March 7th Meeting with James Wiseman
Digital Workflow - Everything After the Shot

By Chuck Jensen

Our March show is not to be missed!  James Wiseman will give his presentation entitled "Digital Workflow – Everything That Happens After You Press the Shutter Button."  The presentation will cover everything a digital photographer needs to know about digital file formats, transferring files from camera to computer, backing them up, developing "RAW" files, creating web photo galleries, and printing at home or professionally.

James has been a HUPS member since 2002 and he is one of our few members that is "all digital."  He is an administrator of the underwater digital photography website http://www.wetpixel.com.  He didn't start with film; his first camera was a digital Nikon Coolpix 990.  James has given a number of presentations at HUPS meetings in the past, about digital topics, as well as his dive experiences in California and they are always interesting and generate some great group discussion (and laughter).  You can see some of his photos at http://www.reefpix.org/gallery.  For all you digital fans, this is a show not to be missed, and for those in film who are interested in making the switch, this could enlighten you on what is involved in doing so.  James is a real asset to this society and is very highly respected in the digital field of underwater photography.  See you there!

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March Meeting from previous column

Remember the meetings are starting sharply at 7:00 PM now with social time starting at 6:45 PM.  As usual, the meeting will be at the Bayland Community Center, and a map can be found on the back of this newsletter.  See you there!

Let’s Dive....
Chuck

Thank You Anne & Chuck

Anne Millioud and Chuck Roberts put on a great show for us last month.  They took us along as they sailed and dove the Raja Ampat region aboard the Ikan Gurami  I hesitate in calling the vessel a liveaboard.  Did you see the shot of their stateroom?  Swanky!

The show was a nice mixture of underwater and exotic topside imagery.  This trip was Chuck’s first time to really dive with a camera underwater.  In the past he always acted as a spotter for Anne.  For a beginner Chuck contributed more than his share of images to the program.  With Chuck shooting macro, Anne is now able to shoot more wide-angle and there was some nice wide-angle work in the show.  Now that Chuck has come around, we look forward to seeing more from this duo in the future.

Digital 1st place - James Wiseman ©2005

President's Message
Practice, Practice, Practice

This is sort of a follow up on last month’s column, "Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!" in which I talked about some of the agonizing choices we face when decide to switch from film to digital underwater systems.  It was great seeing my new Canon 20D, Ikelite housing, and Ikelite 125DS strobe show up last month but then it hit me that there was a lot more to do than just hook it up and start shooting.  When I got my first SLR housing, it came in just before a trip to PNG and I only had about 2 weeks to figure out how to use the equipment.  I spent a lot of time reading and practicing in my room before leaving but there were still a lot of things that I had to "learn on the fly."  The results on that trip were OK, not great.  The best thing I can say is that I never missed a dive with my camera and I never flooded anything.  Still, things could have been better.

That being said, I can relate to other more extreme cases where I’ve seen people almost literally unpack their new system for the first time on a dive trip.  This is sort of the equivalent of tossing a kid overboard and yelling to them, "OK, Junior, learn to swim!"  This tactic might work, but mostly it doesn’t.  There’s just way too much to assimilate and trying to figure things out underwater is a bad place to do it.

Early in February, I got a call from Paul McDonald, one of our newer members.  He had read my article and wanted to talk to me about my system and other options that he might want to consider.  We spent 2 hours talking pluses and minuses of digital and different digital systems that are available.  Lord knows that this was sort of like "the blind leading the blind" but somehow, we ended up with some good communication.  Later I was flattered to hear from Paul that he had gone out and bought a complete Canon 20D/Ikelite system.  Moreover, he had one-upped me by buying two, not one, Ikelite 125DS strobes and the new Canon 10-22mm zoom lens.  We had talked about this lens after learning about it from James Wiseman and checking it out on the internet.

Soon after his system arrived, Paul, James, and I started sending emails back and forth about what we all had and how we might get together and check out our new gear.  James was pushing for a pool session somewhere, which certainly sounded like a good idea.  Paul set us up for 2 hours in the Houston Scuba Academy last Saturday and we all showed up including Sarah Bernhardt, James’ fiancé.  Sarah was trying out pretty much the same system that I was using but with a different set of lenses, and James was testing out his Canon 1D Mark II body with a Sigma 12-24mm zoom lens in a new Seacam housing.  It was a miserable, wet day outside but very nice and very convenient in the Scuba Academy’s pool.

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President's Message from previous column

Before we jumped into the pool, I talked with James and Paul about my problem getting the strobe to fire properly on eTTL mode.  James was pretty sure that I just had the wrong strobe cord and Paul was nice enough to let me borrow one of his extras.  Problem solved!  Once in the water, we started taking pictures of the stuff that James had put in the pool for us to practice on.  The sheet of linoleum was good for wide angle and the shells were great for macro.  And, of course, everyone ended up being a model at times.

I worked on learning how to set up the strobe for different exposure modes, both in eTTL and manual strobe configuration.  Another thing I did was work with changing flash exposure compensation to see how it affected the images.  Toward the end, I was able to switch lenses from my 90mm Tamron macro to my Canon 20mm lens.  It was easy to tell that my macro lens was now a "super-macro" and that my 20mm lens was no longer wide angle.  The 1.55x image multiplication factor that is inherent with the smaller detector is something that has to be factored into the underwater photography equation.  In my case, it is obvious that I need a wider angle option.  I learned this by borrowing Paul’s system that had the 10-22mm zoom.  What a difference that makes!  It acts like a 16mm lens on a film camera and that makes for a big difference.

Sarah Bernhardt and James Wiseman testing in the pool. Photo by Dennis Deavenport.

Some of the results still mystify me, but I have all of the information on each image saved as part of each file.  The great thing about digital is that not only do you get to see what you did on the viewer as soon as you take the picture, but you also get to look at any and all camera information that the camera stores with each shot.  I am just starting to analyze the images that I shot yesterday.  It’s really amazing how much I’m learning from the information.  For shots I like, I can see why it happened.  For those that turned out crappy, it’s all there for me to see and hopefully avoid in the future.  What can I say?  Digital rules for seeing and learning!

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President's Message from page 2

So, what did we learn yesterday?  I learned (a) I need a digital cable for my strobe, (b) I need that 10-22mm zoom, and (c) I still need a lot of practice.  Paul learned that he needs to send a malfunctioning strobe back to Ikelite and that he really has a super set-up.  James will get to take some time to look at the Canon 10-22mm lens and will presumably be reporting about it in WetPixel.  Sarah was fighting condensation on the inside of her port but still managed to get in some good practice with her equipment.

Afterward we drank some coffee and talked about what we had just done and what we needed to do next.  All-in-all, I think that it was a great learning experience with a bonus of being able to spend a few hours of bonus time with some pretty interesting people.  I loved it and I know that it was time very well spent in preparation for my next dive trip.

I would personally like to thank the folks down at Houston Scuba Academy for allowing use to use their facility for Paul for taking the initiative to get it organized.  James, as always, was great about explaining things and it was good to have the opportunity to get to know Sarah better.

A lot of this is a demonstration of what HUPS is all about... getting together to get better at what we like doing is a big bonus of membership in HUPS.  Until Paul gave me a call, we really didn’t know each other very well.  Now, we have had time to share some important time together and personally, I feel pretty good about the whole thing.

See you at the next HUPS meeting, 7:00 PM March 7.
Dennis

Cancer - The Crab

This month’s photo contest topic is Cancer – The Crab.  Instead of being crabby we are opening it up to all crustaceans.  So if you have some favorite images of shrimp, lobsters or crabs enter them in the March contest.  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 email James Wiseman or Dennis Deavenport.  For more tips on digital entries please see the related article in last month's newsletter.  Complete contest rules can be found on the web page.  If you do not follow the rules for digital entries your images will not be judged.  And you can’t win if you don’t enter.

Digital 2nd place - Joyce Burek ©2005

UpComing Meetings & Events

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.  ONLY $200 Contact John Anderson.

Monthly Contest Winners
February 2005 – Gemini – The Twins

Digital
1st Tie	Jackie Reid, James Wiseman
2nd	Joyce Burek
3rd Tie	Ken Knezick, Jackie Reid
Slide - Novice
1st	John Ringrose
2nd Tie	John Ringrose x2
3rd	Dennis Vernon
Slide - Advanced
1st	Mary Lou Reid
2nd Tie	David Lenderman, Sue Watson
3rd Tie	Dennis Deavenport, David Lenderman

Basic Digital Image Editing
Part II in a series
By Pat Miller - HUPS.ORG Webmaster

The Levels - Histogram tool should be your first stop in your image editing software.  It can do a lot to correct exposure problems.  My examples here are from Adode PhotoShop, but a Levels or Histogram tool is available in Adobe Elements, JASC Paint Shop Pro, and Microsoft Picture It! and probably others as well.

In Photoshop, click on "Image" on the menu bar, then "Adjustments" (or "Adjust") and "Levels..."  Here’s what the Levels tool looks like on a rather monochromatic picture of an eagle ray - taken in Bonaire on the 2004 HUPS shootout, by the way, at Tori’s Reef.  At the far left end of the histogram is an indication of how many pixels are the blackest black available (see the little black slider at the left ), and it ranges to the mid-tones - 18% gray if there was no color (see the little gray slider in the middle ) to the whitest white pixels at the far right (see the little white slider at the right ).  The histogram here shows this picture doesn’t have a lot of real bright pixels and even fewer dark pixels.  All the pixels are lumped at different brightness regions from not very dark blue to not very light blue:

The picture would be more pleasing with a nice spread across the entire range, spreading the contrast of the pixels from very dark to the lightest.  So to affect that, I put my mouse on the histogram and first grab the white slider at the far right, and I drag it to the left until it just barely comes under the pixels indicated there.  If I move it too far to the left I might start to lose detail by lightening too many pixels too much.

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Image Editing II from previous column

Now I grab the black slider on the far left, and drag it to the right until it barely comes under the first group of pixels on the right.  If I drag it too far to the right I might turn too many pixels too dark and lose detail.

See how the last picture of the eagle ray there has better dark-to-highlight contrast?  Click the OK button to apply the changes.

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Image Editing II from page 4

When you are correcting exposure, it’s better to start with an image that’s a little too dark rather than too light.  You can bring some detail out of shadows, but you can’t get anything out of overexposed highlights – white is only white.  Here’s another example, this time lightening the mid-tones only, using just the gray slider in the center:

As you can see by the big black lump on the left side of the histogram, this image has a lot of dark to mid-tones, but fewer mid-tone to light pixels.  It does have some very light and white pixels at the right end, but there are quite a few more on the dark (left) side.  If I started by moving the white point slider at the right end of the histogram to the left as I did in the above example, I would start to blow out some highlights.  Instead, I start with the gray slider in the center and move it to the left to brighten the mid-tones:

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Image Editing II from previous column

I hope you can see a difference in this second image of the two butterflyfish.  It’s a subtle difference that may not translate well when see you this in print, but the mid-tones are generally brighter.  Come on over to my house and I’ll show you on my computer monitor.

There are other ways to use the tool, for example, you can use the eyedroppers in the lower right to sample and set the black, mid-tone and white points.  Experiment with it.  In general, take small steps in your image editing starting with the Levels tool.  Large changes may tend to pile up and result in unnatural looking images.  Next time we’ll have the exciting and lovely Curves tool.

HUPS Shootout 2005
July 16-23, 2005
Scuba Club Cozumel

Once again it is time to think about setting your sights for our annual shootout.  This year, the event will take place in Cozumel.  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
Package includes 7 nights lodging, 6 days of 2-tank boat diving, one boat night dive, unlimited shore diving, all meals and hotel taxes.

PACKAGE COST: $1,287.75

Leonard Cichowski will be taking deposits for $100/person.  Contact Leonard with any questions at gdivareef@aol.com.

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

Focus Light Review
By James Wiseman

Digital cameras, and especially consumer cameras, have difficulty acquiring autofocus lock in dim lighting.  Since light is removed by the water column, in many diving situations, it is beneficial to have a supplementary light source to help the camera focus.  On land flashes, there is usually a red focus assist lamp that comes on when the shutter is pressed.  Very few underwater flashes have this feature, and for the few that have either "always-on" or shutter activated focusing lights, the strobe must be aimed directly at the subject in order to utilize the feature.  This can result in backscatter in many situations.  For this reason, many underwater photographers elect to use a separate focus light, mounted on the housing.  This is nice because the light source does not move when the strobes are moved, and the light can also be used to help "zero in" on small subjects, before looking through the viewfinder.

A bright focused light source is good for spotting, but it can be a problem as it may show up as a hot-spot in slower exposures.  When I used a Mini Q40, I have seen my focusing light hot spots in shots as fast as 1/60th of a second, and I noticed it on many of my manta ray night dive photos from Kona.  I really needed the lamp to achieve autofocus, but I was disappointed in the hot-spots.  The solution is to use a lamp with a diffuser that spreads out the light in an even pattern.  One such light is the FIX LIGHT manufactured by Fisheye in Japan.

The FIX LIGHT HG20DX by Fisheye shown with accessories including removable battery and handle.

What’s Included:  Light Body, Battery and Charger, Handgrip, Strap, Spare O-ring Set and Removal Tool, Spare 20-Watt Bulb

The 20-Watt lamp and dimpled metal diffuser/reflector are designed to throw a bright white diffuse light.

Size, Weight, and Construction:  The light is about 6 inches long.  It is a bit longer and "girthier" than the Sunray Mini-mod, but the difference isn’t much, as shown in the photo.  The unit weighs about 16 ounces in air and just 2.8 ounces underwater and is made of a polycarbonate plastic.  The design depth is 250 feet – about the same as most underwater housings.

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Focus Light Review from previous column

The size is slightly larger than the LMI Sunray Mod-Light

Features:  This small light has a lot of design features that make it easy to use and hard to mis-use.  For instance, when the light is turned off, the on/off switch is locked with a small lever which needs to be pressed in order to turn the light on.  The rear cap contains a pressure relief valve so in case you flood the light, it won’t explode.  The power knob is also a dimmer switch, smoothly adjusting the power from full to very dim.  When the battery charge is low, the light automatically switches to a low power mode – and is supposed to burn an additional 10 minutes at this setting, which is enough time to get back to the boat if you’re depending on the light for navigation.  The light has a battery charge indicator on the back, so hopefully the user will never need to use the "10-minute dash" feature.  There is also an indicator that lights if the unit is flooded.  At the other end of the level from Full is an SOS setting.  When the Fixlight is put in the SOS setting, it flashes the Morse Code signal for SOS!

Use:  The instruction manual indicates that the light will burn for 55 – 200 minutes on a full charge.  Of course, burn-time will depend upon power level.  I tested this in the Wetpixel  test bed  here at home and I found this claim to be true.  Light fall-off started at about 50 minutes under full power.  It’s nice to know that the light will burn for a full dive, and as most of us seldom use the light for the whole dive, it may be good for two.  If you need always-on full power, then a second battery can be changed out between dives, which is nice.

When the 20watt lamp burns out, a red light on the back of the unit indicates it’s time for a change.  It’s user serviceable by removing the front bezel and pulling out the old lamp and sliding in the replacement.

Conclusion
Pros:	Cons:
Long Runtime	Two Piece Charger
Packed with Features	Slightly Larger Size
Locking on-off Switch
Replaceable Battery Packs
Not Addressed: Reliability is Yet to be Field Proven but a Track Record has Already Begun.

SEASPACE is Coming

Known as the finest Adventure Exposition in the Southwest USA, SEASPACE combines exotic travel, adventure sports, scuba diving and a host of related outdoor activities  Held in Reliant Center over the weekend of June 4-5, SEASPACE 2005 will feature over 200 booths and exhibits for the outdoor sports and travel enthusiast, as well as a host of seminars and workshops that both entertain and educate.  Whether you wish to investigate a new outdoor sport, or select a top-quality island holiday destination, SEASPACE is the place to be.

In celebration of its 36th year of service to the community, SEASPACE will be hosting renowned underwater cinematographer Norbert Wu, who will personally narrate segments of his latest film, "Under Antarctic Ice."  From penguins to killer whales, Wu’s captivating film highlights a world brimming with unique and beautiful life forms, as he dives beneath the ice to chronicle their interactions and struggles for survival.  Other featured guests at SEASPACE 2005 include marine photographer James D. Watt, and wildlife artist Guy Harvey.

SEASPACE offers many other attractions for the young, and the young at heart.  A huge swimming pool in the Exhibit Hall enables those who wish to "get their feet wet" with a Free Introduction to Scuba Diving.  Just bring your bathing suit and towel, and you can dive right in.

Additional highlights include a Gallery of Underwater Photography presented by the Houston Underwater Photographic Society, and an extensive children’s activity area, "Kid’s Place at SEASPACE," sponsored by the Houston Underwater Club.  Among a variety of thought-provoking educational activities, youngsters aged 5-12 can go on a simulated scuba dive through a coral reef constructed of recycled materials.

Adults will enjoy a wide array of seminars and presentations by luminaries including Norbert Wu, James Watt, and Tim Blanton.  Among other events, Watt will teach an in-depth "Digital Photography Workshop" and Blanton will present an "Underwater Video Workshop."

For more information on SEASPACE checkout http://www.seaspace.org.

The Best of the Best

That’s what we are looking for... your best underwater images.  HUPS has been invited to provide the Image Gallery for SEASPACE 2005.  We need 60 – 80 dynamite prints to hang on the display boards to show SEASPACE attendees what we are all about.

We are looking for 16x20 and 11x14 prints.  Smaller images may also be considered.

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Best of the Best from previous column

The prints must mounted on foamboard or Gatorboard.  Start picking out your images and getting them printed and mounted.  We will most likely gather up all the images at the May HUPS meeting.  So that gives us roughly two months.

Check it Out on the Web

HUPS member Christa Loustalot was recently featured as Photographer of the Week on http://www.scubadiving.com.  To check out her images try this link.

If you would like to be Photographer of the Week you can submit your images here.

Fortune Cookie Quote of the Month

"Luck is when opportunity and preparation come together."  This is a good one that applies to underwater photography.  I am sure you have seen an incredible image and said "Oh, that was a lucky shot."  Keep in mind that the opportunity can present itself to anyone at any time.  Without the preparation – (practice, experience, planning, etc.) the opportunity would have been wasted.  Be sure to put some time in preparing for that opportunity so when it comes along you can also be "lucky."

TGCC Awards Banquet

Last month 17 HUPS members attended the annual TGCC awards banquet.  Several area dive clubs presented their member of the year awards.  HUPS recognized their Photographers of the Year and Member of the Year.  Everyone ate a ton and enjoyed spending en evening with fellow divers.  Awards went to Joe Nicklo – Novice Photographer of the Year, Jackie Reid and David Lenderman tied for Advanced Photographer of the Year, and David Lenderman – Member of the Year.  Ken Knezick was on a ski trip so missed out on receiving his trophy for Digital Photographer of the Year.  HUPS member Dick Zingula was also recognized by HUC and SEASPACE for his contributions.

Joe Nicklo accepting Novice Photographer of 2004 award from HUPS president Dennis Deavenport.

David Lenderman and Jackie Reid accepting the awards for Advanced Photographer of 200

There's a New DEA in Town

Hi, my name is John Anderson and I have taken the baton from Joe Nicklo for the position of HUPS Director of Educational Activities (DEA).  There have been many great past workshops presented to HUPS Members concerning how to do a better job in the underwater photo field.  In my role I would like to continue in the tradition of Joe Nicklo and try to bring good educational and innovative workshops to HUPS Members concerning subjects dealing with different aspects of underwater photography.

Suggested future workshops include:

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New DEA from previous column

1. A workshop on how to put together a digital slide show with music.  We already have a commitment from Dennis Deavenport to conduct this workshop.

2. An in-pool workshop to enhance your picture taking ability.  What are your suggestions for this workshop?  Is there any interest?

3. A workshop where individuals can bring their underwater camera & flash systems and be able to ask questions as to how to get the best pictures possible with their systems.  To be able to ask questions that you have been afraid to ask.  This workshop could be beneficial to the beginner as well as the seasoned photographer.  This class could be more of a question and answer session than a workshop.

How do these sound as a start?  Let me know if you are interested in these topics.  If you have some other great workshop ideas, I look forward to hearing about them.  In order for these Workshops to be accomplished, we need help in all aspects.  If you have a conference room, pool, etc., we could use for workshops or if you are interested in helping anyway, please let me know.  I can be contacted at john@janderson.us.

John Anderson

No, Thank You!

I just wanted to write up a little thank you note for awarding me the HUPS Member of the Year Award for 2004.  It was really nice to be recognized for my contributions to HUPS.  We have all heard the saying "you get more back than you put in."  That definitely applies to my involvement in HUPS.  I have made some really great friends, been on some awesome dive trips and improved my photography exponentially because of my involvement with HUPS.  Heck, I even met my wife, Sue Watson, through HUPS.  I have learned so much from people like Joyce and Frank Burek, Jackie and Mary Lou Reid and Jesse Cancelmo.  These people and numerous other HUPS members have contributed to my development as an underwater photographer.  So, I just want to say thanks to you all.

David Lenderman

Quick Tip

Get close.  I am sure you have all heard it before, but it really makes the difference between an okay image and a great image.  By getting close you not only fill the frame but you also minimize the amount of water between the lens and subject.  This helps create sharper images and reduces backscatter.

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

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!