Inon Knob tests

My last post was about the cold water knobs for my Inon strobes that I got from Jonas Odell. I managed to get them wet in Capernwray on Friday with David Kneale and David Elliot. The sturgeon were most obliging-and Dave Elliot gets Strugeon Wrangler supremo points for actually de-tangling the sturgeons barbels! The viz was superb, although it was a gloomy day. I was using my Nikkor 105mm VR that I mentioned in my earlier post, together with a Fisheye focus light. The water clarity is so good that you can use the 105 as a short telephoto:
    
The backscatter is from the strobe position-I think they were a tad too close.Anyway, water temp was 4 degrees, and my right dry glove seems to be seeping, so my hands were pretty cold. In the past, I have really struggled to adjust my strobe's power output when cold due to the size of the knobs on the Inon strobes (see my previous posts), but with the extenders that I got from Jonas, even at the end of a 45 minute dive, was able to easily adjust them-result! Here are some more pictures from the dive:
  
Thanks to David and Dave-looking forward to the next one!

Kudos to...

I've been searching for some time for a way to increase the size of the knobs on my Inon Strobes. As I am forced to shoot in manual mode on my D2Xs (no TTL) and I am currently diving in 4 degree water, I needed a way to get hold of the knobe while wearing bulky dry gloves. I posted onto wetpixel (http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=28156) and got lots of responses. Jonas Odell from Sweden posted showing that he has made some excellent extenders designed exactly to solve problems like mine

Anyway, I ordered two last Friday (20 euros including carriage)and they turned up today.  Perfect fit! I'll dive them this week, but I'm sure that they have answered my prayers! Such an excellent item, and such a quick turn around is amazing! contact Jonas on jonas.odell@bredband.net

Sharkwater

I think this film is madatory watching for anyone who spends anytime on or in the water. I shows the level of ignorance and commercial greed that exists in our relationship with sharks, although it act as a euphemism for our relationship with the seas in general.  Farmers practise husbandry, reaering animals and growing  crops for our eventual comsumption. Whether it is moral to eat other animals or not, at least these animals are in affect bred for that purpose. The seas are a virtual free for all without regulation, and as Sharkwater shows clearly, even when this regulation exists, it is flouted or ignored by the people at the sharp end. I don't think there can even be a concept of "responsible" comercial fishing in the light of the plight of the vast majority of marine species.

Too late it's done!

Ok it was easier than I thought! I've still got a few small things to sort out-like getting it aligned correctly, but in essence the blog is now on the smugmug site. Wow!

Sorting out my Smugmug site

If you have found this blog, chances are you have found my site already! I've spent a lot of time recenly getting my site working and looking as I want it, and am getting there. I am fortunate to have found smugmug (www.smugmug.com) - their service and product are so good, and so flexible for individual customisation that it has really meant that I can do the things I wanted to do. I can shoot pictures, load the card into Lighroom, do any tweaks, and then upload straight onto my site. It means that I can get pictures onto the web, literally within minutes of taking them. The site is not finished, I want to embed this blog into a smugmug page so that it keeps the theme and navigation the same as on the site-in fact  Imay do this shortly, and by the time you read this it may be done!

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My BIG new lens

My Sigma 170-500mm lens arrived this week, together with a new Lacie Rugged hard drive. The lens is awesome! For some time, I've wanted to get some pictures of the big flocks of Oyster catchers and Dunlin on beach and rocks in front of our house-and now have the tool for the job! I just need some sunny days off, or lighter evenings and mornings! Many thanks to Duncan and his team at Calumet, Liverpool for all their help with my cameras and lenses

Pictures using the 105mm

 

My 105mmVR is the beast!

I've been trying to get my new Nikkor 105mm macro working in my Subal housing. Subal type 3 housings and ports have an 85mm internal diameter, which is just too tight to get the fat  bodied 105mm into. When I tried to get the lens into the housing, it caught on the MF/AF and VR buttons, and tended to offset the lens to one side. This in turn caused sealing problems with the port. So-I put a post out onto Wetpixel (www.wetpixel.com) and had some great responses. Ryan Cannon from Reef Photo and Video (www.reefphoto.com) very kindly got in touch and suggested that I bore the extension out to 88mm. So I took it down to Alan Dick engineering in Heysham (http://www.alandickengineering.co.uk/) who did a fantasic job while I waited. It now fits just and so-although you still have to be very careful not to catch the MF gear in the housing when putting the lens in. I have copied Alex Mustard with this, and use a £1 coin to lift the gear away from the lens body while I am getting it in.

Pictures from marine mammal medic course

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