VICTORY!!!!!!!

Well sort of.........for years ive had this shot that ive wanted to do. Recipe for success? Take a snorkeling session at tunnels, add one turtle underwater and finish it off with the beautiful cliffs o the north shore in the background. Seems easy enough right? Did i mention that i have been trying to do this for years now? 1st i needed to get an underwater housing, did that and got it with a port for my most used lens. Problem number 1, image needs to be half in half out of the water to get what i want.....must have large dome to displace water. Buy large dome, check. Problem solved. Try again..........problem number 2. Contrast difference between underwater exposure too great, cant record detail above water and under at the same time. Need flash underwater to bridge that gap. Borrow flash housing from friend, check. Problem solved. Problem number 3........need turtle in shot, they come out when they darn well please. 3 days ive been out searching and waiting for these creatures and getting scratched up by random spiny things, and beat up by ridiculous currents and still nothing. Ive been shooting fish and other random things while i wait which has been good because i have used the time to get more comfortable with shooting flash under water. Yesterday i decided to go out on a whim and am so thankful that Jen let me go while she stayed at the vacation rental place and FiNALLY after 3 days of swimming out there for over an hour and a half i got a turtle. I was so excited! Problem number 4.........sun needs to be in the right place. Uggggg! if its not one thing its another, for it to work i need to shoot in the morning which i have been doing but turtles dont like to co-operate. So i will take whatever i can, in the end i did and didnt get the shot that i wanted. The concept is there and im a lot more comfortable using the flash now, but the time of day is wrong. The cliffs need to be front lit which only happens in the morning, so it really just comes down to keeping at it and hoping luck is on my side. I may not get it this year but i will keep trying until i get what i want.........i dont give up easily. Still, i had a great time out there and i didnt walk away empty handed, i managed to get some shots i was happy with. So with that i leave you with the concept shot that i got and some more photos for you to take in. Aloha and enjoy!! :)





spotted moray eel, totally wrong lens to shoot him with but he was to cool to pass up


he looks small, but at night him and his friends make a lot of noise!