March 1st Meeting
The British Virgin Islands: Aussie Style

By Leonard Cichowski

The March presentation will feature the British Virgin Islands as seen through the eyes of Terry Moore.  Terry and his wife Melissa are some of our newer members of the club and have jumped in with both feet to become active members.

Terry is a native born Australian that wound up in Texas via a few stops in the Caribbean.  Terry has been in Texas since October, 2002.  His diving and professional credits are numerous.  PADI Open Water Certified, PADI Divemaaster and PADI MSDT.  Terry has been a professional underwater videographer since 1977.  He has been a video photo pro for Mike Ball Diving Expeditions Australia, Peter Hughes Diving in Belize, Central America and Rainbow Visions Photography; Prospect Reef Resort in Tortola, BVI.  Terry is currently an EMT-Intermediate and is finishing his last college semester in the Paramedic Program.

Having lived in the British Virgin Islands from May 2001 to October 2002, Terry has made more than 300 dives on the world famous wreck of the H.M.S. Rhone.  Most of the images for this presentation were shot using a Canon S300 elph 2.1 mega pixel camera with a Canon housing.

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March 1st Meeting from previous column

The package was enhanced with a "Sea & Sea" digital conversion lens adapter.  Added to this was a Motormarine2 20mm lens and URPRO filter.  Terry adds that most of the images for this presentation were taken with available light.  He has since upgraded to a Canon G1 3.1 mega pixel camera with and Ikelite housing, DS-125 strobe and an INON 100 degree wide angle lens.

Melissa, the other member of this dive team, is a CPA and a rescue diver.  She is also Terry’s "unintentional model," as she is found in nearly all of Terry’s images featuring divers.

If you haven’t yet had the time to talk to Terry and Melissa, by all means go up and introduce yourself to this couple.  They are very interested in being productive members of HUPS.  And in their own words, "We are new members to HUPS.  We are both very approachable, on any topic, and will be as much help as we can to ensure that you get the most out of your photography/videography and travel experiences."

I hope that you learn some things in the critique portion of last month’s program.  If you are interested in having 4 or 5 of your images critiqued please bring them in to the meeting.  This venue has been quite successful in the past and it is our hope to revive this useful program, as we all will learn from this.  Thick skins are not needed, as the intent of this exercise is to teach and not tear down.  The success of this endeavor is contingent on your participation.

Next month, James Wiseman will do a digital presentation on San Diego diving and have a short digital "tips" portion to the show.

As usual the meeting will be at the Bayland Community Center starting at 7:00 PM.  A map and directions are at the end of this newsletter.

Happy Diving,

Leonard

President's Message
Getting Involved

For most of us the key to enjoying anything is "getting involved."  This goes for just about anything from going to a movie with friends to volunteering time for charitable organizations.  Life is just too short to wander through it watching others having all the fun.  Sure, getting involved means extra work and less time for other things but the benefits far outweigh the effort.  Probably the first benefit is how good it makes you feel when you accomplish something worthwhile.  And then there are all those nice people that you get to know or get to know better when you do things together.

HUPS offers a number of ways to become involved.  Probably the easiest way is to volunteer to give a program that showcases your developing skills as an underwater photographer.  "This is just too scary a proposition" you might say?  Well, yes, it does get a bit tense when you have your stuff up on the screen for everyone to see.  The truth of the matter is that even our veteran presenters had to go through the "first-time jitters" before they could wear the veteran’s badge.  Doing a show or participating with others in a show should be taken seriously, but it shouldn’t be looked at as a "trial by fire."  You also have to know that there are 15-20 members that would be happy to help you pull together a show, and all you have to do is ask.  You need equipment... we can get you the equipment.  You don’t know how or what music to record or how to synch it to your slide or digital images?  That’s just another detail that can be learned from one or our ad hoc mentors.  Leonard Cichowski would be happy to talk with you about doing a presentation or part of a monthly presentation.  We’re always interested in people that want to do a short topic.

For those of you that have well-developed skills, there are ample opportunities to really get involved by volunteering to give a workshop.  Joe Nicklo is always on the lookout for workshops, and to date, the ones that have been done have been "full house" propositions.  OK, I’ll admit, preparing for a workshop is anything but a trivial matter.  However, the benefit to HUPS members is enormous.  I can also say that your personal satisfaction for doing one is also enormous.  Where else can you get a professional quality workshop for the price of a HUPS membership?

And then there is SEASPACE.  Every year, HUPS puts up a booth in the Environmental section at SEASPACE, and every year, it has gotten better and has been more beneficial to HUPS.  Last year was a complete success.  We added many new members, got tremendous visibility, and made a lot of money.  This year will be different.

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President's Message from previous column

We won’t be doing the SEASPACE photo exhibit and we haven’t been invited to do a presentation at the film festival.  Still, we have great plans to improve HUPS through activities that are part of our booth.  We will be doubling the size of our booth this year so we can have more space for photos and exhibits.  Some of the extra room will be used for raffles and silent auctions to raise money.  We will need a number of volunteers to help assemble and take down the booth.  People will be asked to be at the booth to talk with people about HUPS and to sign them up as new members.  We will also be helping LAUPS set up the photo display.  All of this will require volunteers.  Joe Nicklo and Jack Andrews will be the ones to contact if you want to help.  If you are new to the organization, this is a great way to meet new people and let them know who you are and what you do.

These are just a few of the ways that you can help HUPS and yourself by getting involved.  I guarantee that for every 25 cents of effort you put in, you’ll get a dollar’s worth of good feelings.

See Ya March 1st,
Dennis

Thanks John and Kathy

The program for the February meeting had John and Kathy Ringrose taking us on not one but two trips to Fiji.  The Ringroses journeyed to Fiji two summers in a row.  As was obvious from the program, Fiji is a great photographic destination both above and below the water’s surface.  Smiling children and soft corals, what’s not to like?

John and Kathy appear to be getting their money’s worth out of their Subal housed F100s.  They had a ton of great images.  It seems their photography has been getting better and better.  John and Kathy have done a few presentations for HUPS over the years and they are always educational and entertaining.  Thanks for another treat.

Advanced 2nd Place, Gary Merritt ©2004

Do I Need Photoshop for Image Editing?
By Pat Miller

For editing and processing of digital images in your computer, the Adobe Photoshop software program is the market leader, and it has enormous power and flexibility.  But I do not believe it is for everyone.

For one thing, it is expensive.  Photoshop CS is for sale for $649 at the Adobe store (http://www.adobe.com) for the full version.  Another thing is Photoshop is complicated and hard to learn.  It takes a while to get even an inkling of the things that the software is capable of.  It takes time and practice to get good with it.

If you are going to limit yourself to what I might call ordinary image editing -- importing, color and contrast correction, sharpening, resizing, and saving to various file formats -- then there's no reason to spend a ton of money for stuff you'll never use.

As listed in a November 2003 PC Photo magazine article (http://www.pcphotomag.com/), there are basic imaging applications that try to make their operation simple and clear, such as Microsoft Picture It! and Roxio PhotoSuite.  A step up in capability and complexity are programs like Adobe Photoshop Elements, Digital Light & Color Picture Window, Microsoft Digital Image Pro, and Ulead PhotoImpact.

I used JASC Paint Shop Pro for a long time, and it has most of Photoshop's capability.  For example, Paint Shop Pro features layer editing, a large array of tools like Photoshop, and supports Photoshop plug-ins.  I checked on their web site just now (http://www.jasc.com) and "Paint Shop Power Suite - Photo Edition" is available boxed for $119; Paint Shop Pro 8 is available for download for $79, $89 boxed.  You can download a trial version of Paint Shop Pro for free.  In the high-end imaging program arena, PC Photo magazine also lists Corel Photo Paint and Deneba Canvas 9.

There are plenty more imaging programs available.  Before you buy one, my advice is to decide what kind of and how much image editing you want to do, and how much effort you want to put into learning and using a program.  Then read up on what's available, try to find out if a program has what you want, talk to people in person and on line (web sites, e-mail and newsgroups), and download trial versions if they are available before you buy.

Photo by Mary Lou Reid

UpComing Meetings & Events

March 1, 2004 - HUPS Meeting
Terry Moore - British Virgin Islands

April 5, 2004 - HUPS Meeting
James Wiseman – Diving San Diego & Digital Tips

May 3, 2004 - HUPS Meeting
Dennis Deavenport – Photoshop Techniques
& David Lenderman – Shark!

June 5-6, 2004 – SEASPACE
http://www.seaspace.org

June 7, 2004 – HUPS Meeting
Special post-SEASPACE meeting – Marty Snyderman

FOR SALE

Four (4) Nikonos TTL sync cords $50 each Bose Headset – good condition $150 Contact Mary Lou Reid. *************

Ikelite 4200 Digital underwater light meter. $275

Sekonic MMII with bracket and UltraLight mount.  Extra batteries. $125

Ikelite flat port for 50 Micro Nikkor (#5502 for lenses < 3.5" max extension). $25

AquaLens dome port in very good condition.  This allows you to use any Nikon-mount compatible lens as an underwater wide angle lens on your Nikonos camera.  Note that a 20mm lens inside this dome port is equivalent in field of view to the Nikonos 15mm.  Included is a Vivitar 19 mm lens (good condition also) along with focusing and aperture rings.  Original cost of the AquaLens alone was $800.  All yours for $150 OBO.

Photos of these items are viewable at http://www.seabelow.com/uwphoto4sale.  All prices OR BEST OFFER.  Contact Dave Van Rooy at dvanrooy@seabelow.com.  Dave has been a member of HUPS for over 15 years and currently resides in Bali.  All equipment is in good working order, and he will guarantee money back if not satisfied.  Equipment is located in and will be shipped from Austin, TX.

HUPS Shootout 2004
By Leonard Cichowski

I am happy to announce that the 2004 edition of the HUPS Shootout will take place July 10-17, in the beautiful underwater paradise of Bonaire.  Our base of operations will be the Plaza Resort Bonaire.  For further information on this property, please visit their website.

The land package will cost approximately $877 and includes seven nights, six days of two tank boat dives, daily breakfast, unlimited shore diving, and each two bedroom villa will have a four door pickup for their use, whether for shore diving the wonderful close in dive sites or just "tooling" around the island.  Airfare will be around $696.40.  Thus, it will be a total of approximately $1573.40 per person.  A $200 deposit per person will be required to reserve your spot on this trip.  We plan to have a celebration dinner on the final night, which will cost an additional $26/person.  If you prefer the privacy of a one bedroom villa, add $314/person.

We will be diving with Toucan Divers.  Nitrox is available for $63.50 for unlimited fills for the week.  E-6 processing is available.  We plan to incorporate the resident photo pros into our shootout with an evening of slides and lecture as well as an evening of photo critiques.  Island Dreams Travel has also agreed to sponsor a one day photo contest.  First prize will be $300, $200, $100, for first, second, and third place respectfully.  Details on judging to follow.

I will be collecting deposits at the next meeting or they can be mailed to me.  The date on the check and/or postmark will determine priority and/or position on the waiting list.  You can mail your deposit to Leonard Cichowski.

We have 25 folks signed up and ready to dive.  If any of you would like to pay on your trip, you may do so by sending your check to Henry Ragland.

You can contact Island Dreams Travel if you would like to pay your airfare by credit card.  Please call or e-mail Tina Robinette-Miller at Island Dreams.  We are asking that monies be paid in full by April 1, so that we can deposit checks and get final payment to Island Dreams.  We will be working on room assignments in the upcoming week.

I would like to ask for volunteers to help plan evening festivities and help coordinate the trip, rules for the contest and judging.  My intent is to make this one of the most memorable shootouts to date.

Monthly Contest Winners
February 2004 - Sharks and/or Rays

Quick Tip

(If you have a tip that would be of interest to fellow members please email it to underh2o@mail.ev1.net)

Make sure your tank valve is open before you enter the water.  Sounds simple enough.  Most divers glance at their pressure gaue before entering the water.  They see the gauge reading a full tank, so they dive in.  This is not the best way to check for your valve being open.  Often when tank, BC and regulator are assembled, the air valve is opened to assure proper assembly and a full tank.  Many times the valve is then closed for the ride to the dive site.  Upon arrival at the divesite the gauge can still read 3000 psi, because the pressure from the initial check is still contained in the hoses.

If you were to dive in with this situation, you would have a few breaths to get you down to about 15 feet and that’s it.  With a heavy camera and empty BC, a very dangerous situation can develop.

To ensure that your tank valve is open, take a couple deep breaths while looking at your pressure gauge.  If the tank valve is not open, the pressure reading will fall with each breath.  If the needle bounces with each breath, this indicates the valve is only partially open.

Novice 1st Place, Drew Trent ©2004

Over the past year, quite a few prosumer (and all of the DSLR) cameras that have been released now provide the ability to shoot using the camera’s RAW image format.  This format differs slightly from camera to camera, but in general, a RAW file is a collection of the image data from each pixel before it has been processed by software in the camera (called firmware).  I like to think of a RAW file as a "digital negative" and as a JPEG as a "digital print."  The quality of the digital negative (RAW file) never degrades and it can always be re-used in the future to make an infinite number of different "digital prints."

As the RAW format becomes widely available, many digital shooters wonder if this format is "better" than shooting JPEG - of course, "better" often depends on the circumstances.  This short column will describe the difference between the two formats and pros and cons of shooting one versus the other.

Filesize and Bit-Depth
Digital SLR RAW files are 12 bits per pixel, as opposed to 8 bits for a JPEG.  Most RAW formats are not compressed at all, whereas JPEG’s are always compressed – the amount depends on the "quality" value that you set on the camera.  As a result, RAW files are MUCH larger.  As an example, 12 megapixel RAW files from the S2pro are 12 megabytes, and high quality 12 megapixel JPEG’s are about 4.8 megabytes.  On a six megapixel camera like the 10D or D100, raw files are 6 megabytes and JPEGS can be as low as 1 megabyte per file.  The difference is the bit-depth and compression.

So how important are the extra bits?  The answer is that they are VERY important!  Each bit represents a doubling of the recorded value, so 8 bits = 2^8 possible values of information and 12 bits = 2^12.  To put this in photographic terms – a bit = a stop.  Since a stop equals a doubling of recorded light and a bit equals a doubling of recorded information, it’s easy and correct to make this analogy.  So the practical implication is that shooting in RAW you can record FOUR STOPS more dynamic range than shooting in JPEG.  This is very important for shooting high-contrast scenes, such as sunbursts, whale sharks, etc.  The JPEG to the right (while not a good shot) is a good example of a high-contrast scene.

As you can see, the shot goes from almost pure black to almost pure white in the center of the sunburst.  The important feature of this shot – taken as a JPEG with the S2pro – is that there are really only 3 shades of blue in the water.  With a little flash fill, there are perhaps 3 shades of gray in the detail of the coral.  In total, there are only about 6-7 stops of range in this shot.  Closing down to f11 or f22 would have helped darken the water a bit, but would require a much more powerful flash for foreground fill.  The "take home" message is to use RAW to capture as many shades of blue as possible – resulting in beautiful smooth blue backgrounds.

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RAW vs. JPEG from previous column

F8 @ 1/125th JPEG from the S2pro

RAW File Converters and Photoshop
A RAW file converter takes the place of the camera’s firmware, and uses your computer’s processing power to turn a RAW file into a JPEG or a TIFF.  Photoshop CS now comes with a converter for many cameras, and many high-end digital cameras come with their own software (example: Nikon Capture or Fuji EX2.0).  Because the converter can be set to make a TIFF file, no information is lost via file compression.  Another awesome capability is exposure correction or “pushing” using the converter.  Because of the great amount of information contained in a RAW file, the exposure can usually be corrected up or down by at least a stop, and many times 1 & 1/2 to 2 stops.

Post Processing vs Camera Firmware Processing

As stated above, digital camera firmware converts the RAW sensor data into a JPEG file though a complicated process.  Every camera does it differently and it’s hard to say exactly what each model does.  The firmware assigns RGB values to each pixel, chops off 4 bits from the image, usually in the shadows, and then applies a white balance.  Next, the firmware sets contrast, color curves, sharpness, saturation, etc.  Finally, a compression level is set and the file is saved as a JPEG.  Since every camera performs this process differently, two different camera models with the same settings will result in very different images.  Shooting RAW leaves these decisions up to you, the photographer, to set in post-processing.  Because of the full feature set of the RAW converters available, usually it is possible to correct an image (setting all of the above parameters yourself) without ever using Photoshop.  If you don’t have time to process each shot, you can use the default converter values and the white balance recorded by the camera and you are no "worse off" than if you had just shot a JPEG.  If/when you have more time later, you can go back to a good shot’s "digital negative" and really work with the image to make it look its best.

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RAW vs. JPEG from page 5

I’ve put together a summary table of pros and cons of shooting the two formats:

Hopefully this short column has cleared up some questions about the RAW file format.  If you’d like to learn more, you can find many "RAW Format GURUs" in the Image Processing, Printing, and Storage forum at Wetpixel.

SEASPACE Wants You!

SEASPACE is a non-profit organization founded in 1969 by the Houston Underwater Club.  Proceeds of the show benefit the SEASPACE Permanent Education Fund, which over the last 34 years has awarded over $370,000 in scholarships and grants for study in environmental and marine-related fields.  The organization is run by volunteers committed to the understanding and protection of the marine environment.

So, what can the HUPS members do to help?  First of all, sign up as a SEASPACE volunteer.  You will have a good time and get a cool shirt.  To volunteer, contact the volunteer coordinator, Debbie Roman.

Secondly, SEASPACE is always looking for items to be included in the silent auction.  The proceeds from the auction go directly to the scholarship fund.  In 2003, the silent auction raised over $23,000 for college scholarships.  Your donation should be tax deductible per US IRS regulations, but check with your tax accountant.  Large photographic prints of underwater subjects would be great items to include in the auction.  If you have something to donate to the auction, contact Jean and Greg Truax.

Humorous Book for Hungry Divers
By Jesse Cancelmo

If you want to check out a cool recipe or just want a chuckle, browse through the "Diver's Guide to the Kitchen," by Joan Forsberg, ISBN 0-9679976-3-1.  It captures the culinary secrets and humorous quotes from the likes of Paul Humann, Ernie Brooks, Stan Waterman, Wes Skiles, Emory Kristoff, Robert Balard, Jack Drafahl, and numerous others including (for some unknown reason), yours truly.  I really don't cook, but I really do like to eat.

Member Profile – Craig Ruax

I'm an Australian expatriate, living in central Texas and working at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University.  I spent a decade in private veterinary practice before seeing the light and returning to the comfy halls of academia.

I started diving as a way of filling in the time while writing up my PhD thesis, and was certified in the slightly brisk waters of Moreton Bay, Brisbane, Australia in 1998.  I have subsequently gradually slid my way up the ladder of dive certification, and am currently a divemaster; I help train the up and coming divers in the TAMU recreational sports program.

I have been a hobbyist photographer above water since I was about 8 years old.  My first serious camera was a Canon AE-1, followed by the AE-1 program, some Minolta bodies, Mamiya medium format SLR, Toyoview view camera...  Then I took the red pill and went Nikon.  I progressed to housing my N6006 in an Ikelite housing, was happy with this for a while, then upgraded my camera body to an F100, sold the n6006 and housing, and at the time of writing don't actually have a housing for any form of SLR.  I have and use a little Olympus 3040 in a pt-10 housing, and have been able to borrow/beg some very nice wide-angle equipment (Nikonos V, 15mm lens, that sort of stuff) from a friend as I need it, which keeps me shooting while I vacillate about which dSLR I would like.

TGCC Banquet

This year well over 20 HUPS members attended the annual TGCC Awards Banquet.  We all had a good time and ate too much.  A little old food borne illness can’t slow us down.  HUPS along with several other local dive clubs presented awards to members for various accomplishments.

Member of the Year, Joe Nicklo (right) accepting his award from HUPS President Dennis Deavenport.

Advanced Photographer of the Year, Jackie Reid (right) accepting his award from Dennis Deavenport.

Novice Photographer of the Year, Sue Watson (right) accepts her award from the ubiquitous Dennis Deavenport.

Our first ever Digital Photographer of the Year, Ken Knezick (left), accepting his award.

Digital Contest Change

If you plan to enter the HUPS DIGITAL contest this month or the rest of the year, keep reading.  In an effort to prevent problems, we need all entries to be mailed to Dennis Deavenport AND James Wiseman.  Please copy both when emailing digital entries.  Remember, they are due 48 hours before the meeting.

Epson Print Academy in Houston March 20th

So, want to learn more about digital printing options, digital workflow, etc.?  Check out Epson Print Academy on line.  This is a traveling workshop put together by Epson.  As one of the leaders in photo printers, Epson has lots to offer.

Nikon School of Photography in Houston

In March, the Nikon School of Photography will be hosting two digital photography classes in Houston.  "Digital 101" will be held March 13, and "Digital 201" will be offered March 14.  Digital 101 is suited to those considering a digital camera and to newer digital photographers.  If you consider yourself an advanced digital shooter, you may be interested in Digital 201.  To learn more about these classes check it out on line.

The Houston Underwater Photographic Society (HUPS) meets the first Monday of every month at 7:00PM at the Bayland Community Center, 6400 Bissonet, near Hillcroft.

Social time begins at 7:00PM for members and visitors to get acquainted. Visitors are always welcome to join us. So, stop by and see what we are all about!