Sterling Zumbrunn: We enjoyed another fantastic day of diving, with our boat hitting some beautiful sites on Klein Bonaire. I was happy to be set up for wide angle, as we had the good fortune to dive on some beautiful walls encrusted with intact sponges and corals. Today I was testing out the Olympus E-PL2 PEN in a brand new prototype of Nauticam’s NA-EPL2 housing, and was especially pleased with the placement of the rear function button that allows for quick focusing using my thumb. Separating focus from your shutter button is one of the first thing Berkley teaches in his underwater photography course, and it’s great to be able to put that principle into practice with this housing. I love the low profile and great ergonomics of Nauticam’s design. This rig will be a cinch to tote around - it’s tiny! Last year I wrote about the original Olympus E-PL1 in an article for Backscatter, but with the improved camera and this this new housing option, I think I need to revise it.

One of the great advantages of the Micro 4/3 system is that the lenses can be shared between Olympus and Panasonic bodies. For today’s dives, I mounted the Panasonic 8mm fisheye lens to the E-PL2. I was really impressed with this combo; the 8mm fisheye allows for super close focusing and is incredibly sharp. The camera’s sensor did a great job with highlights, even when pointed directly towards the sun. I think this lens will be a real hit with underwater photographers. Users of the Olympus PT-EP03 housing can also take advantage of the 8mm fisheye using the Zen WA-100 dome.

This afternoon, Erin and I gave a seminar on Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. We’ve both been using Lightroom for many years, and are absolutely passionate about this application. It’s wonderful that it works on both Mac or PC, so everyone can give it a try. Previously, managing and editing RAW files from digital cameras was a huge headache. I don’t know how I would manage my own workflow without Lightroom! It’s great to see that most of the participants are just as jazzed about it as Erin and I. For the students who’ve never even opened the program before, it quickly became apparent just how much time they are going to save by using it. Erin’s tutorial videos have been a huge help to everyone in preparing their images for the nightly slide shows. Speaking of slide shows, every night’s show seems to be better than the last. There were some stunning images shown tonight. It’s quite an inspiring group.




Jennifer Penner: Modeling. More often than not, when referring to underwater photography with models, the photographer is usually male and the model female. Since I like to shake things up a bit, I shoot a fair amount of wide angle images that have a model as a primary or secondary subject, and that model is almost always Joel! I wouldn't say that I'm extraordinarily tough on my model, but he does get a fair amount of thumb pointing for placement, reminders to keep his fins together and which angle I want his body and of course, the toughest direction of all... don't breathe! Don't get me wrong... I'll (occasionally) model for him if he sees a set-up he likes, and I really do like modeling, as it makes you a better diver and photographer. Ladies, let's even the playing field... keep shooting those male models!








Jim Decker: After seeing some of the daily pictures, I have to say it's quite impressive, especially on the macro side. Some of these shots are getting super tight. Using a MacroMate or other macro accessory lens in addition to the main camera's lens allows one to get reproduction ratios greater than 1:1. The keeper rate for these shots can be 50:1 due to the extremely thin depth of field. But when you nail it, it's awesome!

Gear tested today
Today was the wreck dive of the Hilma Hooker and I decided to go with the Canon 7D in the Aquatica housing and a Tokina 10-17 lens. This is one of my favorite subjects on the island to shoot. The 10-17 gives you an angle of 100-180 degrees. It is the holy grail of underwater wide angle lenses due to its versatility. I also shot a frogfish with this lens on the second dive due to it's close focusing capability.

Jean Bruneau: Well, we are settling in as a group and picking up the pace. Most of the unpacking glitches have been checked off. A few had luggage delays, but everyone pulled together and we managed to get bolts for the grip to one, a BCD to another, a prescription mask, a regulator etc. In short, nobody was left high and dry. You just got to love this community.

This morning we did the Hilma Hooker, Bonaire’s famous wreck. Well, she is still a beauty and I took the opportunity to redo some shots I was not totally happy with from two years ago. Wrecks are nice in that way. It’s pretty hard to ask a grouper to strike a pose, let alone the same as two years earlier! I worked principally at positioning the sun behind my subject to get the aura of bluish light surrounding it, doing so kind of takes care of the cyan cast banding found around the hot spot created by the sun.

Tonight I will likely punch a dive under the resort dock (there is always something to see under it). I have been alternating between optical strobes and old school wired ones in the last few days. I have a hybrid setup on my housing. This option on our Aquatica housings allows for a optical connector on one side and an electrical one on the other, that offers you the maximum flexibility as far as connecting strobes. One set I have is a pair of Ikelite venerable DS-160. They pack a lot of power, have the warmest and softest of light quality to them and when hooked up to a TTL converter are spot on exposure wise... but they are bulky and heavy and while I do appreciate the huge amount of light when shooting fisheye lenses, I do find them unusually heavy when shooting macro.

Macro set ups are typically the heaviest. When shooting wide, you normally have a substantial air bubble inside the housing that is formed by the dome. With macro you typically have a streamlined aluminum or plastic tube with a small port lens on the front, that leaves very little internal air that would lighten up the setup. That's where the INON Z-240s are appreciated. They are smaller and lighter but not as powerful as the DS-160, but that is ok for me, as typically the power output needed in macro is less because the subject is closer. A big plus as well is the optical fibre connection, it is simplicity itself. You can remove a sync cord underwater, remove the strobe from the housing, have your buddy hold it in position for you and still maintain full S-TTL capability as long as one strobe is left on the housing to trigger the other one(s).

Chris Parsons: Day four, and back on the boats to head out to Klein Bonaire. These dive guides are doing a great job with this large group, sharing their special spots for things like frogfish and seahorses. I'm shooting wide today, the 10-22 behind the Zen 230mm dome again as I am just so pleased with the sharpness I am getting out of this combination. I want to get some shots of people with their gear, heads down in their quest to get that perfect shot.

Despite the fact that some of these folks are very focused on getting close to their subjects, they are doing a good job of staying off of live reef. The Digital Shootout staff and the Divi Dive staff have been stressing the importance of not damaging the reef, and made it clear right at the beginning that anyone sacrificing living reef to get their shot will be removed from the competition, and depending on the severity, may be banned from diving here. They are serious about it and well they should be. As u/w photographers, we are truly ambassadors for the sea. Many people will get their experience of the ocean through our eyes and that charges us with a huge responsibility to set a good example for our fellow divers and do as little damage as possible to an ecosystem that is not only fragile but under attack from many different sources. However, it should not stop at merely this, because the fact is that divers actually are not even close to the biggest threat that reefs face. Water quality issues, temperature increase, over-fishing, invasive species - these issues are what is killing our reefs, not a kicked sea fan. So we need to start by not kicking that sea fan, absolutely, but we as ambassadors for the ocean need to carry that message back to life on land and make a difference.

Ok, enough soapbox for the moment. Let's go diving!

I'm finally getting a bit more organized at getting these cameras ready to go out, which is a good thing as I'm sending out every one of our housings pretty much every day. Everything has been working well and I'm very pleased not to be having a lot of gear issues. Our LX-5 housing and camera is proving to be very popular with the demo gear uses. Panasonic is not as big of a name in the US in the consumer camera world but they are making some excellent cameras and definitely seem to be on the upswing. LX-5 is the most capable, best imaging compact camera I have used. It's ideally suited for underwater shooting, with features like RAW mode, manual exposure, excellent TTL, TTL in manual mode, and AVCHD video.

Marissa Wiganowske: My boat rotation allowed for the Thrusters to make their way back to the Hilma Hooker, and they were used non stop by Dan of Under Exposures. I could see him him buzzing around the wreck capturing video. I surely thought I’d see him finning at the end of the dive, but an hour later he was still on the switch. Rock on! In the afternoon, a few divers headed out to the work on shooting in 3D. This seems to be a work in progress, but they were jazzed to use the Thrusters to be able to come at the camera with speed. The photo/video gig is new to me, but the amount I am learning is limitless. You can’t not feel the positive energy and ambition these staff and divers have to excel and grow with what they do. Simply impressive of what this team has brought together and achieving...