Maui time (Pictures)

[jch79]

It was taken away at the museum security checkpoint. I think the guard was a flashoholic cuz I never got it back.

Seriously? They took your flashlight? :shakehead What light was it?

 

[tdurand]

:lolsign: Nah, they didn't....makes for a cool story though. :naughty:

T

 

[flashlight]

It was taken away at the museum security checkpoint. I think the guard was a flashoholic cuz I never got it back.

I woulda like to have shined this beast in the eyes with a PD27S to give it a taste of McGizmo-ness. He/She/It was fairly lethargic. Musta just ate a Chicago Dog or two. :shrug:

T

Yeah, you should've tossed it in close so that you could a sense of scale of that critter.

Hey, Don, maybe you could get one to pose with one of your lights in it's mouth? :naughty: :green: :nana:

 

[tdurand]

Yeah, you should've tossed it in close so that you could a sense of scale of that critter.

Hey, Don, maybe you could get one to pose with one of your lights in it's mouth? :naughty: :green: :nana:

Uhh. Oh yeah, good call. The doorknob up top will have to suffice.
(The exhibit was incredibly packed and I had to snap shots while being hearded through. Wait for 45 minutes to see it and it's hiding behind a friggin tree practically asleep. Good times, good times)

T

 

[JanCPF]

Not a Komodo but a closely related Water Monitor Lizard (approx. 5 feet long) I came across in Malaysia while hiking along the beach. Didn't really mind me much, so I managed to get pretty close. Look at them claws BTW :

Jan

 

[jumpstat]

Hey! its a 'Biawak'...very common in Malaysia, They are cold blooded so they like to laze on the road during a hot day, ---->road kill

 

[hivoltage]

Great Pictures and thread....we are going to Maui in Janurary and the pics really have me wanting to go!!!!

 

[McGizmo]

Great Pictures and thread....we are going to Maui in Janurary and the pics really have me wanting to go!!!!

Cool! You will be here during whale season so plan a whale watch trip or better yet (IMHO) a snorkel/ sail trip where you whale watch to and from the snorkel destination. :thumbsup: I am enjoying the south swells and warm summer ocean but I look forward to the humpback's return!!

Jumpstat,
That would be strange seeing big monitors sunning themselves on the road!

 

[McGizmo]

Hi guys,

I went for a late eve swim last night and I noticed some antennae sticking out from a hole in the reef on the way into the beach. With some probing of my hand and getting my head down closer than I wanted, I spied a couple goofy shrimp. Cool! I decided to go back today and use a mule PD to see if I could illuminate the shrimp and get a photo.

I couldn't tell while I was out there if I was getting any images or not (bad eyes and small LCD display). I figured I'd put the light at one of the holes and reach into the main chamber and get the shrimp to move out.

We ended up with a hide and seek game and guess which hole.

I went on to just cruise over the reef and there was a small parrot fish that didn't mind me getting reasonably close. These fish have colors that change in the angle of light and frankly I doubt they can be photographed in any way that would give you a feel for what you see with the naked eye.

The hunter as well as the hunted rely on camoflage big time down here. On my way back to the beach, I noticed a tail of a fellow that was rather obvious in contrast to the white sand in in the sunlight. It was a case of the titan Mule sheding light on a Titan ScorpionFish:

This was only 3 or 4 feet deep and yet the orange of the fish was already about washed out. Look at how much more orange is visible in the beam of the mule (A LED not known for great red and orange illumination) I think this guy was waiting on a false move by some critter coming into the hole in the reef it is facing. Little did it realize that it's 6 oclock was less than covered!

The Mule I used here is a mizer and I am thinking that a full powered Mule would be a nice light for this type of photography. Yeah, I could always put a strobe on the camera housing but then the rig gets that much more ungainly for snorkeling. :shrug:

 

[Data]

Looks like the mule really works good for that under water photog stuff. Cool. :twothumbs



Cheers
Dave

 

[Barefootone]

Don,
Very neat looking shrimp and the mule ain't bad either .
Thanks for the pics, keep em coming.
Jeff

 

[Kiessling]

Cool critters indeed
Aren't those deadly poisenous?
bernie

And how does the AlTiN affect the resistence to salty environment? Just as cool as ti?

 

[McGizmo]

Thanks guys.
I am under the impression that the scorpion family have poision in a hollow spine but the potency of the poision varies from species to species. The stone fish is in this family and I believe the most venomous fish in the ocean.

I would guess that the AlTiN film is quite corrosion resistant but it's a guess. Since the substrate is essentially inert, no worries anyway! I think a brighter Mule would be a good light source for macro photography underwater. I noticed that varying the distance of the light to the target had significant visula results whereas using a strobe, you have no idea what the intensity of the fill of light is until viewing the resultant image. My super wide angle lens used here is not a macro set up. I have one of the cool new Olympus Stylus 770SW cameras which is nothing compared to the Nikon D70 in terms of image quality but it is so much more portable underwater and does have a built in flash. I want to take it in the water and see if I can get a shot of this shrimp for comparison.

 

[Data]

. . .I noticed that varying the distance of the light to the target had significant visula results whereas using a strobe, you have no idea what the intensity of the fill of light is until viewing the resultant image. My super wide angle lens used here is not a macro set up. I have one of the cool new Olympus Stylus 770SW cameras which is nothing compared to the Nikon D70 in terms of image quality but it is so much more portable underwater and does have a built in flash. I want to take it in the water and see if I can get a shot of this shrimp for comparison.

Having the flash close to the lens will work if the water is really clear. If not the flash will bounce off all the particles in the water and obscure the image.

The standard setup is to set the flash on a bracket way to the side of the lens. Normally this is done to add a nice high key light source and to reduce red eye.

My good flash has a strobe button so you can get an idea of what the scene is going to look like before you take the picture.

Cheers
Dave

 

[McGizmo]

Hi Dave,
Yeah, I hear you. Backscatter is a real problem underwater and a good rig has two strobes as far out to the sides from the camera as possible. This reduces the side shadow you get from a single source as well as minimizing the backscatter bouncing into the lens. (I believe this is predicated on the particles bouncing light in lambertion distributions).

If I had held the mule above and inline with the camera in the shot above, there would be a lot of white blobs present in the image.

The only advantage to a camera mounted flash under water is that of bringing light if needed as well as providing a fuller spectrum of light on the target as opposed to the ambient which is always void of significant red; even close to the surface. Much of the underwater world is heavy in red but not visible under ambient conditions. Lobster, snappers, all kinds of critters are beautiful reds on the surface but in their environment they are black and hard to see; good for survival!! Light is really a trip underwater and it is a totally different environment than topsides.

Our eyes can detect subtle levels of color that the cameras just don't record. The amazing iridescense in some of the fish is also totally lost in pictures. :shrug:

 

[Codeman]

...Our eyes can detect subtle levels of color that the cameras just don't record. The amazing iridescense in some of the fish is also totally lost in pictures. :shrug:

Yeah - the pics you've posted to date are horrible! :nana:

 

[McGizmo]

Hi guys,
I suspect with Codeman's admonishment that the images be improved it is time to close this thread and start another HERE. I will do my best to get better but don't count on it! :nana: