Recently, we were able to spend 8 days diving the Lembeh Strait, which is by reputation one of the best macro dive locations in the world. It did not disappoint! We stayed at Kasawari Resort and loved our time there.
This was my first trip with a DSLR underwater, and it was challenging! Surge (even at 90'!!), lots of sediment in the water, and tiny subjects make getting a decent shot feel especially rewarding. I used the technique of pointing the strobes back at the housing along with small aperture to get a nice background without all the backscatter (usually). For sure there are some things I will do differently next time, but overall I think it went pretty well.
Some of the Pygmy Seahorses are smaller than my fingernail, so just to get them in focus in the surge was really tough -- composition was not a primary focus
All shot with Nikon D7000, Nauticam housing w/45deg viewfinder, two z-240 strobes, Sola photo 800 focus light, and either 105 or 60mm lenses. Many with 10 power subsea wet lens with the 105.
Here are a few images, the rest can be found here: Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, 2014 - a set on Flickr
Pygmy seahorse (Denise's) by JamesR_307, on Flickr - Shot with 105mm & Subsea +10 (not cropped!)
Nudibranch by JamesR_307, on Flickr
Another couple of mating Mandarinfish by JamesR_307, on Flickr
This was my first trip with a DSLR underwater, and it was challenging! Surge (even at 90'!!), lots of sediment in the water, and tiny subjects make getting a decent shot feel especially rewarding. I used the technique of pointing the strobes back at the housing along with small aperture to get a nice background without all the backscatter (usually). For sure there are some things I will do differently next time, but overall I think it went pretty well.
Some of the Pygmy Seahorses are smaller than my fingernail, so just to get them in focus in the surge was really tough -- composition was not a primary focus
All shot with Nikon D7000, Nauticam housing w/45deg viewfinder, two z-240 strobes, Sola photo 800 focus light, and either 105 or 60mm lenses. Many with 10 power subsea wet lens with the 105.
Here are a few images, the rest can be found here: Lembeh Strait, Indonesia, 2014 - a set on Flickr
Pygmy seahorse (Denise's) by JamesR_307, on Flickr - Shot with 105mm & Subsea +10 (not cropped!)
Nudibranch by JamesR_307, on Flickr
Another couple of mating Mandarinfish by JamesR_307, on Flickr
