Turks & Caicos Christmas 2006 Trip Log

[tarczy]

Went on the Turks & Caicos Aggressor II for two weeks back-to-back over the Christmas/New Year's Holiday.

Weather was absolutely spectacular all 14 days (what luck!!). In fact, the weather was soooo good that during the Christmas week we were able to sail way out to West Sand Spit . . . a dive site rarely visited by anyone. Last time the Aggressor was there was six months ago and the vis was poor. This time the vis was 80 to 100 feet! What a treat!!

I've been on a few dive boats in the Caribbean in my lifetime. I must say that the T&C Aggressor is probably the best dive boat sailing the Caribbean today. Designed and built from the hull up by Captain Piers Van Der Walt, the T&C Aggressor II has every modern convenience a diver would want in a liveaboard dive ship. Yeah . . . it's a little more expensive than other liveaboards, but it's worth every penny of the extra cost.

I think part of the magic of the T&C Aggressor is the fact that Piers Van Der Walt is Owner, Designer, and Captain of the ship. If I'm not mistaken, Piers is one of the few Owner/Operators of a high-end liveaboard dive ship siling the Caribbean. There's a lot of pride-of-ownership visible in this operation!

Which brings me to the crew . . . Amanda (Photo Pro), Lucie (Video Pro), Brian (Instructor) and Cyril (Cook). I've been on the T&C Aggressor for four weeks over the past two years. I marvel at Piers' ability to always have some of the best crews sailing the Caribbean. They made the trip that much more special to all of the guests.

I shot 1,827 pics during my two week stay on the Aggressor. A little more than 100 shots made the final cut. You can see a more in-depth trip log by clicking here . . . http://blog.myspace.com/lacityrat and you can view a slide show of all 107 images by clicking here . . . http://public.fotki.com/CityRat/turks-caicos-2006/?cmd=fs_slideshow.

For those who don't want to click over, here are four images from the trip . . .

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/mongo255/Turks%20and%20Caicos%202006/_MG_2045_007.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/mongo255/Turks%20and%20Caicos%202006/_MG_2015_028.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/mongo255/Turks%20and%20Caicos%202006/_MG_1713_047.jpg

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i284/mongo255/Turks%20and%20Caicos%202006/_MG_0880_078.jpg

[Clay Coleman]

Very nice! I especially like that roughhead blenny. What equipment did you use to get that? -Clay

[tarczy]

Thanks for reminding me about the shot statistics Clay. Also, thanks for the kudos.

The equipment used during the T&C trip is as follows . . .

Canon EOS 5D Camera
Canon 15mm Fisheye Lens
Canon 16-35mm Zoom Lens w/ +3 Diopter
Canon 50mm Macro Lens
Canon 100mm Macro Lens w/ +3 Diopter
Ikelite Camera Housing for EOS 5D
Two Ikelite DS200 Strobes
Ikelite 8" Port for Wide Angle Lenses
Appropriate Ikelite Macro Lens Ports

This was my first time out with most of the equipment. Overall, I gotta say that I am completely stoked about the set-up. The Canon 5D is AWESOME!! I am retiring my 20D to "topside camera" status and using the 5D for everything underwater, which means my Ikelite 20D housing is goin' up for sale very soon.

The details on the shots above Clay's comment are as follows . . .

The Blenny-
Canon EF 100mm Macro with a +3 diopter Autofocus
1/200 sec at f/13, ISO 50 - Manual Settings

The Christmas Tree Worm-
Canon EF 100mm Macro with a +3 diopter Autofocus
1/200 sec at f/10, ISO 50 - Manual Settings

Tube Sponge w/ Arc of Wrasse-
Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Autofocus
1/125 sec at f/10, ISO 50 - Manual Settings

Tube Sponge w/ Dive Model-
Canon 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye Autofocus
1/200 sec at f/11, ISO 50 - Manual Settings

[Jonathan Bird]

Very nice stuff!!! Thanks for sharing!

Corner sharpness on the fisheye appears very good from what I can tell in this web-sized pic. Are you happy with that? Which port did you use?

Jonathan

[tarczy]

Very nice stuff!!! Thanks for sharing!

Corner sharpness on the fisheye appears very good from what I can tell in this web-sized pic. Are you happy with that? Which port did you use?

Jonathan

With the fisheye I used Ike's 8" Dome Port. I'm very satisfied with the fisheye/8" Dome performane. Corner-to-corner sharpness is fantastic and there is very little, if any Chromatic Abberation.

:D

[Ken Hawk]

Hi Tarczy, great shots, can i ask why you use a +3 Diopter on the macro lens.
thanks Ken

[tarczy]

Hi Tarczy, great shots, can i ask why you use a +3 Diopter on the macro lens.
thanks Ken

Hey Ken . . . thanks for the kudos. I used a +3 diopter to magnify the subject that much more. However, I've been told that using an extension instead of a diopter allows for better magnification, but one doesn't have to be right on top of the subject. (i.e. When shooting jawfish with the +3 diopter, I was forced to get so close to the subject that the jawfish never came out of his hole.)

Next time I'm shooting macro I'm gonna try an extension.

[Ken Hawk]

Thanks Tarczy
I know you are a canon & ikelite man, I also have the 100mm macro lens with the special port for the 100mm lens.
My question is what port do you use? and if you add extention tubes what happens, port wise?
I once left the UV filter on mine, and scratched the inside of the port :mad:
could have being worse if it had flooded lol.
Have you any links or info to extension tubes.
Thanks very much Ken

[Jonathan Bird]

Ken,
I only use a diopter on a macro lens when I need to shoot something REALLY small, like a pygmy seahorse or something. When you put a diopter on the lens, it can't focus more than a few inches away anymore, so the lens can ONLY be used for super macro and nothing else. Such is the benefit of the wet-diopter (the "woody" diopter that Nexus sells) that you can remove underwater. The downside of that is because of the minimal difference between the index of refraction of water and the index of refraction of glass, in water it only amounts to about a +2 diopter, whereas in air it's more like +5!! If you put a screw-on diopter inside the housing, you can get a +4, which is a much more dramatic effect.

My Ike port doesn't touch the lens even with a filter. I can find the part # if you want it.

The working distance of a 105 is large enough that I do not find the reduction in working distance with a diopter to be a problem. But I would never bother to use one on a 60 mm. It would be too close.

Jonathan

[Daniel]

Thanks for sharing your dive adventure aboard the Aggressor and the amazing photo's in your slide show.

Cheers!
Daniel :)

[Daniel]

Thanks for sharing your dive adventure aboard the Aggressor and the amazing photo's in your slide show.

Cheers!
Daniel :)

[tarczy]

Thanks Daniel!! :D

[Jonathan Bird]

Yeah, I just checked out the slide show, nice pics!! I like the one with the fisheye where the dive above has a strobe on slave that flashed when you shot the pic. Nice David Doubilet effect!

Jonathan

[tarczy]

Yeah, I just checked out the slide show, nice pics!! I like the one with the fisheye where the dive above has a strobe on slave that flashed when you shot the pic. Nice David Doubilet effect!

Jonathan

Thanks Mon!!!

That Elephant Ear was 12 feet across! Had to have been the largest Elephant Ear I've ever seen in my life! :D Oh yeah . . . . the strobe on "slave" was totally planned.



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