Maui Diving

I've got over 600 logged dives, mostly in the Caribbean and Hawaii, but I never got into photography. The cameras and equipment were very expensive, took up a lot of room on the dive boat, took forever to get set up, and still produced a mostly blue picture. Well, that has sure changed! For about $500, I got a new Sealife DC1400, a 14 megapix camera with 5X optical zoom and 720p HD video. Plus, the appropriate white balance corrections for diving or snorkeling. All the photos (and videos) still require post-processing, but the camera does produce a good image to start post-processing.

Since I was doing photography I stayed fairly shallow, mostly in the 30 to 50 foot range. The camera is certified to 200 feet, but imaging below 60 feet or so, without lights, still produces a mostly blue image. And, a pro tip, don't think you can use Photoshop to reduce the blue and bring up the red. There is no red in the image; reduce the blue and you are left with a black image. The camera works by filtering out the blue, then taking an exposure long enough to catch some of the red. Below 60 feet, the exposure would have to be so long, many seconds, you would need a tripod underwater.

Humuhumunukunukuaupua'a

State fish of Hawaii

Turtles everywhere....

Colorful coral reefs

This first row (5 pictures) were taken while snorkeling

All the remaining images were taken while scuba diving

Another turtle

Moorish Idols

Another humuhumu

They have bright blue lips!

A raccoon butterfly

Extensive reefs of colorful coral.....

Caroline is making a painting out of this one

An eel

Puffer fish

Yellow trumpet fish

Moorish idols

Octopus

Me!

Golden Butterfly

Spiny Urchin & Spotted Pufferfish

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. The state fish of Hawaii. Officially, a triggerfish.

Colorful coral reef

Raccoon Butterfly

Colorful coral

Angler Fish

Frog Fish

Puffer Fish

Raccoon Butterfly

Moorish Idols

Pretty reef

Golden Butterfly

Well camouflaged Frog Fish.

Lemon Butterfly

Lemon Tang

Parrotfish

Yellow Trumpetfish

Big Turtle

Ornate Butterflyfish

All the following videos were shot with the DC1400 in 720p (High Def). If you've got the internet speed, select 720p under YouTube settings.

The images below were shot with an ancient Sealife Ecoshot, among their first underwater cameras. There is just no comparison against the modern DC1400 images above.