Bazaruto Mozambique April 08 - first pics with new G9

[Adriaan557]

This was my first outing with my new G9 and first ever photos with an external flash...
Was a bit of a learning curve getting the right exposure and avoiding back scatter, so please feel free to make suggestions on how I can improve my images.

Lots of colourful corals on Two Mile Reef in Bazaruto...

Sabrina our DM

Honeycomb moray - he did have his mouth open but after I nuked him with a too powerful flash this was the only pose I could get from him...

Bluespotted stingray

Boy was I glad I had a G9 with fast shutter speed when the Dolphins turned up...

Will post a few macro shots tomorrow...

 

[AndyT]

Great stuff Adriaan - I must consider going further North than Morrungulo on my next Moz trip.Look forward to the rest of your images.

 

[alcina]

Nice with the dolphin!!

Did you shoot RAW? If so, you'd be very surprised at how flashed you can still save - I've had images that were almost all white due to being flashed and recovered them easily with Lightroom.

 

[Adriaan557]

Thanks Andrew!

Alcina, yes I did shoot RAW and were able to save quite a few, but some were just completely burned out. Had a few good ones that were completely ruined by backscatter - but hey guess that all part of the learning process...

 

[Deefstes]

Brilliant pics Adriaan and I'm green with envy for that Dolphin shot.

Just a question on the Ray. Are you sure it's a Bluespotted Stingray? I know there are different names for fish depending on where you are but to me this looks like a Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray (Taeniura lymma) also known in some places as a Ribbon-tailed Stingray. I suppose it's quite possible that somewhere in the world it could also be known as a Bluespotted Stingray but as far as I know the real Bluespotted Stingray (Dasyatis kuhlii), also known as Kuhl's Stingray is something different altogether.

Either way, it's a wonderful picture.

 

[Adriaan557]

Thanx Deefstes!

Lest see... my Coral Reef Guide says Bluespotted Stingray (Taeniura lymma) Red Sea to Solomon Islands, Oman to East Africa and Maldives.
Interesting...my Reef Fishes and Corals of the Red sea, says it a Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray (Taeniura lymma).

I googled 'bluespotted stingray' and there seems to be a lot of confusion between the 2 - and I see what you mean, they look completely different...

I think you and my Red Sea coral guide are right and the right name is indeed Bluespotted Ribbontail Ray, thanks for pointing that out!

 

[Trixxie]

External flash, does that mean strobes? did you use the canon hosing?

great pics btw - I am wanting to upgrade to the G9 at some point.

 

[Adriaan557]

Thanx Trixxie.

Yes by external flash I mean strobe, and yes I use the Canon housing. I'm very impressed with the Canon housing. I did not have a big strobe budget (after buying a G9 and housings) so I went for Epoque ES-DS150 alpha. Good for taking macro photos, but lack a bit of power for wide angle shots. Will probably upgrade sometime next year to a better strobe.