Some new photos from the Florida Keys

[ZoCrowes]

Here are a few pictures that I took last weekend in the Florida Keys. I just started taking photography seriously in June so I am still working on my technique some.

Comments and criticism are welcome


Open wide and say "AAAAAAHHHHH"


X-Mas Tree Worms


Two of my dive buddies on the USS Spiegel Grove


Two juvenile Stoplight Parrotfish


Christ of the Abyss


Small spotted Grouper


French Reef


Close-up of a coralhead


Brain coral on a steel girder

[ZoCrowes]

1. More

All of these come from the wreck of the USCG Duane. We had a ripping current the day I took these so the viz was very nice.




Flapping in the current




Barricuda everywhere

[smurfygirl]

17. Next time can I come????

These are awesome...
I love underwater shots. It's amazing all the stuff that is down there.

I love the flag shot...It's creepy but cool. I wonder how much longer till that flag turns into nothing. I also dig the christ shots but my fav is the brain coral...
Thanks for posting!!!!SHARE MORE

[Touchdown]

2. Beautiful!

I like the brain coral. It reminds me of those smart aliens on Star Trek with the big heads.

[intheflow]

3. Whoa, the Christ statue and the flag shots

are very evocative & haunting. I particulrly like the backlighting on the flag shot. When nd how did this ship go down?

[ZoCrowes]

Thanks

I have quite a few of the Chris statue that turned out pretty well.

The Duane went down in the mid-80s for use as an artifical reef.

[ZoCrowes]

4. Double post

Double

[ZoCrowes]

5. More Christ of the Abyss Shots

The funny thing is that he is COVERED in fire coral. So Jesus' healing touch stings like hell. Kinda ironic.

[superconnected]

6. The chris pictures are awesome.

What a subject. How did you take these underwater?

[ZoCrowes]

10. Yeah I like the Christ

It's a very heavily dove site so you have to get to it early before it gets a lot of backscatter in the shot.

I use a Sony Cybershot DSC 4.1 megapixel with the underwater housing and a Sealife Digital Strobe. My next big purchases will probably be a wide-angle lens and a second strobe.

[F.Gordon]

7. Wowza!!!

I went online late last night and did not see these. :eyes: Think I need to go spend three years on a mountain in Tibet to regain the full use of my brain. :crazy:

These are simply fantastic! I know zip about underwater photography and I was going to ask you a question.... but I think me figured it out from viewing your EXIF data. It appears you are shooting in auto mode... which is probably best. Have.No.Idea.

I was going to suggest bumping/fixing your ISO up to 200 (or 400) before your next dive. But then I looked again at the brain coral shot. I don't know. Maybe auto is the way to go. You can try it... and if it doesn't work you can come back and scream and yell at me for making you screw up your photographs. :o It would give you quicker exposure times... but then I'm thinkin'... that the water is almost like a liquid tripod. An organic tripod. Hmmmm... I like it.

Would love to have these photos on the group smugalugadugamug site. I'm always having to beg people to post their photos over there. You can PM me.. respond here... whatever. If not-I understand. No big deal. Regardless.. hope you at least post more round' here.

Thanks!!!
:thumbsup:

[ZoCrowes]

9. I've tried playing around with different settings

Trying different exposure rates, lighting etc and I've found that for taking pictures on the fly auto really does work best. I will probably upgrade my cam gear within the next year or two. For quite a few of the pictures that are a taken at a greater distance I have to mess around with color balances in Photoshop. For the shots that I want an expanse of blue I will usually cut out the green spectrum. Without good ambient lighting you lose the first few colors of the color spectrum first so I will usually add red's back in and rely heavily on the external strobe.

The trick with underwater photography is dealing with the enviorment around you. Neutral buoyancy is a MUST because if you rest on the bottom to take your shot you will lose visibility and get backscatter in your shot.

The only one that was difficult to get right was the flag shot. There was a 2-3 knot current running that day so I was holding on for dear life with one hand and trying to adjust my flash setting with the other so I could get the picture right. It took 4 or 5 shots of that to get the one I really liked.

I am newbie photographer myself so I am still working on a lot of my technique so I really really appreciate the comments. I would love to share my images elsewhere so just drop me a PM.

Once again thank you very much for all the kind words. These are all shots from just a single weekend of diving. Hopefully next time I go I will be able to get even more.

[TahitiNut]

11. The deeper you go, the more colors are filtered out.

This, of course, is compounded by your distance from the objects photographed. Below two atmospheres (about 66') only the cooler (blues and yellows) colors remain. It's a fascinating experience, since our eyes (brains) are far more able to adapt and perceive colors than our cameras. This color loss (from ambient light) is one of the reasons a strobe is an almost essential piece of equipment for about 90% of U/W photography. (The built-in flash isn't enough for anything over about 18".)

I found that a moderate wide-angle lens setting was best. Those occasional back-lit shots are still feasible but the distance shots at 50-75' are virtually unachievable under any condition. Diving at noon, in the summer, when the sun is as vertical as it gets is probably the very best time for photography. That's when light is traveling the least distance from the surface to the subject and the colors are best. (We must always remember that we're seeing/photographing reflected light. So it's the distance it's traveling through water from the source/surface to the object and then to the lens that counts.)

Neutral buoyancy is a MUST. Indeed, as I've said before, taking photos and videos was astonishingly good dive training for me. It helped me immeasurably in both buoyancy and air consumption - helping me find that 'zone' (the zen of diving) that raises diving to a transcendent experience.

I LOVE your photos! Indeed, the flag was a difficult shot for more reasons than just current. Well done!

[ZoCrowes]

12. Wide-angle is definitely my next purchase

Last few dives I made on some of the wrecks I dive off the Florida panhandle would have been great with a wide-angle lens. The Empire Mica has three massive boilers that are exposed and I did not get a picture I was happy with because of the limited scope at closer shots and the loss of clarity at farther shots. 100+ feet 50 miles out in the gulf you have GREAT viz but it's not like the tropics. It's more of a bluish green water than the emerald blue of the Carribean or Southern Pacific.

[F.Gordon]

13. Interesting

I had a few near underwater photography experiences... when I've slipped or stumbled and almost fell into a river or lake.
:evilgrin:

It sounds incredibly complex.... and I'm still workin' on that land thing. Would love to see some vidcaps some time from ya'.... I'll show you mine if you show me yours. :P

You know... you can upload up to 20meg mpegs to the group tugalug site. Geez, listen to me. I'm starting to sound like a used car salesman.

[ZoCrowes]

14. Send me a link to the site

I'll check it out. I've got quite a few vid captures of other divers and a few shark feeds.

[TahitiNut]

15. I'm getting around to becoming a procrastinator.

I've harbored and preserved the precious intention to convert my Hi-8 video 'master' to DVD.

I collect intentions. I think, somewhere in my subconscious, that they'd be my evidence in proving to the Grim Reaper it's not my time yet. After all, aren't they 'proof' my time's not up yet? I rather suspect that might've been what got me through Viet Nam. I suspect that puts in the company of folks with HUGE To-Do Lists. It's sure not a very lonely company.

:evilgrin:

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Wonderful shots, ZoCrowes...

Two thumbs up.

[Carla in Ca]

16. Awesome pictures

Thanks for posting these. They are stunning. Post more please!:)