# Underwater Photography



## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Due to health issues, I've had to retire from diving and underwater photography, but in my day, I won a few international competitions. Here are a few samples of my work. One of my photos was published in the February 2008 National Geographic.

Spotted Cleaner Shrimp (Bonaire)









Hermit Crab (Philippines)









Peacock Mantis Shrimp clutching its eggs (Philippines)









Bristle Worm stinging a Fingerprint Cyphoma (Cayman Islands)









Yellowface Pikeblenny (Cayman Islands)









Juvenile Spotted Drum (Cayman Islands)









A male Yellowhead Jawfish incubating its eggs (Cayman Islands)
This is my Nat Geo moment!









I hope you enjoyed these.


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

Would it be greedy of me to ask for more?  Those are gorgeous.  And did you ever do the Galapagos?


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Thanks, scarlet. Okay, a few more. No, we've never been to the Galapagos - the water is too cold there for me! Most of our diving has been Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Bahamas, Fiji, and the Philippines.

Queen Angelfish (Bonaire - Netherlands Antilles)









Frogfish (Philippines). This is a tiny fish about 6mm in length.









Sea Spider (Philippines)









False Anemone Clownfish - "Nemo" (Philippines)









Slender Filefish (Cayman Islands)









Lettuce Sea Slug - a species of nudibranch (Cayman Islands)


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## terryr (Apr 24, 2010)

Wow, nice!


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

Absolutely amazing! I'm very curious about your setup, what type of camera and light did you have to use to get these shots? They're fantastic!


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

hsuthard said:


> Absolutely amazing! I'm very curious about your setup, what type of camera and light did you have to use to get these shots? They're fantastic!


Thanks! These photos were taken with a Nikon D70, D200, or D300 DSLR with a Nikon SB800 flash. The camera and flash are mounted in water-tight Aquatica underwater aluminum housings. Either a 60mm or 105mm macro lens was used.

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Correction: The SB800 flash was mounted in a Subal underwater flash housing.


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

Wonderful shots!  I love underwater photography and wouldn't mind seeing more.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

sebat said:


> Wonderful shots! I love underwater photography and wouldn't mind seeing more.


A number of my underwater trip are on slide shows with music soundtracks. You can see them online at:
http://www.photodex.com/share/jimbo1946

If you've never watched a Photodex slideshow, you'll be prompted to run an ActiveX control first.

The Philippines show is one of my best.

Hope you enjoy them if you watch.


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

These are great. Thanks for sharing. Do you do land photography now that you can't dive?


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

CegAbq said:


> These are great. Thanks for sharing. Do you do land photography now that you can't dive?


I'm trying, but it seems strange to not be surrounded by fish! I posted some bird photos yesterday.

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,37438.0.html


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

JimC1946 said:


> Thanks! These photos were taken with a Nikon D70, D200, or D300 DSLR with a Nikon SB800 flash. The camera and flash are mounted in water-tight Aquatica underwater aluminum housings. Either a 60mm or 105mm macro lens was used.


See, this is when I feel really stupid... All I know is that I have a camera and it takes pretty pictures.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

scarlet said:


> All I know is that I have a camera and it takes pretty pictures.


That's all you need!


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## Emily King (Jun 9, 2009)

Those are amazing!  Thank you so much for sharing them with us!


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Wow Jim! Every one of those images look like they belonged in NatGeo! Any chance you'd let me have some higher-res (824x1200 or larger) versions to convert into Kindle screen savers to be posted here?


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

911jason said:


> Wow Jim! Every one of those images look like they belonged in NatGeo! Any chance you'd let me have some higher-res (824x1200 or larger) versions to convert into Kindle screen savers to be posted here?


No problem, Jason. Look at my Flickr account. Most of the images are unprotected.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_chambers/sets/

If there's a problem or if the images aren't big enough, just PM me. I'm about to go out of town until October 5, so if I need to send you any images directly, send me a PM after I get back.

Cheers,
JimC


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Awesome! Thanks Jim!


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## French (Aug 19, 2010)

Thank you SO much for sharing these beautiful pictures!!!  You are very talented.  I really enjoyed these.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

French said:


> Thank you SO much for sharing these beautiful pictures!!! You are very talented. I really enjoyed these.


You're very welcome!


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## BlueEyedMum (Nov 26, 2009)

WOW, simply amazing!


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## kadac00 (Jan 30, 2010)

Thank you for sharing!  Now I really really REALLY want to go back to Cayman Brac!


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Thanks, folks! Cayman Brac was our favorite Caribbean dive location until we "discovered" Little Cayman about ten years ago.


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

I loove these pictures!! My dad does a lot of underwater photography, but he mostly dives in Washington, which isn't nearly as clear and colorful.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Thanks, Jessica. I've seen some great underwater photography from the Pacific northwest, but those waters are waaaaaay too cold for me!


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## ◄ Jess ► (Apr 21, 2010)

JimC1946 said:


> Thanks, Jessica. I've seen some great underwater photography from the Pacific northwest, but those waters are waaaaaay too cold for me!


That's pretty much what I've decided as well. Plus it's way too much work to dive in cold water with all the bundling up that's necessary. Do you even need to wear gloves in those tropical waters? If not, I bet that makes wielding a camera a bit easier!


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

My minimum water temperature is 78 F. No wetsuit or gloves!


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## allvinc (Jul 9, 2012)

I'm a diver myself, and I'm from the Philippines.  I love your pictures, and I'm glad to know that some of those were taken here


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

The next-to-last dive trip for me before I had to give up diving for health issues was to the Philippines in 2008. We dived at Anilao, Puerto Galera, and Dumaguete. It was the best diving my wife and I have ever had.


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## allvinc (Jul 9, 2012)

You should have gone to Tubbataha Reef in Palawan, it's very very nice there also.  Nice to know you've explored our islands


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

allvinc said:


> You should have gone to Tubbataha Reef in Palawan, it's very very nice there also. Nice to know you've explored our islands


Some online friends went to Tubbataha a few months ago. I saw their stills and video from there, and they were amazing, there was so much diversity of marine life there. It's one of the places I would like to have been on a future trip.


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