The above underwater pictures were heavily post-processed using Picasa. The human eye is pretty good at automatically adjusting the color balance so that what you see looks more vibrant. Here are a couple of the underwater pictures as they looked right out of the camera: and the "after" versions: At least with my camera and its waterproof case, it is really hard to see what you are taking a picture of, especially if you are zoomed in a fair bit. Starting with the none-too-bright LCD display of the camera, which is hard enough to see in brightly lit conditions, put it in the waterproof case which adds another layer of plastic, and then add in the swim mask your are wearing which is usually a little bit fogged, and it is mostly a guess as to what you are taking a picture of. The fact that the sea urchin in the earlier images is centered and in focus, at the equivalent of a 300mm zoom is beyond lucky. On one of the three attempts at snorkeling on the island the glass lens of the waterproof case fogged up, pretty much ruining most of that set of images. Below is the best one of that set straight from the camera, and after post-processing.

Our first evening on Block Island we wen to the beach to relax. This guy climbed up my wife's chair, walked across her leg: It then jumped over to her brother, and climbed up to his hat.

Big bug (1" or more) that kept bouncing off of the door's glass panel last night. It flew to the lights when I went to see what was making all the noise. Anyone know what it is?

Jim...it's Centranthus Rubrus, Jupiters Beard(Red Valerian). Link ***************************************************************************