One of my first photos taken with the Nikon D100:

Veronica and I walk along the beach every morning that we can. We go early before I have to work. Some days, the sunrise is magnificent. On this morning, I watched a person in an ultralight fly out over the ocean. I grabbed the D100 and shot off a few frames. The sun was at the right edge of the photo and although it blew out the highlights, I loved the result. It makes a real nice print. Digital Photography has rejuvenated my love for photography. I can see the results immediately and make changes to ensure that I capture the images exactly the way that I want. I am really excited to try this underwater. I told someone recently that the digital camera makes me more creative. They replied with "how so".

I understand the concepts of photography and find myself trying to accomplish a specific task when I take some of my photos. In the past, it meant waiting for the film to return from processing to see if I got what I was trying to create. Sometimes I did and sometimes I didn't. Often, the situation that existed originally could not be duplicated or might not happen often. With the digital camera, I see the results immediately and make changes right away. If it is an action shot, I may not have an opportunity to redo it and I have to rely on the first shot. Other situations allow for retakes. This will be very useful underwater off the New Jersey coast when I am trying to shoot wide angle photos of shipwrecks and artificial reefs. I often shoot at very slow shutter speeds (1/8 or 1/4 second). The results are not always predictable. Now, I can see the photo and the histogram right after I shoot the picture and make any changes that I want. This is exciting. I also like the fact that I will be able to shoot 100 photos on one memory card. I won't always need the high capacity but when I do, it will be wonderful.

Underwater Housing for the D-100

I made my decision in May, 2003 and ordered a Nexus housing for the D-100. I purchased it from Woody Mayhew Photography in Texas. Woody is a great guy and knows a lot about underwater photography. I bought my N90 Nexus housing from him and I have no regrets. The housing itself is a work of art. The camera fits in like a glove and I am able to use all the ports and gears that I already own from my N90 Nexus housing. That was a good reason for purchasing this particular housing. My one small complaint is the same problem that I have with my N90 housing and that is the shutter release does not have a return spring. That doesn't matter when I am not wearing gloves in the warm tropical waters but it does when I have 1/4" thick mitts on while diving at home. In addition, the buttons on the back of the housing are not raised very much and they may be difficult to use with my 1/4" thick gloves. I am working on a fix. I think that I am going to take a small plastic dowel about the diameter of a pencil and attach it to a retractable lanyard which I will clip to my buoyancy compensator. That will allow me to access the buttons easily. I will be using the housing for the first time during the second week of June while diving off South Carolina.

Then its the start of the New Jersey diving season, a week aboard the Nekton Rorqual in the Bahamas in July, shark diving off Rhode Island at the end of July and more New Jersey diving. It should be a great summer if only the weather Gods are kind. I am sure that you will be seeing the fruits of my underwater digital labor on this site soon. I will try and keep you posted on the problems that I encounter so that you might avoid them. On the next page, I will include a list of items I purchased so far for my digital system. This should give you an idea of the cost of setting it up.