Honu from Maui

MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
Getting ready to head off to the Big Island in a few days, I thought I'd post an old shot of a green sea turtle. It was a real challenge to free dive with a dslr housing after much smaller P&S rigs and think about composition while getting batted around by surge (the turtles seem to like playing in the surge by the lava shoreline or surfing the waves) and try to not get thrown onto the rocks all on a single breath. I had hoped to get an over/under shot, but those housings are really heavy -- I couldn't hold it up above the surface for that kind of shot.

Honu2-copy.jpg
 
AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
Very cool capture - I could easily imagine myself watching this scene with a snorkel and mask.

I'd be scared to death placing my DSLR into a box and shoving it under water. I know the Big Kids(TM) do this all of the time but I am not one of them....
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Hey Monika, this is a very cool shot of a turtle! How great you are going back, that should sure be fun.

I am with Alan, I would be scared no matter how good the housing, and I have seen the DSLR underwater housings and they are heavy, so I can understand that will add some complications to shooting. But I am sure the photos you will bring back will be super cool!
 
Mike Mancil

Mike Mancil

Well-Known Member
Well, the turtles aren't the only thing "green"!:D I'm jealous but hope you have a great time and we're looking forward to seeing your trip. Great shot of this turtle.
 
MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
AlanLichty said:
Very cool capture - I could easily imagine myself watching this scene with a snorkel and mask.

I'd be scared to death placing my DSLR into a box and shoving it under water. I know the Big Kids(TM) do this all of the time but I am not one of them....
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JimFox said:
Hey Monika, this is a very cool shot of a turtle! How great you are going back, that should sure be fun.

I am with Alan, I would be scared no matter how good the housing, and I have seen the DSLR underwater housings and they are heavy, so I can understand that will add some complications to shooting. But I am sure the photos you will bring back will be super cool!
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Alan & Jim, I used to be really nervous about the housing; check the O-rings, lube them, test in the sink (which I never thought tested for deeper than 1 atmosphere). Then I just got nervous enough to check carefully. The only failure I ever had was in Palau, with a P&S due to lithium battery melt down. Right after I got back, all the news stories about the dangers of lithium batteries came out. It was even fine after United made me gate check it & sheared off the polycarbonate handles from the cast aluminum body. The only control that still worked was for the shutter, but was all fixed under warranty. Not that it helped for the trip.... I will be nervous this coming November, which will be the 1st time in some years to snorkel/free dive & shoot. And 1st time in a drysuit!

JimFox said:
Congrats on the Daily Featured Post Monika!
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Thanks, Jim!

Mike Mancil said:
Well, the turtles aren't the only thing "green"!:D I'm jealous but hope you have a great time and we're looking forward to seeing your trip. Great shot of this turtle.
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Mike, I'm not absolutely sure about the other "green" you're referring to, but we have plenty of legal "green" here in Colorado, too!

All: No underwater photography this trip -- lava, mostly. Beach time, but just to relax. Getting into the water this time of year is a crap shoot with all the storms that move through.
 
Jim Dockery

Jim Dockery

Well-Known Member
Great shot! Perfect timing since my wife and I have switched our spring AZ hiking trip to Maui so I'm getting psyched and snorkeling is going to be my main activity. I've never done any underwater photos and really want to try my hand, but without spending too much. I'm trying to figure out one of the bags for my RX100 V, and was thinking of getting this:
If anyone has had experience with these types of bags please chime in. I think this one won't quite fit my lens so I was thinking of cutting a foam spacer to fit over the lens ring on the camera to keep it back a bit.
 
MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
Jim Dockery said:
Great shot! Perfect timing since my wife and I have switched our spring AZ hiking trip to Maui so I'm getting psyched and snorkeling is going to be my main activity. I've never done any underwater photos and really want to try my hand, but without spending too much. I'm trying to figure out one of the bags for my RX100 V, and was thinking of getting this:
If anyone has had experience with these types of bags please chime in. I think this one won't quite fit my lens so I was thinking of cutting a foam spacer to fit over the lens ring on the camera to keep it back a bit.
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Jim, the only reservations I have about that kind of gear is, "what if I dive down deeper than 32'? I don't have a dive computer, so all I can go on is when my mask & snorkel start collapsing, that's probably 1 atm. You can rent housings at BorrowLenses and Backscatter. It seems expensive, but then when/if you upgrade your camera, you're not stuck with a housing that doesn't work with anything else. The other thing I do is set my zoom to pretty wide & zoom with my fins. Have fun!
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Jim Dockery said:
Great shot! Perfect timing since my wife and I have switched our spring AZ hiking trip to Maui so I'm getting psyched and snorkeling is going to be my main activity. I've never done any underwater photos and really want to try my hand, but without spending too much. I'm trying to figure out one of the bags for my RX100 V, and was thinking of getting this:
If anyone has had experience with these types of bags please chime in. I think this one won't quite fit my lens so I was thinking of cutting a foam spacer to fit over the lens ring on the camera to keep it back a bit.
Click to expand...
Hey Jim, I have used something similar in the past, not that exact brand, but similar. The biggest issue I had was with trying to zoom. So I ended up just doing as Monika suggested, just leave it as wide as it can go and just move in closer or crop later to get things larger.
 
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