Underwater Photos From Bonaire

[PAFirefighter11]

My girlfriend and I went to Bonaire last week for an incredible week of diving. We stayed at Buddy Dive. She had been there in the past, but this was my first time. This was my first time diving in the ocean since being certified for my OW course back in June of this year. Not only that, but it was also my first time ever leaving the US. I had a brilliant time. We went to Buddy Dive in Bonaire. What a beautiful country, from north to south. I highly recommend it for anyone who has not been!

These are just a few of the photosI took. We dove: Buddy Reef, Windsock, Hilma Hooker, Boca Slagbaai, Sharon's Serenity, Keepsake, Carl's Hill, etc.

Photos were taken with my GoPro Hero2 HD, GoPro Dive Housing, $14 red filter (I am purchasing the Backscatter one), SeaLife mount, Intova Imini; Other photos with a SeaLife DC600 - handheld. Most of these are the underwater ones - above water to come later.
























Frogfish:


Sea snake:












Parrot fish






Sea cucumber:


Octopus at night - bad photo:


Bait ball:


Old Spanish Canon:


Baby squid:


More squid:


Me:


Me:

[05GT]

Nice. Some of those shots are amazing.

[CANNIBALOFDOOM]

looks awesome. id want all of that for my tank hahaha

[Mosheh1am]

Those are some amazing pics... Someone's gonna be hearing from National Geographic.

[DPancoast]

Woah lol that ship is incredible. Id love to dive something like that.

What's it like swimming near a gigantic school of fish like that one photo

[Blahman240]

awesome shots man! I think I'd be too freaked out to do this myself, haha

[SoStock92]

Nice man I just bought that housing for my trip to the keys in a month. I used the ordinary housing last year and was disappointed with the lack of sharpness.

Do you have any issues with the lens fogging?

[PAFirefighter11]

Thank you everyone. It was a sick time and for anyone even remotely interested, go take the training and do it. You will like it... more than the car bug. It's so addicting.

DP: It was one of the coolest things ever. It's like "Oh ****, I've seen this on Nat Geo before". Then I was like, instead of keeping my distance, I need to get closer. So I swam right up to 'em. Then they "dropped" around me and had me surrounded. It was crazy. Then as you see those Tarpon swim through, that really added to the whole "oh **** this is sick" factor!

Stock: I only had a very minor fogging issue on that bait ball dive, which was my 12th? dive of the week. Never had an issue anywhere else. They make moisture inserts for the GoPro housing. Haven't used one myself but it seems to work well per my research. I'll be grabbing some for my next dive trip. I HIGHLY recommend the Backscatter flip up lens... you can then take surface and below water photos, and bring the red spectrum back into the shots when needed:
http://www.backscatter.com/sku/bs-gp-mf-flip.lasso

The other thing you NEED is a rubber band to hold the housing together. There have been instances of them opening up on the ascent. I'll be purchasing this to replace the rubber band shortly:
http://www.lifeisunruly.com/beartrap/index.html#

The Dive housing is so much better than the stock one. Flat lens = yes I will focus!

Rounded lens (at least on the GoPro) = y u no focus?!

[SoStock92]

Thanks man I emailed backscatter because I leave sept 7 for my FL keys trip

[PAFirefighter11]

You're welcome. I'd highly suggest just ordering it NOW! I did the same thing. It came out just prior to my trip and I decided not to order it, but it would have received it 3 days before I left. Damn. Now it's on backorder again as you see. I ended up just running this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o02_s00_i00

If you go the less expensive route it requires removing all the torx bits on the housing, installing the filter, then reinstalling the lens and torx. Not a big deal, but please use a pair of latex gloves as I touched the damn filter and couldn't clean off the smudge lol. I will be getting rid of this though, for the Backscatter, as I want the ability to shoot above and below water with the dive housing (i.e. dive boat photos, surface photos of people, etc.).

[DPancoast]

Man that would be so cool to see.

I'll have to look into getting certified and such. There's a place locally that does it

[PAFirefighter11]

The ONLY place in the area I highly, highly recommend is Ultimate Scuba - they do trips every year as well. This was one of them. Here is the info:
http://www.ultimatescuba.com/html/start.htm

[SoStock92]

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

You're welcome. I'd highly suggest just ordering it NOW! I did the same thing. It came out just prior to my trip and I decided not to order it, but it would have received it 3 days before I left. Damn. Now it's on backorder again as you see. I ended up just running this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o02_s00_i00

If you go the less expensive route it requires removing all the torx bits on the housing, installing the filter, then reinstalling the lens and torx. Not a big deal, but please use a pair of latex gloves as I touched the damn filter and couldn't clean off the smudge lol. I will be getting rid of this though, for the Backscatter, as I want the ability to shoot above and below water with the dive housing (i.e. dive boat photos, surface photos of people, etc.).

Hey man I got mine in - I leave on Saturday for FL keys. Anxious to try it out! I made a fixture to hold the camera better too.


GoPro Dive/Snorkel Bar w/ BackScatter flip filter by Jon Kensy, on Flickr

[PAFirefighter11]

That's great!! I'm envious. I WISH I were diving again this year but I don't think that's the case. Enjoy it! My Christmas present this year is a vacation to "Anywhere in the world" so I'm debating where that will be. I HATE to fly, but try my best lol. Good luck and enjoy it! Definitely post up your photos & vids.

Oh, also MAKE SURE that you check the seal each and every time you use it if you open the case after the dive. I've seen housings leak (From GoPro Dive housings up to $8000 pro housings) just from the smallest piece of sand, hair, etc. Just be careful with that and have fun!