Why I love dive trips

[exnavynuke]

Here are a few photos showing some of the reasons I love going diving, and doing it where the water is warm and underwater life is all around. I thought some people might enjoy seeing them.

[exnavynuke]

A few more

[pacergal]

Beautiful pictures!
I am intrigued by diving, however, my claustrophobia prevents it :-)

[2017ish]

Nice. We won't be back into the water until this summer. :-(

What dive sites (Spotted Drum, so likely Caribbean)?

[athena53]

How do you get those gorgeous pictures? I'm a newbie at this and just bought a Canon Tough because it's very popular with the guides on my UnCruise trips. I did get some improvement after following their advice to stay still and try to catch the wildlife when they're not moving, but nothing like these- and nothing like what the guides are getting with the same camera. I just bought diving goggles with corrective lenses that fit my prescription and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner- only about $50. I'm hoping that will help on the next trip.

[Bigdawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pacergal Beautiful pictures! I am intrigued by diving, however, my claustrophobia prevents it :-)

Hmm, I suffer from claustrophia but thoroughly enjoy scuba diving. No caves though.

[sengsational]

The water was so clear! That's the first step in getting good underwater shots. Where was it? I used to find those flamingo shells (no spots, though) on the beach in Florida. I never knew what they were called (I called them 'tongue shells', though).

[gerntz]

Not a great swimmer, so while I know it's beautiful, I'd be nervous.

[exnavynuke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2017ish Nice. We won't be back into the water until this summer. :-( What dive sites (Spotted Drum, so likely Caribbean)?

Exuma Cays, Bahamas during a trip with All Star Liveaboards (Blackbeards, this was off the Morning Star).

[exnavynuke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by athena53 How do you get those gorgeous pictures? I'm a newbie at this and just bought a Canon Tough because it's very popular with the guides on my UnCruise trips. I did get some improvement after following their advice to stay still and try to catch the wildlife when they're not moving, but nothing like these- and nothing like what the guides are getting with the same camera. I just bought diving goggles with corrective lenses that fit my prescription and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner- only about $50. I'm hoping that will help on the next trip.

Step 1 - do everything at 10% of the speed you think you should, then go half that fast.
Step 2 - Get the right lighting (natural light from behind you or use your own lighting).
Step 3 - Take a bazillion pictures so you'll get at least a few that turn out pretty good!

These were shot with a Canon G7X Mk II, Fantasea housing, using a Sea & Sea YS-01 strobe on a tray (video light on the other arm, not used for any of these iirc).

Then a bunch of practice to find what settings work best in what conditions.

Biggest key is anticipating movement of the animals and taking the picture before they get there (due to the delay). I get it right at least 5% of the time now, I'm hoping with more practice that'll get better.

[exnavynuke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational The water was so clear! That's the first step in getting good underwater shots. Where was it? I used to find those flamingo shells (no spots, though) on the beach in Florida. I never knew what they were called (I called them 'tongue shells', though).

Yeah, not the best vis I've seen in the Bahamas, but it was pretty good compared to many places. This was in the Exuma Cays.

The Flamingo Tongues are pretty cool, in that the "spots" are actually part of the snail's soft tissue, so sometimes you can see it coming off the shell. In this shot, you can see the body and notice that the soft tissue on it has the markings that you see on the shell:

[athena53]

Quote:

Originally Posted by exnavynuke Step 1 - do everything at 10% of the speed you think you should, then go half that fast. Step 2 - Get the right lighting (natural light from behind you or use your own lighting). Step 3 - Take a bazillion pictures so you'll get at least a few that turn out pretty good! These were shot with a Canon G7X Mk II, Fantasea housing, using a Sea & Sea YS-01 strobe on a tray (video light on the other arm, not used for any of these iirc). Then a bunch of practice to find what settings work best in what conditions. Biggest key is anticipating movement of the animals and taking the picture before they get there (due to the delay). I get it right at least 5% of the time now, I'm hoping with more practice that'll get better.

Thanks. I'd already concluded light was a big part of it although I'm not ready to start toting supplementary light with me. The guides seemed to be more careful about selecting areas with a lot of natural light to take pictures.

And yes, volume of pictures is a big factor. I spent some time this past week going over old travel photos from the pre-digital era. So many blurry and badly-lit images and we had to pay for each one!

I'm headed to the Galapagos in March- not sure if we'll snorkel or not. I've heard the water can be cold and turbulent. What's pencilled in for 2021 is UnCruise to Belize and Guatemala. Yes, I WILL be there with my camera at every opportunity! We were in the water 4 days out of the 6 full days on the cruise in Hawaii.

[donheff]

Very nice. I used to do a lot of diving in the 70s but fell out of it when I took up windsurfing in the 80s. Now at 71 I have considered reengaging and taking trips with singledivers.com (DW doesn't like diving). I am heading for a snorkeling cruise in the Sea of Cortez in a couple of weeks and have a new Olympus TG-6 to take in the water with me.

[Doribe]

I love this. I have reservations in Bonaire, after about five years without a dive. With a refresher course and daily gym workouts I hope I will be ready.

[folivier]

Let me add to exnavynuke's list:
Step 4: get close, then get closer. You need to fill your frame not only to eliminate distracting colors and textures but to also have your strobe really light up your subject.
Step 5: get your camera at eye level or shoot slightly toward the surface.