View Full Version : St Abbs slug fest
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/pnudib2.jpg
Some shots of sea slugs at St Abbs.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/slug7.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/slug78.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/NewImage.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/yellownb4.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/slug5.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/slug9.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/yellownb1.jpg
excellent photos: well done on spotting the critters & composing such great shots :)
what camera set up did you use?
were you shore or boat diving?
Hello Charlie,All are shore dives.
My photo rig is a Olympus C7070, Olympus PT-027 housing and a Sun pack ext strobe.
I would just like to mention that subjective critique (positive and negative) on all aspects of my photos would be very helpful to me.
I have always found that it an important learning tool to hear other people's opinions even if they are sometimes negative.
Sorry, can't provide any criticism - great photos.
Hello.
I think the pics in posts 2, 6 and 7 suffer from uneven lighting. I get the same problem with one strobe, especially close up.
I find changing the position of the strobe so that it is above the subject rather than to the side can help spread the light more evenly about the shot.
Can be a pain with ball and socket arms though. I've been playng with the flexiable arms, but they have their down side in that they can move too easy and it's harder to keep the light consistent. And it is surprisingly hard to point it in the right direction.
Just need to keep playing until I can convince myself to get a 2nd strobe :D
Still bloody good pics though ;)
All positive from me, wish i could get close to your quality. :)
Great photos look forward to seeing more.
Mad Major
Thanks for the comments guys. I normally shoot wide angle natural light shots and these are my first attempts at macro and super macro.
The most challenging technical problems was the lighting and the actual minute size of the subjects.
I should explain that no supplementary additional macro lens was used to capture these shots. They are all shot on the stock lens.
I love the C7070 but it does have one draw back and that is the manufacturers disabled the onboard flash in super macro mode.Some of the slugs are only 4 mm across! So all of the super macro shots were actually lit with a small "Lidle" LED torch! The easy answer to my problem would be to buy a supplementary macro lens and shoot using the on board flash/external strobe combination.
I imagine most folk will enjoy the purple slug because it was the most visually striking. For me it was the plain white one that I most enjoyed. It was by far the most frustrating to shoot. Getting decent contrast details on the slug meant loosing background details. Shooting for a balanced background blew the slug details totally.
I think the only way to go on this subject is to re shoot under exposured shots in Raw and then heavy photoshop restoration.
Thanks again for the compliments.
Great pictures - I have never attempted to photograph anything so small but imagine it must be bl**dy difficult with the kelp moving about all over the place. How many did you have to take to get these ones?
They are great pics. I need to buy myself a Digital SLR instead of the Sony Compact digital i'm using just now, as it's no use for close up stuff. They a really good pictures, can you email me some so i can print them out?
Great pictures - I have never attempted to photograph anything so small but imagine it must be bl**dy difficult with the kelp moving about all over the place. How many did you have to take to get these ones?
Yes, it's difficult!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/DiveStabbsTyesTunnel20070803018.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/DiveStabbsTyesTunnel20070803016.jpg
Very nice pictures.
I was going to say, invest in a good lense, but you said that already.
They are great pics. I need to buy myself a Digital SLR instead of the Sony Compact digital i'm using just now, as it's no use for close up stuff. They a really good pictures, can you email me some so i can print them out?
The Olympus C series cameras are actually not DSLR. They are a strange beast called prosumers.
It has the ease of use of the point and shoot cameras. And full control of the manual functions like the DSLRs. It has serious build qualities and very good coated glass optics. The stock lens is essentially wide angle, but is adaptable enough to give even super macro a go as in my photos. It can shoot in Raw format and unlike some DSLRs the monitor gives a live view of what the lens is shooting rather than looking and composing through the viewfinder.
The downside of a prosumer is that they have smaller sensors than DSLRs. Also any additional lenses are added onto the end of the stock lens.
Because of the live view through the lens they have poor shutter lag.
How many did you have to take to get these ones?
I shoot about 2 meg per dive. In Raw at 7 mp thats about 2 hundred shots.
I might get a half dozen that are keepers out of each batch.
can you email me some so i can print them out?
I will see what can be done but remember the original files are massive. You will need a big e-mail account especialy if you want them in Raw format.
[QUOTE=regthing;13550]
Just need to keep playing until I can convince myself to get a 2nd strobe
QUOTE]
Dont think I could stand the hastle of two strobes. My next upgrade will be a single more powerfull TTL strobe, I like life simple.
I have dived with photogs that have the dogs/b rigs. They somtimes didnt get the shots that less complex rigs got. My thinking is go quality the simpler the better.
Very nice pictures.
I was going to say, invest in a good lense, but you said that already.
Do you think a wet lens or housed are better?
I shoot about 2 meg per dive. In Raw at 7 mp thats about 2 hundred shots.
I might get a half dozen that are keepers out of each batch.
I think Gedan might break my camera if he had to wait for me to take 200 shots
"I think Gedan might break my camera if he had to wait for me to take 200 shots"
I dive solo !!!
"
I dive solo !!!
I suppose I had better defend the solo diving admission in my last post before the DIR gang slap the cuffs on me for madness.
I certainly do not enjoy or recommend this practice to anyone reading. To be honest I do so out of necessity. No buddy would want to share a dive with a photog like me. I sometimes hover over a subject for 30 mins just to get one shot. Even budying up with another photog diver would drive me nuts. Unfortunately it's difficult to share that one off chance of a shot if you are photog minded.
On my last overseas dive vacation, they would not let me dive solo. I had to pay for a dive guide to stand cover. Each dive cost me more than the cost of several group trips.
But it was worth it. Very extravagant and indulgent but worth it.
Here is an example of the type of situation that prompted me to go down the solo route.
http://s60.photobucket.com/player.swf?refURL=/&file=http://vid60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/vid1maldives2006005.flv&fs=1&os=1&ap=1
If you follow the vid of a one off shot of the turtle feeding imagine what I wanted to do to the owner of those fins!!!!!!
I couldn't get your video to work - probably my slow computer:mad:
I used to do quite a bit of solo diving when I was collecting things for my aquariums as a buddy would usually scare off the fish you were trying to catch.
alexmaclennan
16-08-07, 23:42
I never carry a camera, but pics like these make me think.........one day:)
alex
Amasing pic's and video.
I some amazing stuff down there,
wish I could afford a camera...
the still Nudi's were fabulous.
Olddog, the turtle vid fantastic.
Not as good a picture, but what do you think of my sea slug from Califormia - a bit easier to find too.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/seaslug.jpg
Or this porker
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/DSC00441.jpg
Or this one who got bored slugging it and decided to swim!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/DSC00418.jpg
Wow.
I didn't realise they swam.. Or did you drop it? :D
Wow.
I didn't realise they swam.. Or did you drop it? :D
Nope, it was swimming around a few metres off the surface when we arrived. It wasn't simply swept off where we were and it was writhing it's body to create the movement.
We've spotted large swimming sea slugs (Pleurobranchus membranaceus) at St Cath's reef, Loch Fyne on several occasions.
photo by Jim Anderson from http://www.scottishnudibranchs.co.uk/pleurobranchus-membranaceus.html
http://www.scottishnudibranchs.co.uk/images/pleurobranchus_membranaceus_02.jpg
[QUOTE=PeterM;13684]Not as good a picture, but what do you think of my sea slug from Califormia - a bit easier to find too.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/seaslug.jpg
QUOTE]
Hi Peter
Great capture on that superb slug. When I first started uw photog I learned a lot from an excellent book .
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Photoshop-Underwater-Photographers-Drafahl/dp/1584281898/ref=pd_bbs_sr_4/202-4965305-2212639?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187417969&sr=8-4
Because of the conditions that we shoot in most of our underwater shots look flat and lack "pop". Using a program like Photoshop easily remedies these problems.
I hope you don’t mind me giving a little tweak to your photo to show you what I mean. Let me know if it is an imposition I will remove it immediately.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/seaslugedit1.jpg
I was back out yesterday looking for slugs to roast under me strobes. i only found this one but the shots all came out soft with wild contrast.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/mrblobby.jpg
however I did find something to shoot in macro. Sea squirts, They are even harder the get focus lock on than slugs cos they are see through!!!!!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/seasquirts.jpg
[QUOTE=PeterM;13684]
Or this porker
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/DSC00441.jpg
Think this is a sea cucumber but could be wrong. nice shot.
I hope you don’t mind me giving a little tweak to your photo to show you what I mean. Let me know if it is an imposition I will remove it immediately.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/seaslugedit1.jpg
No, it's excellent. My first reaction tot eh photo beforeI read the text was "Wow, look at that, olddog has got a picture of the same slug, but it's much sharper."
I have tinkered with photos, certainly lightened them up when necessary to get a picture. However once it gets more complex I don't have the background knowledge or the time. But, I'll have a read at the link later. Cheers.
[QUOTE=PeterM;13684]
Or this porker
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y3/BillBusRammer/DSC00441.jpg
Think this is a sea cucumber but could be wrong. nice shot.
I'm sure you're right, but pretty slug like nevertheless! :D
For those wanting to find or photograph nudibranchs easily, look no further than St Abbs at the moment. There seems to be an abundance of large specimens of Tritonia hombergii in residence.
http://s60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/?action=view¤t=PA160080.flv
They are ravenously tucking into Dead man's fingers - Alcyonium digitatum. Last week I found patches of 20-30 slugs in one spot alone. I took this short clip at a particular good spot that was twenty meters north of the ampitheater dive site .It was about ten meters deep and facing the strong flow coming from St Abbs head.
Mind you most specimens are translucent white. This makes it a challenge to get the exposure correct. But look around as the ones eating the red DMF are darker in colouration and easier to photograph. There are also loads of their egg cluster curls nearby. Found some yellow Mr blobby slugs suspiciously near the curls. Didn't see them eating them but had my suspicions!
cool, I had a smeak at some of your other photos of slugs in your album too, good work!!
Scuba-Doh!
22-10-07, 17:41
however I did find something to shoot in macro. Sea squirts, They are even harder the get focus lock on than slugs cos they are see through!!!!!
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/seasquirts.jpg
Light bulb sea squirts, tried taking photos of these on a few occasions but they're devilish to focus on. Judging by the fact I can't find an example of on in my flickr photo pool I guess I've not managed to get a decent pic of one. :cool:
Got a new slug to add to the ones I shot last year at St Abbs. Its called a sea lemon. i love the bumpy lemon skin texture,suppose that how they get the name.
Its about 14mm long and was hiding in a kelp holdfast at 12 m.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/P1280309editcopy.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/P1280307v4copy.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/P1280304edit.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/P1280267edit.jpg
Took the shots a St Abbs last Monday. The surge was up and could feel it at 12 m, not the best shooting conditions. Plus it was my first dive out for a long spell and had buoyancy numpty syndrome.:o
Here is a short vid that demonstrate the shooting conditions.
http://s60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/?action=view¤t=P1280314.flv It's a miracle of engineering how the camera ever got focus lock. The shots were taken using my new 10x diopter. Half pleased with the results but noticed a very shallow depth of field and increased chromatic abhoration in a lot of shots.:(
Nice pics.
The chromatic aberration looks worse in the 4th pic. Might be worth taking some pics in better conditions before binning the lense though.
The 2nd pic is the best. 1 and 3 are a bit blown.
I REALLY need to get my camera back in the water :(
P.S. I like the vid. It's wee ears blowing in the current is cute :D :o
dive granny
03-02-08, 17:23
That is a really cool wee vid:)
There was a lot of movement in the water, but not the shot - were you anchored?
Does a sea lemon taste citrussy?
P.S. I like the vid. It's wee ears blowing in the current is cute :D :o
Would have happily super glued his ears to his head :eek: the bother I had trying to get a sharp shot with them in focus. I was taught that eyes (substitute for ears in this subject) should always be in focus.:rolleyes:
There was a lot of movement in the water, but not the shot - were you anchored?
Does a sea lemon taste citrussy?
Anchored :D Hanging on for dear life with the camera up against the rock face. :eek:
some new slugs fron 8th May trip to St Abbs.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/newslug.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/P5080167.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/P5080260.jpg
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h39/ranchuolddog/slugandfriend.jpg
Fish ID on the small fish next to the slug?
dive granny
10-05-08, 16:18
Magic pics:D
Very nice indeed.
Although I think you might have over sharpened the first one. A touch stark looking (on my laptop anyway ;))
Although I think you might have over sharpened the first one. A touch stark looking (on my laptop anyway ;))
Hi Scott, thanks for the subjective crit on the first photo. You are correct it is very stark (look at the shadow from that twig). That shot was from the first dive of the day on Nest End. It didn’t have the better vis or abundance of natural lighting that the other shots taken in the trainer pool had at St Abbs.
Also the wall was horizontal. It's hard to maintain stability and get decent lighting placement hovering.
My eyesight is not so fantastic. When I first spotted the subject I half assumed it was a retracted anemone, so just took the shot on the hoof. If I am correct about the ID of that slug then its prey is anemones and does a fine job of looking like a shrivelled up one in real life. Just glad I got the shot to add to my growing slug collection of St Abbs even if it wasn't technically perfect. Perhaps a little work could be done on the original if I post it in the Photoshop section.
S/A is such a magical place, I feel so lucky to be able to dive it so regularly. Hope I aint boring you all with my fixation with photographing the place. Just let me know if I am cos I am on a mission this year.
Regards Olddog.
dive granny
11-05-08, 11:37
Not at all boring. I love to see all the pics, especially as I can't take any:(
S/A is such a magical place, I feel so lucky to be able to dive it so regularly.
It is indeed. I just wish I could dive it more often :(
Hope I aint boring you all with my fixation with photographing the place. Just let me know if I am cos I am on a mission this year.
Keep them coming. Not much use having a photography section if there aren't any photo's to look at :)
Fish ID on the small fish next to the slug?
Not sure what to fish is, young Goby maybe?. Is it the same as the one in the first pic as well?
I like the red shubbery frame.
I love to see all the pics, especially as I can't take any:(
Sure you can take underwater photos DG. If you can point a camera a press the button that’s all you need.
What you need is a point and shoot camera. Look on e bay for a cheap housing for an older camera. Then find a S.Hand camera next real cheap. You don’t need or want an expensive complicated one at first cos most beginners drown the first one.
Get one like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VIVITAR-ViviCam-5188-5-0-MP-Digital-Underwater-Camera_W0QQitemZ300223262760QQihZ020QQcategoryZ313 88QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem pref with a deaper limit.
You will stand less chance killing a purpose made U/W point and shooter like some of the older 3-4 mp Sea and Sea models.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ReefMaster-Underwater-Digital-Camera_W0QQitemZ230250923349QQihZ013QQcategoryZ159 17QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Ssaw about a dozen Spanish Dancers today all in the one are belive it or not. Not far from Dunbar but unfortunately no camera.
W.
:)
Blogged here (http://www.congeralley.com/forum/blog.php?b=61)
dive granny
13-05-08, 00:06
You twisted my arm Old Dog:D I have just ordered a fuji F40fd camera with underwater housing package. Bit more than the £60 -£70 ordinary cameras i was looking at:D;) I'll let you know how I get on.
You twisted my arm Old Dog:D I have just ordered a fuji F40fd camera with underwater housing package. Bit more than the £60 -£70 ordinary cameras i was looking at:D;) I'll let you know how I get on.
Nice one :)
Can I join the 'new camera gang ' as well.
I've just got an F50fd ( it was me that started all this you know - Fuji should be paying me commision ) , although I don't officialy get it for another couple of weeks - my birthday :)
I think you were wise to go for a top-spec camera straight away , the F40 will do everything you want and is still great value for money IMHO.
Cheers JB. :D