Patti, this is a family forum so just use your imagination.

LOL! I can have a pretty wild imagination. I think I'll just stick with my metaphor. :-)

Wonderful pictures! I agree with Old Wife - can you come along and take pictures on our trip? 2 questions
1. Did you use a digital camera with a cover for the underwater pics (and what did you use)? The covers make me nervous.
2. Where did you get the music - from a Cd? It's great! We heard a song everywhere when we were in Tahiti the last time and now we can't locate it anywhere (it was probably the tourist board song). :)

Thank you very much Finley. I am happy to go along with anyone going to FP :)

I used a Canon powershot A95 with an underwater housing for the underwater pics and some of the beach, motu and pool shots. I've used it for a few years now and it works great. Just be sure to take care of it and you don't have anything to worry about.

As far as the music, I've managed to build a pretty big Polynesian music library over the past couple years. I've purchased about 50-60 or so CD's over my previous trips and via the internet. I also have a few very generous friends I've met through the forum who have sent me a ton of music. Whenever I'm in Papeete, I always visit a few music stores to see what's new and ask for suggestions based on the type of music I like - that is one of the things I really like about spending a few nights on Tahiti. If you have any idea about the name of the song you heard or some lyrics, I'd be happy to try and find it for you.

Islandboy@heart,

Thank you for sharing your pictures,your an outstanding photographer! My wife & I are cruising through the French Polynesia at the end of April and I am serious photographer as well but have to ask, what type of camera did you use for your snorkeling/diving pictures. I have a Canon Powershot camera with underwater housing that I use but wondered if you utilized special white balance or other settings to get your great shots, with or without flash, etc. Thanks again and appreciate any photographer advise you would be willing to share.

I appreciate the compliments magens93 and welcome to the forum. All of the pictures I posted are snorkeling photos so I didn't have to do anything fancy. I put the camera in its underwater scene mode and shot away. I find that the underwater scene mode does pretty well with the colors when snorkeling. If the color is still off when I load the photos on the computer, it is usually pretty easy to fix in photoshop with auto levels or auto color (I find using levels is usually the best). Unless you dive, I don't think you need to go through the effort of using a card and setting a custom white balance. I also avoid using flash since I've found it gives too much back-scatter and with good light at the surface, it doesn't do much for the photo. However, if you dive, I would consider both investing in a strobe and setting a custom white balance. Otherwise, the color will wash out of all the photos and the only thing you will get is a lot of blue color casts that are almost impossible to correct. Sorry I don't have any real tricks to give you but I hope this helps at least a little bit.

Hello Islandboyatheart,

Thanks for the info regarding your snorkeling pictures at AdopePhoto Shop software. We leave in 28 days and hope to replicate your great work and will share like yourself when we
return. Thanks again for your reply!

Eric