Not all wide angle shots are shot with a wide angle lens. I've had the 105mm telescope lens on a number of times and something really cool or really rare comes by - so I just gotta improvise.
Such was the case often in Bonaire. I'd be out shooting Macros with the 105mm and a pair of mating reef squid would come along - getting all nasty with it, hunting on the reef, flashing and changing colors.
Or I'd be hunting for another silly Juvi Trunkfish and I'd hear Jaye squeal into her mask - and I'd look up and it'd be a turtle.
A 105 doesn't make a good wide angle lens. It makes a terrible wide angle lens - but it does allow me to capture some of these rare and unexpected moments.
Here are the Wides. I've included here some scooter shots, some of the improvised wide angles (what I call "Wangles") and some other funny stuff.
Full Bonaire Gallery here: Bonaire, Baby!
Enjoy!
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Ken
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Jaye Reach - the first day on Buddy reef with the scooters, when we came back in to the dock at the end of the dive, there was a huge, thick blanket of silversides. Jaye wanted to just float in them for awhile, so I opened everything back up again (extended the strobe arms, turned on the strobes, turned on the cam, tightened the arms, etc. ) a process that takes about 90 seconds of more with the Wide Angle rig. When I looked up, Jaye was reaching into the cloud. She didn't know I was shooting, and this became one of my favorite shots of the trip - as it captures Jaye's being in the moment.
Turtle Wangle - this was the smallest turtle I've ever seen. He was literally the size of a dinner plate. I can't believe I was able to get most of him into frame with a 105! I was kicking and chasing this little guy down, and this shot captures the chase quite well.
Blenny Brain Block (say that 3 times fast...) - remember the lead off pic for the Macros? That Blenny was shot on this block. Check the little brain coral on the top back corner, and the fish nesting on the side. There are hundreds of Blennies living on this block.
Jaye Scoot White Slave - our fav site, White Slave. We dived there 3 or 4 times. This is Jaye blasting past me as I crouch in the sand.
Jaye Watching Orange - I brought down a lime and an orange to play with so I could inject some color into the shots. I moved Jaye out over the reef, into the blue water and had her toss the orange around a bit. I love fruit diving as it puts the subject into positions, patently non-diving positions that are arresting and beautiful to look at. Positions you can only achieve in the density of water.
Reef Squid Wangle - with the 105 on, we had a visiting pair of Reef Squid. One of them kept feeding - diving into a hole again and again. This was one of those "my kingdom for my 12-24mm" dives.
Reef Devastation - scooting south on Buddy Reef for about 20 minutes puts you into another world. A hurricane came through here several years ago, wrapped around Klien Bonair and mashed the reef south of Buddy Dive. The damage is so localized, so abrupt, and so thorough. Its coming back, but make no mistake - its gonna be years, maybe decades for it to come back to half of what it once was.
Bubble Parade - when you put a new diver (Kristen) on a scoot, with a traditional octopus (with no flow control) you get a massive, massive free flow. I was paralyzed watching it. I eventually clipped her octo to the butt D-ring on Jaye's BP/W she was borrowing. That stopped the bubbling. Will and I were laughing so hard that we popped to the surface and giggled for about a minute before I dropped back down and fixed the problem. We were all "did you see that Polaris going through the water???"
JJ Zoom - one last shot, from our last dive on the last day of the trip (White Slave - where else??)
Will and Kristen - I speak so much about them on the Bonaire blog and in these pix threads, I figured you should finally meet them!
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************* Bonaire Dashboard *************
There will be 5 parts to the Bonaire pics:
1. Dry Stuff - just shots Jaye and I took on our dry time
2. Dry Stuff - shots of me getting the shots
3. Dry Stuff - Buddy's resort
4. The Macros - the small stuff (there is also a Bonus Macros (call it 4-A) set)
5. The Wides - the big stuff
Bold = You are here. Links to the others as I put them up.
Kenny's Bonaire Blog is here: Linky
Full gallery of Bonaire Pics is here: Bonaire, Baby!
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.
.
Such was the case often in Bonaire. I'd be out shooting Macros with the 105mm and a pair of mating reef squid would come along - getting all nasty with it, hunting on the reef, flashing and changing colors.
Or I'd be hunting for another silly Juvi Trunkfish and I'd hear Jaye squeal into her mask - and I'd look up and it'd be a turtle.
A 105 doesn't make a good wide angle lens. It makes a terrible wide angle lens - but it does allow me to capture some of these rare and unexpected moments.
Here are the Wides. I've included here some scooter shots, some of the improvised wide angles (what I call "Wangles") and some other funny stuff.
Full Bonaire Gallery here: Bonaire, Baby!
Enjoy!
---
Ken
==================================
Jaye Reach - the first day on Buddy reef with the scooters, when we came back in to the dock at the end of the dive, there was a huge, thick blanket of silversides. Jaye wanted to just float in them for awhile, so I opened everything back up again (extended the strobe arms, turned on the strobes, turned on the cam, tightened the arms, etc. ) a process that takes about 90 seconds of more with the Wide Angle rig. When I looked up, Jaye was reaching into the cloud. She didn't know I was shooting, and this became one of my favorite shots of the trip - as it captures Jaye's being in the moment.
Turtle Wangle - this was the smallest turtle I've ever seen. He was literally the size of a dinner plate. I can't believe I was able to get most of him into frame with a 105! I was kicking and chasing this little guy down, and this shot captures the chase quite well.
Blenny Brain Block (say that 3 times fast...) - remember the lead off pic for the Macros? That Blenny was shot on this block. Check the little brain coral on the top back corner, and the fish nesting on the side. There are hundreds of Blennies living on this block.
Jaye Scoot White Slave - our fav site, White Slave. We dived there 3 or 4 times. This is Jaye blasting past me as I crouch in the sand.
Jaye Watching Orange - I brought down a lime and an orange to play with so I could inject some color into the shots. I moved Jaye out over the reef, into the blue water and had her toss the orange around a bit. I love fruit diving as it puts the subject into positions, patently non-diving positions that are arresting and beautiful to look at. Positions you can only achieve in the density of water.
Reef Squid Wangle - with the 105 on, we had a visiting pair of Reef Squid. One of them kept feeding - diving into a hole again and again. This was one of those "my kingdom for my 12-24mm" dives.
Reef Devastation - scooting south on Buddy Reef for about 20 minutes puts you into another world. A hurricane came through here several years ago, wrapped around Klien Bonair and mashed the reef south of Buddy Dive. The damage is so localized, so abrupt, and so thorough. Its coming back, but make no mistake - its gonna be years, maybe decades for it to come back to half of what it once was.
Bubble Parade - when you put a new diver (Kristen) on a scoot, with a traditional octopus (with no flow control) you get a massive, massive free flow. I was paralyzed watching it. I eventually clipped her octo to the butt D-ring on Jaye's BP/W she was borrowing. That stopped the bubbling. Will and I were laughing so hard that we popped to the surface and giggled for about a minute before I dropped back down and fixed the problem. We were all "did you see that Polaris going through the water???"
JJ Zoom - one last shot, from our last dive on the last day of the trip (White Slave - where else??)
Will and Kristen - I speak so much about them on the Bonaire blog and in these pix threads, I figured you should finally meet them!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
************* Bonaire Dashboard *************
There will be 5 parts to the Bonaire pics:
1. Dry Stuff - just shots Jaye and I took on our dry time
2. Dry Stuff - shots of me getting the shots
3. Dry Stuff - Buddy's resort
4. The Macros - the small stuff (there is also a Bonus Macros (call it 4-A) set)
5. The Wides - the big stuff
Bold = You are here. Links to the others as I put them up.
Kenny's Bonaire Blog is here: Linky
Full gallery of Bonaire Pics is here: Bonaire, Baby!
*******************************************
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.
.
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.
