February 7th Meeting with Anne Millioud and Chuck Roberts
Raja Ampat - "The Newest Dive Mecca"

By Chuck Jensen

Anne Millioud and Chuck Roberts will present a 2-projector synched program of their October 2004 diving trip to Raja Ampat (Indonesia) aboard the exclusive live-aboard Ikan Gurami.  They spent 12 days diving, visiting villages, looking for the elusive Birds of Paradise...and eating lots of Indonesian hot peppers for which the chef, Gusti, had quite the gusto.  This trip was an opportunity for Anne and Chuck, as well as dive guide Graham Abbott of Diving 4 Images, to explore and discover new dive sites - from reef extensions of ridge islands, swale reef gardens between outcrops, black sand, to piers and docks.  They found everything from pelagics to barely visible Graham critters.

The islands of Misool, Waigeo, Batanta, Fam, and Gam are not only rich in their underwater biodiversity, but are also very beautiful topside.  The scenery varies from the surreal limestone islands naturally sculpted by the wind and sea, to the idyllic coconut-lined white sand beaches of Batangpele.  On the way home, they stopped in Bali to regain their land legs, hiking around the rice fields of Eastern Bali.

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February Meeting from previous column

Anne Millioud and Chuck Roberts have been HUPS members since the early nineties.  Anne presented her first HUPS slide show on Fiji in 1992.  Both learned to dive while living in Alaska (Anne's idea), after which time they opted for warmer water diving.  They have dived in the Caribbean, Tahiti, Fiji, Aldabra (Seychelles), Sea of Cortez, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Red Sea, and most recently in Indonesia.  Anne uses a Nikonos RS underwater camera.  Although Chuck typically dives with a pointer rather than a camera, Anne convinced Chuck on this trip to capture images of the unusual critters that he enjoys finding.  Donning Jackie Reid's Nikonos RS, 50mm lens, and Mary Lou's 2x teleconverter, Chuck earned the nickname of the "2X man" by the end of the trip.  You don’t want to miss this exciting presentation on what is being called, "The Newest Dive Mecca" so remember the meetings are starting sharply at 7pm now with social time starting at 6:45pm.  See you there!

Let’s Dive....
Chuck

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.

A Special Thank You

For those of you who were not able to attend the January meeting, you missed a real treat and a great way to start the New Year!  Frank and Joyce Burek put on a fantastic show, sharing their research knowledge and images from the Flower Garden Marine Sanctuary and The Bay Islands of Honduras.  Frank told of their early film point and shoot camera days to the present day Fuji S2 they are capturing images with now.  Joyce explained why they are staying with the reliable A-100 Ikelite Strobe instead of moving onto the newer versions as they come out (If it isn’t broke don’t fix it).  The program was excellent with many exciting new images.  They had images from the coral spawning on the Flower Gardens to a beautiful coral that had made its way to the Gulf from the Indo-Pacific through Bonaire.  As usual, we are very fortunate to have the Bureks in our family!  Thanks Frank and Joyce for a superb performance, sharing your wealth of knowledge.  Keep up the good work!

President's Message
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Well, I finally made the "digital plunge."  I’ve been threatening to buy an underwater digital system for about 3 years.  James Wiseman told me a while ago to stop talking about it and go buy something.  I finally took his advice.

So, what in the heck does it take to switch over from film to digital?  In two words... A Bunch.  My slide system was a couple of Canon bodies, miscellaneous lenses, an Ikelite housing, and assorted Ikelite strobes and arms.  The first decision I had to make was: Do I stay with Canon or go cold-turkey and buy everything new?  That wasn’t too difficult.  I like my Canon lenses a lot so I figured I’d stay with Canon.  Next decision was which camera body?  It was really only a choice between the Canon Rebel (6.3 mega pixel) and the 20D (8.2 mega pixel).  Both deliver excellent hi-resolution images but there are subtle differences in performance that favor the 20D.  I guess I’m a resolution snob since I chose the 20D.  The fact that James had also decided to buy one gave me that extra bit of confidence that this was probably the right move.  I figured if "Dr. Wetpixel" thought it was a good system, then it must be.  We had a few good phone conversations about all of this which definitely helped.  Thanks James.  In addition to James, I talked with Leonard Cichowski (also thinking about the 20D) to get his input.

Another factor was when I learned that Ikelite was selling a 20D housing that fully supports Canon’s ETTL II autoflash exposure system.  Of course it only works with their DS-125 strobe.  Major bummer... all my old strobes are now pretty much obsolete or I have to use them on manual.  Oh well, like I figured, not everything was going to be smooth and simple.  So now, I’m looking at a new housing and a new strobe (more $$’s).  There is a silver lining to this however.  All of my lens ports, cables, and arms, etc., are perfectly compatible.  Finally I get to save some money!

Now I’m all done, right?  Very wrong!  I don’t own a portable PC and my company would promptly stuff me in the 4th level of Dante’s Hell if I used my work portable.  There are a lot more decisions to be made here... weight, size, memory, HD capacity, CD/DVD burners, portable hard disks, and the list goes on and on.  That’s where I am now.  Oh, did I mention software to read and manipulate RAW image files?  Luckily, Canon supplies a knocked down, but functional program for doing that.  James tells me that it’s junk and go get the upgrade to Photoshop CS (more $$’s).

Getting the picture?  It’s not your father’s Buick.  I guess I’m hoping that this little estimonial might be useful for others out there facing the same decisions.

You have to know that there are a lot of different ways to get started in underwater digital.

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President's Message from previous column

Some systems are a lot simpler and cheaper to get into and they give excellent results.  For example, Ken Knezick, winner of the first two HUPS’ Digital Photographer of the Year awards, uses a relatively simple Olympus system... proof that it ain’t the equipment that makes a great photographer.  It’s the soul of the artist that carries the day.

One of the benefits of HUPS membership is the network of people that can give excellent advice to help you slog through the "decisions, decisions, and more decisions" required to come up with the right choice for you and your budget.

Hope to see you at the next meeting, Monday, February 7th.  As always, we’ll have a great presentation and lots of fun things to do.  Don’t forget to get there a little earlier.  We need to kick off our meetings promptly at 7 pm in order to get everything done by 9 pm.

Dennis

Gemini - The Twins

This month’s photo contest topic is Gemini – The Twins.  Images entered should include two of any one species.  Two French Angels, two spiny lobster, two whalesharks, you get the point.  We will have both slide and digital contests.  Entries for the slide contest should be brought to the meeting.  Entries for the digital contest should be mailed to photocontest@hups.org at least 24 hours prior to the meeting.  This mailbox is reserved for entries only.  If you have a question regarding the digital contest e-mail James Wiseman or Dennis Deavenport.  For more tips on digital entries please see the article on page 3 of this newsletter.  See complete contest rules.  If you do not follow the rules for digital entries your images will not be judged.  And most important: you can’t win if you don’t enter.

Monthly Contest Winners
January 2005 – Pisces – Fish Portraits

Digital
1st	Ken Knezick
2nd Tie	Ken Knezick, Christa Loustalot, James Wiseman
3rd Tie	James Wiseman x2
Slide - Novice
1st	Dennis Vernon
2nd	John Ringrose
3rd Tie	Check Jensen, Dennis Vernon
Slide - Advanced
1st	David Lenderman
2nd	David Lenderman
3rd Tie	Mary Lou Reid, Dennis Deavenport x2

The e-mail address to send your digital entries for the HUPS Digital Photo Contest is finally ready for action!  Use it starting with the December Best of HUPS Digital contest.  We had to set up a special e-mail account on the HUPS web server, because receiving a lot of image files can fill up a regular e-mail Inbox very quickly.  To make sure the photo contest coordinator gets your picture okay, please observe the following:

1. You can enter up to three images in the contest.  The image files need to be JPEG/JPGs, and the size of each file should be less than 500 KB.  The resolution of the projector is 1,024 pixels horizontally by 768 pixels vertically, so images must be no larger than that.  Horizontal images with a 4:3 aspect ratio fit can be sized to 1,024 by 768 pixels exactly.  Vertical images with a 3:4 aspect ratio can be no larger than 576 by 768 pixels -- a vertical format image can be wider than 576 pixels, but no taller than 768 pixels.  I.e., your image must be no wider than 1,024 pixels, and no taller than 768 pixels.  See the complete rules for the digital contest on the web site.

One thing about digital is you don't have to stick to regular aspect ratios.  For example, a horizontal format image with a 5:4 aspect ratio could be 960 pixels wide by 768 pixels tall, and a 5:3 aspect could be 1,024 by 614 pixels.  A vertical format image with a 4:5 aspect ratio could be 614 pixels wide by 768 pixels tall, and a 3:5 aspect could be 461 by 768 pixels.  Or you can have any oddball aspect ratio; for example, you could have a horizontal image that's 1,024 pixels wide by 700 pixels tall, and a vertical image could be 700 pixels wide by 768 pixels tall.  The point is that the width of your image must be no more than 1,024 pixels, and the height must be no more than 768 pixels, whether it's vertical, horizontal or even square.

2. Open a new e-mail message, and address it to photocontest@hups.org.  Attach your image file(s).  Check documentation for your e-mail application on how to attach files to messages.

3. Please note, if you are using Microsoft Outlook as your e-mail application, you must Format the message as Plain Text.  Click "Format" on the menu bar, and then select "Plain Text".  If the message isn't sent as Plain Text, Outlook could send a file called Winmail.dat that Microsoft designed to hold the message's format and fonts, and it also contains attached image file(s).  Our mail application can't read Microsoft's Winmail.dat file.  So send your message as Plain Text.  This is the only "gotcha" I know about and I hope there aren't any others, but it's not possible to test every e-mail application that anybody might have.

4. Send the message to photocontest@hups.org, and good luck with the contest!

UpComing Meetings & Events

February 7, 2005 - HUPS Meeting
  Anne Millioud & Chuck Roberts - Raja Ampat
March 7, 2005 - HUPS Meeting
  James Wiseman
April 4, 2005 - HUPS Meeting
  Jesse Cancelmo
May 2, 2005 - HUPS Meeting
  Jeff Penn - Nikon Representative
June 4 & 5, 2005 - SEASPACE
June 6, 2005 - HUPS Meeting - Post-SEASPACE
  Photographer Norbert Wu
July 16-23, 2005 - HUPS Shootout
  Scuba Club, Cozumel

FOR SALE Complete computer editing system for slides, film & digital shot editing.  This system comes with a Compaq computer, monitor, keyboard, Nikon Coolscan LS10E with Photoshop editing software and MS Windows.  Instruction booklet also comes with this good, ready to use "turnkey" unit.  $399 Contact John Anderson.

Basic Digital Image Editing
By Pat Miller - HUPS.ORG Webmaster

When you have your image from your digital camera or scanner on your computer, what are you going to do with it?  You need to have a standard workflow to process, edit and save that image.  You want to make it look as good as you can and then share it, whether by e-mail, posting to a web site, making a screensaver, computer slide show, etc., or any kind of hardcopy print (paper, canvas, t-shirt transfers, etc.).  Right?  I hope you agree, because that’s where I’m going in this article.

To make it simple, you should have a basic image editing process that you can run a picture through first thing.  You can be flexible; you can do more or less to an image if you think it’s called for.  But to simplify your workflow and spend less of your time in front of your computer, you should know some basic steps and how to apply them.

I have been using Adobe Photoshop software for image editing for a long time, and I upgraded to Photoshop CS several months ago.  The editing steps below appear in order going down the Adobe Photoshop menu.  But almost all of these steps ought to be available in almost any image editing program, although they may be called something else.  You should follow the steps in order, because certain tools can modify results of other tools.  For example, if you do color correction and then adjust levels, the Levels operation can change the colors you already corrected.

1.  First, do not edit your original.  Save your original image in a safe place - it’s best to back it up to CD or DVD so if your computer’s hard drive crashes you won’t lose it - then make a duplicate of the original.  While you’re at it, give it a name that is meaningful to you.  Work on your image and save it in a lossless file format such as TIF/TIFF or BMP or PSD (Photoshop) or PSP (JASC Paint Shop Pro).  Don’t save, edit and resave your image in a JPG/JPEG format because image data will be lost due to compression.  JPG/JPEG files are smaller computer files and take up less space on your hard drive and digital camera’s memory card than other file formats, because JPG/JPEG compression throws away data.

For example, say you took a picture of a manta ray at the Flower Gardens in August 2004 - everybody’s got a Flower Gardens manta ray, right? - and your digital camera gives you an image file called P1010031.JPG.  Start your imaging software and open P1010031.JPG, then under the File menu, select Save As..., select a lossless file format (TIF/TIFF or BMP or...), and name the file something like, "MantaRayFlowerGardens8-04.TIF".  Then start editing "MantaRayFlowerGardens8-04.TIF" and you can save it to your hard drive as often as you like while you work.

2.  The Levels – Histogram tool in Photoshop could be considered an exposure adjustment tool, to adjust the range of brightness from blackest black to the whitest white – shadows, midtones and highlights.

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Image Editing from previous column

I checked information on a few other popular image editing programs, and besides Photoshop, a Levels or Histogram tool is available in Adobe Elements, JASC Paint Shop Pro, and Microsoft Picture It!.

3.  The Curves tool allows you to fine tune brightness levels.  Well, it doesn’t look like Elements, Paint Shop Pro or Picture It! has this tool.  But you should be able to find some way to accomplish the same thing if you are running something besides Photoshop.  Maybe you might be able to tweak your software’s Levels/Histogram tool.

4.  The Color Balance tool lets you tweak the colors and hues.  For example, you might need to turn down the blue of the ocean a little and bring out some other colors in the photo subject, like a fish or a coral head.

5.  Hue/Saturation is another color correction tool.  You will have color and hue/saturation tools in imaging software other than Photoshop.

6.  Crop and resize.  If you have a computer with a fair amount of horsepower – a fast processor, a decent amount of memory and unused disk space – then the best thing to do is perform these basic editing steps on your full-size image.  Then save it – this is your full-size edited image.  Then resize and/or crop it for how you intend to use it.

Say you have a 6.2 megapixel camera that gives you an image that’s 2,832 by 2,138 pixels, and you want to send it to friends in e-mail.  Some of the most common computer screen sizes are 800 by 600 pixels, or 1,024 by 768, or 1,280 by 1,024 pixels.  So the full-size image (2,832 by 2,138) is way too big to display on a computer screen.  You should use your imaging software to resize it to less than 800 by 600 to be sure it will fit most computer screens.

If your computer is kind of old and the hard drive is nearly full, and your full-size image is large and your imaging software is awfully slow when you are working on the image, then you may want to resize the image (make it smaller) and crop it first, and then apply the editing steps above.  That might make editing faster.  But you don’t get an edited full-size version, and your hard drive will continue to fill up.  To get faster performanace, one solution is to delete old, unused stuff from your hard drive, and defragment your hard drive (see Help on your computer for instructions on how to defragment a hard drive).  Other solutions include adding another hard drive or more memory.  Or you might buy a new computer (gasp!) and dedicate it for image editing.

7.  Sharpen.  Sharpening the image should be last, after resizing.  Now save it again to a new file name.  Don’t save it to the same file name, because that will write over your full-size edited image.  If you do that then you won’t be able to go back to it and resize it for other applications.

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Image Editing from page 4

For example, say you saved your original manta picture to a file named "MantaRayFlowerGardens8-04.TIF" at 2,832 by 2,138 pixels, then you edited it to your liking, resized it to 700 by 528 pixels to send in e-mail, and then sharpened it.  Now, if you simply save it again, you have lost (overwritten) your edited 2,832 by 2,138-pixel image, and "MantaRayFlowerGardens8-04.TIF" is now only 700 by 528 pixels.  If you want to make, say, an 8 by 10-inch print later, sorry - 700 by 528 is not enough pixels for a nice print.  You’ll have to go find your original 2,832 by 2,138-pixel file - what was it called again, P1010031.JPG? and where did you save it? - edit it again, and then resize it to an 8 by 10-inch print size.

Instead, once you have edited the 2,832 by 2,138-pixel "MantaRayFlowerGardens8-04.TIF" the way you want, save it - you might save it as "MantaRayFlowerGardens8-04-2832x2138.TIF".  Then after resizing it to 700 by 528 pixels for e-mail and sharpening it, save it to new file name, such as "MantaRayFlowerGardens8-04-700x528.TIF".  This way you have your full-size edited image and the smaller image saved, and you can go back to the full-size image to do something else with it if you want to.  Actually in this scenario - making an image for e-mail or posting on the Internet - you should the final image in a JPG/JPEG format, but only after you have finished all editing.  JPG/JPEG images are smaller due to compression, e.g., 80 KB rather than 700 KB, and are easier to transmit on the Internet.

With respect to making prints (on paper), for best print quality you want as close to 300 pixels per inch (ppi) as you can get - you don’t need more than 300 ppi.  For an 8 by 10-inch print ideally you want 3,000 by 2,400 pixels (300 times 10 inches = 3,000 pixels, and 300 times 8 inches = 2,400 pixels).  But in the example above, with 2,832 by 2,138 pixels that isn’t possible.  You need to use about 267 pixels per inch (2,138 pixels divided by 8 inches = 267 pixels per inch).

What I intend to do in future articles is spend a little space describing the Levels - Histogram, Curves, Color Balance, and Hue/Saturation tools.  The digital age is here, and we can do things on our computers that only professional labs used to be able to do.  I hope you are as pleased about it as I am.

And the Winners Are...
By Dennis Deavenport

Every year, HUPS gives awards to those exceptional members who have shown outstanding ability to create consistently interesting and beautiful UW photographs and digital images.  We also honor a single individual who has contributed his or her time and talent to making HUPS a better organization.

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Winners from previous column

This year, we are honored to announce the winners of our Photographer of the Year for Digital, Novice Slides, Advanced Slides and HUPS Member of the Year.

Novice Photographer of the Year (Slides)
Joe Nicklo

Advanced Photographer of the Year (Slides)
David Lenderman & Jackie Reid (tie)

Photographer of the Year (Digital)
Ken Knezick

Member of the Year
David Lenderman

We will honor all of our winners at the Texas Gulf Coast Council of Dive Clubs (TGCC) Banquet that will be held Feb 5th at the Monument Inn.  Please join with me in congratulating these most deserving members.  If you wish to join other HUPS members at the awards banquet, tickets will be available for $35 at the door.  If you act very quickly there may still be time to get tickets at the pre-sale price of $25.  For more information contact Frank Burek.  Maps and directions are available from http://www.monumentinn.com.  The cash bar opens at 6 pm and dinner begins at 7 pm.  Come join us for an evening of good food and good fun.

Upgrading Your Digital Camera Kit
My Experiences Switching from Nikon to Canon
By James Wiseman

In November 2004, I decided to switch camera systems from Nikon to Canon.  Over the last few months, I have been selling and buying cameras, lenses, and underwater housings.  Now that my switch-over is complete, I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences in case other photographers are considering doing the same thing I’ve done.  In this article, I’ll cover the "why," the "how," and the "impact" of the process so that the reader can understand my motivation, as well as what’s involved in the switch.

A photo from my first dive with a digital camera - a Coolpix 990 in an Ikelite housing, no strobe.

Many people began underwater photography with an Olympus 5050 and are now deciding to upgrade to a digital SLR rig.  To say that my story is a bit more complicated would be an understatement.  I began underwater photography with the best-in-class 3-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 990 in an Ikelite housing.  About a year later I upgraded to the newer version of the Coolpix - a redesigned body with a 5-megapixel sensor.  Both of these compact cameras retailed for under $1,000 and there were excellent compact Ikelite housings available.

A photo from my first dive trip with the Coolpix 5000 - by this time I'd learned to use a strobe. Coolpix 5000 in an Ikelite hosing and a Nikon SB102 strobe.

Eventually, I decided that I’d like a camera with interchangeable lenses and a better sensor.  At the time, there were only two cameras available in my price range, the Canon D30 and the Fuji S1pro.

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Digital Upgrade from previous column

I decided on the Fuji because I liked the Nikon system and a friend was selling his camera body in anticipation of the upcoming S2pro.  I sold all my Coolpix equipment and bought the DSLR body and a 60mm Micro lens.  I didn’t think I’d house the S1pro, but I thought it would be a good chance for me to learn about SLR photography - and that I could sell it to purchase the upcoming D100 or S2pro.  That first DSLR with its no-lag shutter and great image quality served its purpose - it had me hooked!  When the Nikon F-mount D100 and the Fuji S2pro were announced, I had a hard time deciding which body to upgrade to, but I decided that the TTL flash-metering and higher resolution made the S2pro a better camera for me, despite the $400 additional cost and the fact that the camera had a stupid "Finepix" logo on the prism, instead of the more popular Nikon emblem.  Somehow I ended up #1 on the Ritz preorder list for this camera and I think I might have gotten camera #1 in the US - which I promptly sent off to Ikelite to see if it would fit in one of their housings.

Testing the Fuji S2pro in the prototype Ikelite housing. I found out that the Sigma 14mm lens could focus within the Ikelite port.

I remember calling Ikelite after they received my camera and talking with professional photographer Franklin Viola and Brett from Ikelite who were working to house Franklin’s Nikon D1x.  I remember Brett telling me that he thought the images from the $2,400 S2pro beat the stuffing out of images from Franklin’s $5,000 D1x.  After using the S2pro for 2 years it was time to upgrade while the S2 body still had some good resale value.  Nikon and Fuji wouldn’t be releasing a new body for what looked like at least six months to a year, so I looked at the full frame Kodak.  Their new ProSLRn was out and users were reporting that many of the bugs in the original Kodak 14n had been fixed and this full-frame 14-megapixel camera looked to be a significant upgrade over the S2pro.  Since the bodies were so similar, I was already familiar with the controls and Aquatica had plans for a housing, so the camera would serve me above and below water.  I was also gearing up for a major offshore project where I knew I would want to shoot lots of photos for my clients.  I shot over 3,000 topsides photos and really loved the image quality from the camera, but after two dives with the Kodak, I decided it wasn’t what I was looking for in an underwater camera system.  I sold all of my Nikon gear, including all of my lenses and switched to a Canon 1DmkII and a stable of Canon lenses.

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Digital Upgrade from page 6

Why So Many Different Cameras?
So why have I switched cameras so many times?  Why aren’t I still shooting with my 3-megapixel Coolpix 990?  These questions strike to the heart of digital photography - as we all know, it’s a "fast developing technology" but what does that mean in real life?  Well, of course, cameras have changed from using film to using a digital sensor but the bodies haven’t changed much.  A compact digicam still looks and functions the same as a film point and shoot, and digital SLR bodies are very similar to their film counterparts, but there is one HUGE difference - with a digital camera, the "film" cannot be changed.

As semiconductor technology advances, newer sensors are designed and used in new cameras, but it is rarely to never possible to just change the sensor in a digital camera – instead you have to buy a new one.  I have observed that sensor resolution (in number of pixels) has been doubling about every two years.  At the same time, noise - or what looks like the graininess in digital photos - has been reduced with each new sensor design.

Since most people, and especially underwater photographers, want the constraining factor in their art to be the person behind the camera, there is a strong urge to upgrade when newer and better equipment is available.  I’ve tried to follow a guideline of not buying a new camera until something on the camera doubles – usually this is the sensor megapixels, but it can also be a two-fold increase in lens and autofocus quality (consumer to DSLR) or a cropped to full-frame sensor (S2pro to Kodak ProSLRn).

But more to the point, why did I go to the trouble of switching from Nikon to Canon, with all the hassles of buying and selling, as well as learning how to control a totally new camera?  The first thing I need to say is that I didn’t switch because I didn’t like the camera I owned, I switched because I thought I could do better with Canon for the total underwater system of camera, housing, ports, and lenses.  To best explain this, I’ve put together a short bulleted list:

Nikon Stagnation
For underwater use, there isn’t an f-mount camera available that is a significant improvement over the D100 or Fuji S2pro.  These two bodies are small and light, but they could both use bigger viewfinders and they are "only" 6 megapixels.  Fuji has finally started selling their S3pro with great image quality, but it’s bigger, has the same viewfinder and is still a 6-megapixel DX cropped sensor camera.  Nikon has delayed and delayed the D2x and it’s still not for sale.  It’s a big pro camera, but it still has a DX cropped sensor.  Nikon hasn’t announced a replacement for the D100 yet, and even when they do, given Nikon’s track record, it will be 6 months to a year before it’s for sale and perhaps even over a year before a housing will be available.

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Digital Upgrade from previous column

Clear Upgrade Path
Canon’s pro camera upgrade path is clear for me, as their 1D series body has not changed significantly since the original 1D was introduced in 2001.  Currently, there are four Canon bodies that will all fit in the same housing: the 1D, 1Ds, 1DmkII, and 1DsmkII.  I can’t currently afford the new 1DsmkII with its 16-megapixel full frame sensor, but I can afford the 8-megapixel 1DmkII.  Some day in the future, the price of the 16-megapixel camera will come down and I’ll be able to buy one and use it in my housing.  The housings for this body are expensive, but the units made by Subal and Seacam are both excellent and I’d expect either of them to provide years of service.  I think I’ll be happily using the 1DsmkII through 2006 - that means a housing purchased for the 1D or 1Ds in 2003 could still be in use 3 or 4 years later - something unprecedented for an underwater digital camera system.

Camera Body Lineup
A side benefit of switching to the Canon system is that I can use my lenses with their bigger lineup of DSLR bodies.  Currently, Canon has the consumer 300D, the prosumer 20d, and the professional 1D bodies.  The 20D camera IS a D100 replacement, with its excellent low noise 8-megapixel sensor, snappy internal software, and 5 fps shooting ability.  I intend to house one of these for my dive buddy to use.

TTL Flash Control
Canon has finally developed a digital flash system that is on the same level as Nikon’s with their eTTL2.  It’s a preflash system like the Nikon iTTL, so requires special strobes, but it’s been decoded by Ikelite who offers an eTTL2 housing.  The housing is small and light and with the eTTL2 circuit and Ike’s manual/autofocus port it will be easy to use for great macro photography.

That’s all for Part 1.  Next month, I’ll talk about: How I Did the Switch, Camera Body Differences, Lens Selection, and Underwater Support.

Advanced 3rd place - Mary Lou Reid ©2005

HUPS Shootout 2005

Once again it is time to think about setting your sights for our annual shootout.  This coming year, the event will take place in Cozumel.  So, far we have 6 of the 24 available spots filled.  Cutoff time for the airfare reservations is May 2, 2005.

The property, Scuba Club Cozumel (formerly The Galapago Inn) is an all inclusive (except bar bill) dive property that HUPS has successfully used in the past for several of our shootouts.  For more information on this outstanding dive lodge check out their web site.  Cozumel is rated as one of the top dive destinations in the Caribbean and with the short flight time from Houston, we are virtually diving in our backyard.  Hopefully you will consider joining us for another year of great diving, camaraderie and friendly competition.  HUPS Shootouts are a great opportunity to make new friends and improve your photography skills.

Details of the trip are as follows:
DATES of TRAVEL: Saturday, July 16 through Saturday, July 23, 2005

AIRFARE: $429.75 per person, round-trip, including taxes

LODGING: Scuba Club Cozumel.  $840.00 per person, based on double occupancy

This pricing represents $750 + 12% tax = $840
Package includes 7 nights lodging, 6 days of 2-tank boat diving, one boat night dive, unlimited shore diving, all meals and hotel taxes.

TRANSFERS: Round-trip meet and greet and taxi transfer is $18 per person

PACKAGE COST: $429.75 + $840.00 + $18.00 = $1,287.75

I will be taking deposits for $100/person.  At present, there are 18 slots available.  Make checks payable to HUPS.  Contact and send your deposits to Leonard Cichowski.

Ken Knezick and Island Dreams have worked hard to put together this wonderful package.  Updates will be forthcoming.

Tex Mex Anyone?

For last several months a small group of HUPS members have been going to Don Carlos Mexican Restaurant following our monthly meetings.  Care to join us?  Leaving Bayland go left on Bissonnet, left on Hillcroft and right on 59 north bound feeder road.  It’s about 100 yards on the right.  Can’t miss it.  Save some salsa for me.

HUPS Tsunami Relief Fund

The January meeting brought many things to ponder following the tsunami disaster of gigantic proportions in the Indian Ocean.  The loss of life and destruction of homes and businesses and the general disruption of communications have had a profound impact on a part of the world that many of us have come to love.  As divers and lovers of the environment, the waters and cultures of Indonesia, Thailand, and the Indian Ocean have become a passion that requires repeated visits.  To see how a single spasm of the sea and earth can destroy so much in so little time is hard to comprehend, especially for the ones of us that are so sheltered and fortunate.

What can we possibly do to show our support and help those that are in so much trouble and grief?  In truth, there are only a few things that can make a difference and money is one of them.  Donations to HUPS Tsunami Relief Fund will be transferred to a reputable charity organization to ensure that our dollars will be used to aid the victims of the disaster.

At the February 8th meeting, we will be taking cash and checks made out to HUPS so we can make a single combined contribution.  We will make out receipts for all contributions so your donations can be tax deductible.  Please join us in reaching down into your pockets so we can collectively reach out to those who need it most.

Quick Tip

Think like a photographer and not a snap shooter.  Spend your dive time trying to get a few great images of a couple awesome subjects.  Don’t swim back and forth across the reef trying to document every critter on the reef.  Concentrate on those stunning subjects with an attractive background that will create contest-winning images.  Be selective.

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

Digital 2nd place - James Wiseman ©2005

Check it out on the Web

This month’s link is not directly related to underwater photography but is worth checking out.  Take a look at http://www.underwatertimes.com/.  It describes itself as "the daily journal of life in and around the water."  It’s basically an online newspaper with all articles water related.  Some articles are funny, some serious, but all are interesting.  The site is owned and run by an underwater photographer named Jeff Dudas.  Before moving out west and joining Nothern California UPS he was a member of HUPS.

Fortune Cookie Quote of the Month
"A talent that is not shared is not a talent."

This means all you talented photographers need to get out there and share your images.  You can always sign on to give a program at HUPS or another area dive club.  There are several Houston area dive clubs and they are always happy to have HUPS members as presenters.  Even better - volunteer to give a presentation to your church youth group, your neighbor kid’s scout troop, science class at your kids school, etc.  Get out there, show your images, talk about the importance and fragility of coral reefs.  You will have fun and your audience will thank you.

Macro or Wide - How to Decide?
By David Lenderman

Many underwater photographers seem to be afraid to shoot wide angle.  Often they have had mixed results with wide-angle in the past so they prefer to stick to less challenging macro work.  Some dives are better suited to macro photography, some for wide-angle.

Should you set your camera up for macro critters or wide-angle reef scenes?  This is often a difficult choice.  Before you commit to one or another on a dive you should do some homework.  The first place to start is with the dive guide.  A photo savvy guide can be very helpful.  He can tell you about the site that you will be diving.  Is it a muck dive or a wall dripping with soft corals?  Next look at the weather conditions.  Is it sunny or overcast?  Is the surface rough or flat?  Is the site oriented so that you can include the sun in your photos?  How is the visibility?  What about current?

The ideal conditions for wide-angle photography include:

Good visibility – low visibility equals backscatter.  This is especially true when you are further from your subject and you include blue water in your image as often is the case with wide-angle photos.

continued top of next column

 
Macro or Wide from previous column

Sunny sky – the sun will penetrate the water helping to provide ambient lighting for the background and any areas not illuminated by the strobe.  Big, white, puffy clouds are often visible from underwater and can add interest to photos.

Flat sea surface – this also help increase the amount of light penetrating the water.  More importantly flat calm seas create the sunburst effect when photographing underwater.  Just remember to shoot at a shutter speed of 1/125 or higher to freeze the sunbeams.

A dive site with some vertical relief – flat reefs make for challenging wide-angle work.  If portions of the reef are vertical it is much easier to include the sun in your images for added drama.

If it’s an overcast day, low visibility site or very late in the day (twilight) it’s best to shoot macro no matter the characteristics of the reef.  On the other hand if the current is ripping it is easier to shoot wide-angle than macro.  It’s just too difficult to compose and focus on small subjects as you are flying by.

When the conditions are right, don’t be afraid to put that macro lens away and shoot some wide-angle.  You’ll be glad you did.

What’s the Rush?

Have you ever wondered why we are often in a big rush to end our monthly meetings prior to 9 pm?  The rules for our meeting place, Bayland Community Center, say that all members need to be out of the building by 9:00 pm.  That means we have to put chairs/tables away, empty the trashcan, etc., before 9:00.  If we run late, HUPS’ President will get a naughty phone call from the Director of Bayland.

We are very fortunate to have such a great location to hold our meetings.  Even better is that we are able to hold our meetings there for free.  We need to do everything we can to ensure that we are able to continue to use Bayland for years to come.  Please help do your part to clean up after our meetings and be outside the building before nine o’clock.

Novice 1st place - Dennis Vernon ©2005

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!