel- made from the curve of a bleach bottle. It is rigged to the top of the housing and takes the full illumination of the flash, bouncing it down and flooding the entire area directly in front of the flash.

Since these images, I have since gone to a used Canon G10 and a Canon housing (2 purchases off of eBay) for the video feature. The G10 is last year's model and quite adequate = These are getting very reasonable about now. I still go strictly on-board (built-in) flash but there doesn't seem to be a need to bounce the light downward- it has sufficient coverage in front and down low.

In the old days :doctor: we used flashbulbs, the M5 being quite popular. Compared to any of the best modern available strobes, the M5's were the equivalent to a 1 megaton thermonuclear grenade. But- you needed it- Nikonos cameras loaded with 36 frames of Ektachrome 64 - it was very insensitive to light plus the addition of 3" of macro tubes... it ate a lot of light. You were lucky to get one useable frame on any given dive... maybe. Then- how do you handle the flashbulbs which were buoyant like ping-pong balls.

The G10's added megapixels have been of good use for enlargement, but I still shoot everything in Macro mode with an add-on macro lens "filter". The Canon G10 housing offers a method for attaching the Macro screw-in "filter lens", which is a nice improvement. Buying their screw-in lenses is not a good alternative, they are essentially same things as sold by Porter Camera (Iowa mail order) where they are about 50% off. (Nisha 67mm Macro lens filters)

The same thing applies to the "new big thing"... red filters to color correct for video. Just buy a CC30r (or similar reddish filter) from Porters in the correct filter thread size and you have video color correction at a bargain price. You can likely scrounge and find small ones (50mm) for a few dollars- they were used in B&W photography to increase contrast.

These bigger filters and screw-in lenses, even from Porters, are not cheap- but they are the same exact thing that SCUBA dealers are marketing to you for stupid money.

You can buy the weight system for any camera, but if you duct tape two wheel weights to an "L bracket handle" (another $1 purchase from the junk box at a camera store or check eBay for L Bracket or similar), it becomes neutral and you have a very useful handle for your housing- add a lanyard.

You don't have to spend a lot of money, you don't have to travel with a lot of heavy, bulky stuff.

 

[craracer]

Nice! What are you using for your black-light? I've seen some pretty amazing anemone photos under black-lighting.

 

[Doc]

Once again- keep it cheap- don't buy something with a SCUBA flag on it.

Do a search for Inova X5 UV. About $50 or less.

I drop these into old light housings such as the UK 4C. I saw these at a cop show and pried the first and only one from the hands of Mr. Inova. I then became the diver who advised Inova that they might wish to remove the words "waterproof" from their packaging. Whoopsie. (I have the same history with the Maglite Corporation)

This 1 light set-up is good for close-up images or for just having a look-see at what photo-fluoresces.

These large area of coverage images were made with 5 X5's ganged together in an outdated Ikelite strobe housing. They are LED and run a very long time on one battery, so I turn them on, seal the case, and go diving. I did the lighting for these images, Tim Blanton shot them.

Before and afters....

A cheap (sacrificial) tripod with some lead weights on sand could sure make your life easier, but these were shot hand held.

 

[craracer]

Now you've got my creative ideas flowing.

 

[Sloeber]

I could be wrong, but I think those "specks" are a type of planeria. We used to get them in aquariums all the time and considered them a major pest hard to eradicate. They would kill our corals. Anyway, not positive, but they sure look very similar.

These are getting pretty microscopic, but they are fun. I only noticed them at night under UV Black Light... all these day-glo orange specks were moving about.

This, again, is with that antique Olympus and the $1 glass magnifier clapped on the front of it.

Santia Isopods or something or the other.

---------- Post added April 26th, 2012 at 05:31 PM ----------

FWIW, planeria is another word for flatworm.

---------- Post added April 26th, 2012 at 05:35 PM ----------

My contributions to the thread, pics from Utila, no magnifying glass used -

I could be wrong, but I think that is Periclimenes rathbunae.

---------- Post added April 26th, 2012 at 05:46 PM ----------

The Wire Coral Shrimp, I think Pontonides unciger.

---------- Post added April 26th, 2012 at 05:52 PM ----------

Black Coral Shrimp -

 

[Doc]

Black Coral Shwimps! I never looked... before! Nice.

There are two very easy Black Corals to find on the South side, both in 70fsw±

1) At the exit of Calvin's Crack

2) At the entrance to Mary's Place

 

[Sloeber]

Black Coral Shwimps! I never looked... before! Nice.

There are two very easy Black Corals to find on the South side, both in 70fsw±

1) At the exit of Calvin's Crack

2) At the entrance to Mary's Place

Hahaha nice I have photos of something RoatanMan didn't know existed

Here on Utila we hide our Black Coral. Its been strategically hidden on a dive site called Black Coral Wall - shhhhh!

The shrimp are ubber difficult to spot. Best way to spot them is to literally move your hand through the coral (no touching!) and watch for movement away from your hand. That's the fast, easy way. Once you see movement, hunker down and begin the search. A torch can often help as it reflects from their body.