So this is where you've been hiding?

[incapete]

I was wondering why there wasn't more underwater photography discussion on YD, now I know where you've all been hiding!

So... guess I'd better introduce myself...

I'm Pete, I'm a 28 y/o buyer for a large online retailer (begins with A, you can probably guess who they are), living in the UK.
I've been scuba diving since I learnt in Australia ten years ago. Since then I've been lucky enough to dive in some great locations such as New Zealand, Australia, the Med and multiple trips to the Red Sea but a few years ago I got convinced to join a UK dive club and since then I've dived exclusively in the English Channel.
My style of diving has changed over that time too, from blue-water chilled out reef dives to cold-water wreck dives in a drysuit, twinset and stage cylinders.
If you're a UK diver then you might know me from the YorkshireDivers forum.

My photography over that time has gone from enthusiastic point-and-shoot on my first digital compact (a 5mp Sony P10) through to my first DSLR (Canon 350D) and I'm now shooting on a Canon 40D. I'm still just an enthusiastic amateur but I have recently started doing some event and gig photography on behalf of a number of charities and was lucky enough to get some of my shots featured in The Guardian newspaper.
I'm fairly active on the Talk Photography forum too.

I did have a housing for my little Sony but was never very happy with the results - it's internal flash caused backscatter and it didn't have manual white-balance or the ability to shoot in raw. I dabbled a little with a Canon G9 and housing to give me raw format and added a HW adapter to allow me to trigger a YS120 strobe.

Now I've finally bitten the bullet and have an Ikelite housing for my 40D with the 8inch dome port - I've yet to take it diving (think that'll be in the Spring now) and I'm still working out what I'm going to do about strobes (buy a new sync cable and trigger the YS120 in manual mode or sell the YS120 and buy an Ikelite strobe to allow TTL?) but I can't wait to get started.

[Cussy]

Welcome across Pete.

[ScubaDiva]

Yes indeed welcome across!

[incapete]

Cheers guys, nice to see some familiar faces..

[TimIngmire]

Hi Pete, welcome to Digigreen.

I use the TP forum also but tend to hang in the Film forum.

Tim

[Alsky72]

Hi Pete,

Where are you based? Welcome onboard..

Alex

[triplefin]

Hi and welcome to DG Pete

[incapete]

Originally Posted by TimIngmire

Hi Pete, welcome to Digigreen.

I use the TP forum also but tend to hang in the Film forum.

Tim

I'll have to look out for you there - I've been playing with my old OM10 recently and a couple of even older Oly compacts; a Trip and a 35EC which I'm struggling to get back into working order.

Originally Posted by Alsky72

Hi Pete,

Where are you based? Welcome onboard..

Alex

I'm over in Redhill in Surrey but work in Slough

99% of my diving these days is UK south coast (Brighton, Portsmouth, Plymouth, Weymouth, Litthampton etc).

[Blu DL]

hi Pete - welcome from another YDer

They don't do DIR cameras - yet - so no arguing here - yet.

If they did they would be black, with a blue H, smooth, round with no snagging hazards, tied off with cave line and a p clip (not like my strokey carabiners)

[Cussy]

Originally Posted by Blu DL

If they did they would be black, with a blue H, smooth, round with no snagging hazards, tied off with cave line and a p clip (not like my strokey carabiners)

Mike,
That almost describes a Hugyfot!!
Rob