Basket Star Revisited - With and Without Backscatter

In June of 2009 I had two posts, both had a picture of a basket star. The main reason I used it initially was to promote or talk about night diving. In this case, it is to continue my last post talking about lighting underwater and the issue of backscatter. We had weather issues on our recent dive trip to the Carribean which was the reason to offer an explanation.

The purpose of this post is to show an example of backscatter( particles in the water reflecting the strobe lighting back to the lens of the camera) and how trashy it makes the images. It is a tedious process cleaning the images but in most cases they can be cleaned to a useable state. Those examples can be found in the first two pictures. The third picture has been cleaned up to be much more visually appealing.

So far this post has been about capturing the image and post processing. Now I want to talk about the subject of the image, the basket star. Some of this was covered in that earlier 2009 post. The images in this post are successive, meaning there is an order. The first picture is the star as I first found it on the dark reef. After my modeling light was introduced to the star and the surrounding area it became a draw for many little organisms that are drawn to the light much like your porch light drawing moths and other things to your door. The star stretches itself out into the current to feed on those organisms that float past its tenicles. In the middle picture, beween the addition of my light and the immediate feeding of the star with those drawn organisms, the star begins to take on a narled looking state and reduces itself to a form you would normally see during the daylight hours. Its continued regression from its feeding state continues in the final picture. I hope it is interesting seeing the pictures and hearing about it, but it is even better in real time!

Paradise Reef Night Dive

Well, I've been told since I started shooting underwater, if you think your close, get closer. For those that are unfamiliar with underwater photography, a good strobe is a huge must have. The color spectrum is lost as you go deeper so to bring it back, you need to add white light. But water has particles generally not visible to the naked eye. As the light is added the risk of experiencing what is called "backscatter". This is where the particles reflect the light back to the lense creating pictures with white spots and requiring a great deal of cleaning with software to gain a useable image.
Another factor is the magnification of the water, where things appear 25% larger or closer than they really are.This causes one to think they are more intimate with their subject than they really are.
Putting everything together, getting closer reduces the particles between you and the subject and using a strobe up and away allows the light to be directed at an angle where the reflected light will be away from the lense, eliminating or reducing the backscatter.
Now, why am I telling all of this? Well, because at the time we were in the islands, we met Irene as a tropical storm, before becoming a hurricane. She dumped quite a lot of rain on the islands as she passed to the south of us and provided a great deal of run-off into the Caribbean reducing the visability for our diving for the week and added alot of extra particles to have to avoid. The images below were shot up close and personal on a night dive later in that week.

Butterflies - Recent Captures

Working on some Market Place images, decided to post them as well.

Pelicans in Iowa - Who Would Have Thought!

As the pictures from the recent posts show it was exciting to see the Bald eagles again. A real surprise was when heading to Des Moine we stopped by Red Rock Dam to see if there were any eagles near the open water. And yes there were but not near the number that were at the power plant in Ottumwa. But the real surprise was the flock of pelicans we found. I would never expect to see pelicans inland away from the coast, but my mother-in-law's husband acted like he was surprised they were still there. I guess they must be there year round which was a real blessing for me. There was quite a number of geese there also, but I was definitely more interested in the pelicans. Some of those pictures follow:

More American Eagles from the Midwest

This will be the last of the Bald eagles from our Christmas trip to the midwest. However, the next post will be what was a surprise for me while out there. But you will have to wait to find out what the surprise was.

More Bald Eagles From Ottumwa, Iowa

Here is the second installment of the Bald Eagles from Ottumwa, IA. Its been a great opportunity. Blue skys would have made these pictures more appealing, however I have to accept and do the best with what is available. Overcast skies was the order of the whole week.

Bald Eagles in Iowa

Once again while in the Midwest over the Holidays, I had the opportunity to go to Ottumwa, Iowa to photograph the Bald eagles. Just as last year, it was a fridged 9 degrees, but the wind wasn't as bad as last year. This made it more bearable. And believe me, when the opportunity arises to have access to so many American eagles, I for sure will brave a great deal. I was amazed at the different color patterns these fine specimens displayed. I had to do some minor research to be assured that some, as in the first picture, were indeed Bald eagles. But apparently, they are just young birds that have not sexually matured having white head and tail feathers. Their maturing process could take up to 5 years.

Soaring, with an Ottumwa neighborhood in the background.

With the northern waters frozen over, the power plant in the background creates the warmer open waters for feeding.

This last picture shows how they were perching in the trees along the Des Moines river below the power plant.

Belize Fauna on the Way to Lamanai

In June, I went to Belize on a missions trip. At the end of the week we took a boat ride up the New River to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai located in the north. The trip took about an 1 1/2 hrs. making numerous stops to view and photograph the jungle wildlife.

Red Tail Hawks in Flight

Here are some of this months latest shots. Now that the leaves are changing and falling from the trees, its allowing these birds of prey to be seen a little more easily. Although I haven't posted for some time, I'm hoping to show some of the many shots that I've captured this Spring and Summer. This would include some shots from the jungle of Belize, the waters of the Turks and Cacois, and just the local flora and fauna from my daily travels. For now, here are shots from one of my favorite subjects, the Red Tail Hawk.

Feathered Subjects

Peering into the trees which have been void of their leaves during the winter months, one can see the wildlife much easier than when they are supporting full foliage. I find the Red Tail Hawks and Great Blue Herons a real challenge. They remind me of the Queen Angels on the reef while scuba diving. Their visual acuity is very keen as they continually monitor their surroundings. To capture their image I find I need to be thinking ahead of my subject. It almost seems as though they know that my desire is to get their picture and they're going to do there best to not let it happen. It makes it all the more worth while when the capture is successful.

Bald Eagles in Iowa

Well, I am definitely behind in posting. Between Christmas and the New Year, we were in south central Iowa. One of the days we were there, my mother-in-law suggested we take a drive to Ottumwa, IA. She told us there was an outside chance we would see some Bald Eagles.
In downtown Ottumwa is a hydro power plant. As is the norm for temperatures in the midwest at this time of the year, It was frigid, before adding the wind chill. Due to these temps, the northern lakes and waterways freeze over creating a deficit in feeding grounds for the eagles. Therefore, they needed to find open water to feed.
In my life time, living it mostly in south central Pennsylvania near the Susquehanna River, I have probably seen less than five Bald Eagles in the wild. With in the last year or so, our local paper had an article about the growing numbers of Bald Eagles along the Susquehanna and the Eastern waterways. But even with the growing numbers I find, even in my travels, the large bird gliding around in the air is generally a buzzard.
So, you can imagine my surprise to see along the Des Moines River, downtown Ottumwa, nearly twenty or more flying up and down the river, feeding in the warm waters, and or perching on the branches of nearby trees. At first I went out without gloves and in ten minutes the function of my fingers was nearly lost. Being cold to that point, even with image stabilization renders camera shake. I managed to get some shots. I'm guessing that a cold, fridged auto focus motor in the lense barrel of the 70-300mm caused some of the missed shots from slow focusing.
The opportunity to see what I've always understood as an endangered bird, in such numbers,
was a fantastic treat. I'm sure this will be on the calender again next year!