Grand Cayman Snorkeling Pictures!!!

[reefer31]

So, I am currently in Veterinary school in Grand Cayman. I got an underwater camera for Christmas and I have some pictures of the snorkeling around the Island, mostly the west side. The camera is an olympus tough TG-810. I am new to the underwater camera scene and hope that the pictures are enjoyable. Feel free to check out my blog for the other pictures of which there are many!
www.reefaquaculture.blogspot.com.


Untitled by http://www.flickr.com/people/72816641@N05/, on Flickr


Untitled by http://www.flickr.com/people/72816641@N05/, on Flickr


Untitled by http://www.flickr.com/people/72816641@N05/, on Flickr


Untitled by http://www.flickr.com/people/72816641@N05/, on Flickr


Untitled by http://www.flickr.com/people/72816641@N05/, on Flickr


Untitled by http://www.flickr.com/people/72816641@N05/, on Flickr


Untitled by http://www.flickr.com/people/72816641@N05/, on Flickr

 

[devonian]

Thanks for the photos -
they bring back good memories of diving the north wall, sharing eden rock caves with 5' tarpon, etc. the viz was spectacular; I could pick out constellations at night from the deck of the Oro Verdi, which is what, 70 feet down? 100?

 

[BretCreager]

i cant wait to make it there to go diving. my fiance and i went to key largo for our first vacation together and had a great time, first real dive trip we ever took. i went snorkling in grand cayman but never got to go diving. great pictures thanks for sharing

 

[brandon429]

clearly great pics.

Im going to save this thread to show people in some of the bottom pictures how the rock clearly has a tangle of macro algae, mixed hair algae/bryopsis even in the face of a great clean up crew and zero phosphate water.

It looks wonderful in the ocean but in our tanks we'd freak out. Goes to show what the real natural condition is huh

 

[SushiGirl]

LOL Brandon, too true on all counts.

Those pics came out great. How big was that worm?

 

[JimW]

reefer31, your pictures are beautiful! Did you use any filters on you camera? Did you have to adjust the white balance often? I just returned from Bonaire, and used a Nikon AW100. It was adequate, but I did not get the quality of pictures I was looking for.

 

[signal_4]

So how do you like Ross ?

 

[Larz_1]

Wow, nice pictures.
I have a Stylus Tough 8010, but I don't think any of the pictures I've taken look as nice as yours.

 

[reefer31]

Sorry for the delay in getting back on. And thanks for checking out the pictures. I am working on posting more it just takes time and school just started up again. I shoot with an olympus tough that is rated to 15 meters. I do not have any filters or adjustments. Just a little tweak in iphoto to make the colors look more natural and thats it. Honestly it takes me awhile to get pictures like the ones I posted haha. These pictures are from snorkeling btw. I could not believe the visibility down here. If you have not been down here I would highly recommend it!

The worm was only about 7 inches or so but im sure if it stretched out it would be over 12". I see them all over here and they are fun to photograph.

I just dove cobalt coast this morning and boy...thats a nice dive! I was out helping a buddy with spearing some lionfish for his diet research. We got a few big ones, 29-30 cms!

I am at St. Matthews Vet school, Ross is on St. Kitts, but my buddy is at Ross and he likes it.

 

[reefer31]

There is nothing in the first picture....just a cool shot of the sea grass/sandy flat area. More to come!

 

[reefer31]

 

[Nuclear_Glitter]

Very nice pictures

 

[reefer31]

So, the seahorse was a first for me.

 

[reefer31]

 

[reefer31]

Ok..the last of them for a bit. Here are the pics for the seahorse and the big green sea turtle was literally 3-4 feet from me. He was a biggun! And those lionfish were caught in the canal by my buddies house, I will soon have a licensed spear for here and will be catching many more!

 

[NatureNerd]

Nice shots! Thanks for posting them. Are these shots natural light, or on camera strobe, or external strobe on an arm?

 

[Deavenw]

Crazy how no matter what you do to your tank it will never be that nice.

 

[reefer31]

@naturenerd All pictures were with natural light, I do not have a strobe. Which makes shots hard so I have to sometimes hold my breath a while for the sun to come back from behind the clouds :uhoh2:

I wish that I could have a tank down here. I would be collecting things all the time! Besides the lionfish, or conch/lobsters in season, im not allowed to collect any marine life from the waters around Cayman.

Thanks for the compliments guys.

 

[KevinYates]

you have some stunning photos in there. im looking for an underwater camera myself and this really helped me out. thanks!

 

[reefer31]

@kevinyates The olympus camera is a nice camera for sure. I just wished it would go down to a greater depth. This camera is great for snorkeling or very shallow diving < 30 ft.