different

yesterday i was looking at this page at uni and it looks very different on internet explorer. it isn't heinous, but the text goes over the picture and the links are wayyyyyyyyyyy down at the bottom. sad cuz it's rocking on mozilla. mozilla, btw, is a decent browser and doesn't have the security problems that IE has. i downloaded it after a labmate sent an email about it after a recent spate of viruses hit campus.

underwater photography

i was in love with my coolpix 4300. it was a good affordable camera and part of my reason for purchasing it were the several options for underwater housings. for other brands and types there was either nothing available or only ikelite available. not that there is anything wrong with ikelite, it was just too pricey for me at the time.

i loved my coolpix 4300 so much that when i came back i resolved to buy another one, since i already had a fantastic housing that was compact and, well, FANTASTIC.

from fantasea.com . it was a reasonable price for the pro $180. The only downside to this was that you had to turn the camera on before putting it in the housing and you couldn't change the setting, say from auto to scene to movie.

well, when i came back last year, the 4300 was no longer available new. and i was sad. =(

so i started doing some research on other cameras and housings and the coolpix 5400 seemed like a good camera. it was a bit pricey $599 but then i saw an offer for a $200 rebate so i took the hit. the only problem is that i didn't have a housing and apparently the only one available is the ikelite. which is a good housing but, well, bulky. but the 5400 has several different movie modes and with the ikelite you can switch the camera on within the housing and you can change settings so i know i can go from macro (which is phenomenal - you can get as close as 2 cm away from the subject!) for cool things on the substrate and then switch to either movie or auto for when the grouper start spawning.


so here's the 5400 in the housing. i also have an ikelite substrobe DS50 which i got for the previous year. but it turned out the flash on the 4300 worked just fine for macro (except you did get a shadow from the lens if you got too close) and because the gulf is so productive the strobe only creates a snowstorm and obliterates any image. as you can see by the pepper shaker under the strobe that it's heavy and tips the whole thing over.


here it is from behind, as you can see you can control every aspect of the camera within the housing.


the ikelite housing blocks the flash from the 5400 so you need the strobe for macro. it has a flash jack to connect to the back of the housing. i realized while testing everything out that i didn't have a cord that would hook this to the strobe.


i have a TTL slave sensor and wasn't sure that it would work with this camera but it turns out the 5400 has a preflash so it will set off the slave sensor. the sensor is on the arm and you point it at the flash. the back has a switch so you can change the intensity of the flash by picking the appropriate f-stop. oops that's a bit blurry...

i'm a little nervous cuz the thing is so damn big. with the 4300 i could attach it to myself and not know it was there while i was doing my transects and then take pictures whenever i want.

we'll see if i can handle the monstrosity and whether the quality of the photos will be worth all that hassle.

springtime

as much as i LOVELOVELOVE mexico, i'm always sad that my field season is this time of year. i grew up in this area and i think that living in the "country" has also enhanced my love of nature.

but this place just POPS in the spring, it's so amazing. it's like someone rolled out a giant green carpet EVERYWHERE!



i love the macro on the coolpix! with the 5400 you can get as close as 1 CM!!! but you also have to have supersteadyhand to do it. so i settle for 2 CM until i find my tripod.


another macro shot. this flower is not where it's supposed to be. my grandmother planted a bunch of bulbs and seeds in that tiered green area in the earlier picture. well, over the years, gophers have managed to move most of those to random places all over the yard. so every spring it's actually a little surprise to see where flowers are coming up every year.


we've been having some really intense spring rains. i just love the day AFTER the last day of raining where all these cumulus clouds just fill the sky.

ok, tons more work to do to get ready for this trip, but i have a semi-legitimate excuse, i'm learning the 5400 for when i take it underwater and already know most of the bells and whistles before i have to start shooting the aggregation and other beauties down there.

also, got a message the other day that the trailer was ready! awesome, what a relief. i love checking things off my list and agservices did it much much quicker than i could have with rick's generous offer of help.

messing around

you know cuz i have time...

changed the template up a bit because frankly, the lighthouses are few and far between in mexico...lol. replaced it with a photoshop altered picture of mine from last year. now it's got a little more of a baja feel than an east coast feel.

ran a bunch of errands yesterday, still tons more to do today. which is, of course, exactly why i just spent 45 minutes tweaking the template.

procrastinate much?

10 days left (maybe...)

i've decided to create a more public blog for my baja trip and photos, so those of you here expecting rants and cussing, well just go to the other blog and read the archives. besides you can rest assured something will go wrong and i'll need to vent so keep checking back there! otherwise this is mostly going to be pretty pictures and a log of the trip so people can check in when they want and i don't have to worry about offending anyone if i forget them on an email list or whatever.

so, i pick up the university van in 10 days and holy crap i have a lot of stuff to take. the UPS man keeps dropping off all these boxes and i keep thinking, thank goodness i'm not taking 4 people with me this time cuz there's no room for them!

i'm bummed there are no tanks available from uni for this trip, cuz i can't afford to rent tanks every day, but a few friends have offered to let me use theirs. they just need a hydro test.

i have a ton of stuff to do still:
-pick up tanks and get them hydro'd
-regulator service
-get all my equipment out of storage
-go through all equipment and make sure it works
-change oil in motor
-put boat together and put on trailer when trailer is done
-clean my room and put all my belongings in storage (gran's orders!)
-the boat trailer is being repaired and will hopefully be ready by then

realistically i'm thinking i'll leave april 2 and that's a date i'm not panicked about. i'd really like to get down there before the new moon in april and get at least one dive in at the spawning site before the full moon on april 22.

when i start to get bummed or stressed or wonder why the hell i put myself through everything just to get down there i think of this

or this

and i feels bettah