Hi Bonaire Talkers. Randy and I just spent our first week ever in Bonaire and now we are hooked! The diving was so great, it almost defies description. The reefs we visited were pristine and teeming with marinelife--Margate Bay and the Invisibles were our two favorites. The Plaza Resort was beautiful and Toucan Divers was first-rate all the way. Special thanks to divemaster Jackson at Toucan for expertly guiding our night dive at Town Pier and pointing out seahorses, a frogfish, and large octopus. We had lots of fun at Gibis last Tuesday night where we got to meet other Bonaire talkers and swap dive stories and exchange lots of laughs. Fortunately, I was able to get some decent U/W pics before the metal strobe-mount on my MX-10 came off. Here are some photos I'd like to share (hopefully, I can do this):

Oops, I didn't realize it would turn out so big. Here's some more that I've resized:

Last but not least, here's two more:

too cool;)

nice framing too;)

do we have a new slideshow/screensaver in mind?

(xp builds it in;))

(which is also, way cool;))

whatever,

Robyn.. Those are some great looking pictures!! You were using a MX-10? I am new to underwater photography and have a MX-10 with the strobe. Can you tell me the type of film and the different lenses you used for your shots. I used my MX-10 for the first time a month or so ago and didn't get near this quality. One roll was saturated with Blue color and the other roll came back like I hadn't even taken any pictures. I was using 400 speed film with the built in lens, close up lens and 20mm wide angle, but they all turned out about the same. Any suggestions?

Hi Gary. Thanks. Keep on practicing with the MX-10 and eventually you'll get some great pics. I mostly use the close-up lens and the most important thing to do is to get as close as possible. This can be tough when the fish don't like being so close to the big "bubble monster", but if you practice and move slowly, it gets easier. For the pics you see above, I was using Fugi 400 ASA film. I set my strobe on automatic and mostly keep my f-stop on F8 or F5.6 if the lighting is poor. I've found that the built-in lens doesn't take the greatest pics underwater, but the close-up lens really does. I only use the wide conversion lens for extremely large subjects, like for groups of divers, wrecks, whale sharks (haha, wishful thinking!). I have the attachable pink filter for that lens, and it helps to take a lot of the blue out. You might eventually want to purchase the fiber-optic cable to attach to the infra-red on your camera and strobe so you can detach the stobe and angle it at 45 degrees above the subject to reduce backscatter. I hope that helps! Take care, Robyn

Wow! You have got the touch! Great Pictures.....

Hi Robyn,
Thanks for posting the pics, awesome. I too have an MX-10 and used it for the first time a week ago on Bonaire. I have the close up lens but didn't use it since I just wanted to get used to the camera. I will definitely use it next time!
Excellent pictures!
ML

Nice pics, Robyn and congratulations on becoming a Bonaire Addict...see how easy it is and how quickly it happens!? Now you will suffer from the dreaded PBD (post Bonaire Depression) until you book your return trip to Bonaire! Carole

Hi Carole. Thanks, and yes, I am already wallowing in the depths of post Bonaire Depression! The only cure I know of is to return to Bonaire as soon as possible, but my health plan doesn't offer this type of coverage. Darn HMO's! LOL I think I want to try to organize a trip for my scuba club and hopefully get some good group rates, so there's light at the end of the tunnel! Happy diving, Robyn

Cool pictures, Robyn. Wacky octopus pose, I guess. :-)

Hi everyone

We just returned from our latest visit to terrific Bonaire (I was part of the "Superturtle" Bill group from Toronto). This was my 7th visit in the past 9 years. Needless to say, Bonaire is my favourite dive destination.

Several visits ago, I was introduced to the not-often seen, somewhat elusive Sargassum Triggerfish. We make it a point to seek them out each year. Most often we find them on the south end in the area of Sweet Dreams, Atlantis, Margate Bay and at depths of typically between 130 and 180. My challenge this year was to find them at a depth I felt comfortable taking my new Olympus C-4040 in its PT-010 housing. On Wednesday, March 26th, I was successful at Atlantis at a depth of 135'.

And while I'm at it, here are a couple more of my favourites from this trip ...

This would be the "Grendal Pup" taken at Jake & Linda's after our Small Wall dive on Thursday, March 20th ...

/image{Grendal Pup}

This is an elegant Spotted Eagle Ray that graced the waters near The Lake near the end of our dive there at 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 23rd. Rather a special way to cap off an otherwise awesome dive ...

/image{Spotted Eagle Ray}

........Cindy

Let's try this again (I'll master it eventually!)

And while I'm at it, here are a couple more of my favourites from this trip ...

This would be the "Grendal Pup" taken at Jake & Linda's after our Small Wall dive on Thursday, March 20th ...



This is an elegant Spotted Eagle Ray that graced the waters near The Lake near the end of our dive there at 5:45 p.m. on Sunday, March 23rd. Rather a special way to cap off an otherwise awesome dive ...



........Cindy

Cindy - do you mind if I e-mail you a few questions about your PT-010? I just got one for my Olympus 3040. I've been doing u/w photography for about 5 years with a Nikonis V set up but decided to try digital but have a few questions.

I am not trying to highjack anyone from BonaireTalk, but Gail, you might want to visit us at http://www.digitaldiver.net We have a library with several articles on Olympus housings and cameras and an active forum with lots of Olympus users, ranging from complete newbies to seasoned veterans. My galleries of shots from Olympus C-2000, C-3030, C-3040, and C-4040 systems are there as well.

Nice shots, Cindy! Sounds like your dives were well worth it. We are ready for more pics, if you have the inclination! CArole

Hi, I love the pics..I am a new "underwater photographer"....and I am using an instamatic right now...having graduated from a disposable...so my pics aren't anything like the ones I see here..maybe someday...what i really wanted to know though was how you liked the Plaza Bonaire...we are staying there in a few weeks....looks nice in the website...any info would be appreciated....Thanks Marianne DAKASA47@aol.com

No problem Gail. Fire away. To a couple other people who asked about depth and the housing. I understood the PT-010 to be rated to 100 feet. So I started by taking it to 90 on one dive then to 100, 115, 120 on subsequent dives. When I dove Atlantis, I thought I'd hover at about 120 and see if I spotted any Sargassum Triggerfish. When I did, I thought I'd throw caution to the wind (or waves) and go for it. (I tend to be a bit of a risk taker much to the chagrin of my pals). Once I got there, I shot 8 pictures of this little guy. When I finished and he jolted into his den, I was at 135. Mission accomplished! Camera performed well and all was dry upon exit. "Whew". Here's another view of my little buddy.

Starting a new thread here shortly with a 'variety pack' of pictures. In the process of resizing a few right now ... Cindy

Hi Marianne,
The Plaza Resort was beautiful, to say the least. We got a villa in our package deal, and it was extremely roomy, very clean and it had two balconies that overlooked the scenic lagoon. The kitchen was large and fully equiped. A word of caution, if you plan to cook anything, know how to convert Farenheit to Celsius! I learned this as I was about to pop a batch of brownies into the oven, and couldn't remember how to do the conversion. Oh well, the brownies still came out ok. All of our American appliances seemed to work fine in their outlets.
There's a casino, a nice pool area, and a nice beach at the hotel if you want to break away from diving. We didn't go to any of the restaurants there because we heard so many good things about other restaurants in the area. The house reef is really nice, and has two different entry points...one from the beach (it's a little rocky) and a second entry off of a dock with a ladder (much easier). Toucan Divers located at the Plaza are a great group of dive professionals. They're knowledgable about the dive sites, and they aim to please. We always had our choice of sites to visit on the dive boats. I loved the Plaza but I was just a little overwhelmed by the shear size of the whole place. There was quite a distance between our villa, the dive shop, and the beach area where you dive. That, I would say was the only drawback,,,you have to do a lot of walking to get from one place to the next. Although the Plaza is strikingly beautiful, the next time I might forgo some of the scenery for convenience. I hope that answers your questions. Have a great time! Robyn

Jeff - I'm actually registered at Digitaldiver.com but I can not seem to access any of the articles. I always get an error. I've tried to e-mail Tico but have never received a response. I'll try again today and if I still have problems I'll e-mail you directly. Cindy - I'll fire off some questions to you directly today.

No problem Gail.

Gail, you might be having a problem because of the changes we made about a week ago.

Try http://www.digitaldiver.info/yabbse/index.php That should take you right to the forum. From there, hit the link in the header for the library. The instructional stuff is all there.

What's happening Jeff is that I get an error - Error processing page - A font contains a bad CMap/Encoding. This is on both the Camera Settings for Olympus x0x0 article and the Housings for Olympus 4040 article. I'm going to try to uninstall the program that opens them and download that program again. If that doesn't work I'll let you know. I can get to some of the other articles that don't need Acrobat.

Okay, Gail, that makes more sense. Update your version of Acrobat Reader and let me know. If you are using a version earlier than 5, that is most likely the problem.

Thank you Robin for taking the time to tell me about the Plaza...I only snorkel..my husband dives..i was thinking of taking a lesson at the Toucan diving..I keep reading such great things about them....Thanks again for all the info

Jeff that's what I think the problem was - however I can't download the Acrobat 5.0 - keep getting the message - cannot complete download - file was corrupt. I've sent a message to Adobe but haven't heard from them and don't think I will.