Magic filters DVD

I recently ordered a copy of Alex Mustard and Peter Rowlands Shooting Magic DVD. I have been using magic filters (http://www.magic-filters.com/)in blue and green water for some time. This is an example of a green water shot:
 
What is amazing is that the combination of filter and high ISO/slow shutter has meant that it actually shows more  detail than I could  actually see through the viewfinder! I've had a similar experience using a green water filter on my video camera. The blue water filter brings out the fantastic coulours on the reef. This was shot using a blue water magic in the Red Sea:
 
Anyway, the DVD arrived and it is amazing how much more it gives! The practical advice on all sorts of things-even just getting the Anthias to point in the right direction(!) is great. You can order it from magic filters at http://www.magic-filters.com/

Getting in tight with Lightroom

I was playing with the perch pictures that I put up. I had posted them onto wetpixel (www.wetpixel.com) and thought that I would like to maybe improve the crop on them. This was the result! 
 
The level of detail post crop is amazing! All I did was tweak the white balance a tiny bit.

Amazing scenery

The combination of clear mornings, snow and higher tides has made me late for work on two consecutive mornings! I should explain. Yesterday I took the dogs out for their normal walk along the beach at Heysham. The early morning light and the snow on the Lake District mountains made for an amazing view. As the tides are high in the morning, the Oystercatchers, Dunlin and Curlews are gathered in large groups close inshore. SO.... rather than go to work on time, I got caught up trying to take pictures of the scene. It does get worse though-while driving along the Morecambe promenade on my way to work, the light and the snow and the boats on the tide "forced" me to stop and take some more! Sorry bosses!Anyway, I was on my way out the door thismorning, and Caron was taking the dogs out, and guess what-take two! The views are just so beautiful! Both mornings, I was playing with my Sigma 170-500. I think the moral is that I need to tripod mount it to get the results I want. I will post up some pictures later though

XIT404

Another kudos to type post, but also a heads up for those interestedXIT404 are a specialist company making some truly esoteric bits for enhancing your underwater housing!I bought an oversize focus wheel knob from them-it is fantastic for using with my big glovesCheck out www.xit404.com

Caving in the Dales

I went up to Lost Johns Pot near Cowan Bridge in Yorkshire yesterday, and together with Dave Elliot, had a fantastic trip down Lost Johns Pot. We dropped down about 6 pitches, in smooth walled, very dry clean cave, and then came back out again! I'd forgotten how physically hard SRT is, although it was good to feel that I was getting back into my rhythm by the end. I ache a lot and have some strange bruises today thoughCaves are amazing environments, it is always weird to look out over a landscape, and imagine that underneath it are a rabbit warren of tunnels and passageways. They also give you a real sense of the scale of geological time-many of the passages are now dry, they were carved out when water levels were much higher. I used to take a camera on my caving trips-together with slave flashes, but didn't yesterday. As always, I wished I had! Caving is such an alien activity, that I think it is quite eye-catching and photogenic. Note to self-take a camera!

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!