Thought I'd share a few of my scuba dive adventures in the Underwater Philippines.
The micro scale of some of these critters, is what makes challenging super close up photography. Spot on narrow focus is everything. The black/white shrimp is the size of the Question Mark on your computer Keyboard. The Spiny Ornate pipe fish are mindblowing in texture. The Cuttlefish actively rapidly strobed his ink around and changed his skin color. For most these pics, just think tiny, then 1/2 that size again so then go tiny tiny, other than the 5 foot long sea snake (VERY COOL), everything else in these photos is less than 1-3" long, for reference, that is very fine grain of sands in many of the photo backgrounds.
No photoshop of even brightness or color adjusts on these, only a small crop to trim size. Mass Photoshop and extensive post-processing is for cheaters (grins - some divers rely too much on that, in my humble opinion.)
If one word sums up Philippine Diving, it is Diversity. Sooooooooooo many things that I've never seen before, from Hawaii/Fiji/Caribbean diving.....typically 1-2 new critters popped out on each dive site. I got in 38 dives in 2 weeks of diving. The Sea Snake was awesome, other stuff you stare at through a magnifying glass and say "what the heck is that little orange lump?. The Mantis Shrimp was a major major highlight for me....
Enjoy the pics, and Happy Bubbles to all present and future divers. I appologize in advance for any critter mis-identification or spelling.
TRIPLE Ornate Pipe Fish - awesome shot, rare to see them bunched up this close, and it's one of my favorite shots:
3/8-1/2" long black/white Crichnoid Shrimp
Cuttlefish was in Disco Mode with ink patterns strobing through his body.
Pretty Rare Green Ornate Pipe Fish. Only one we saw in 3 weeks of diving.
Psychodelic Manderin Fish, they come out at Dusk to mate wiggle wiggle rub rub squirt! ARGGGGG if it would of only been in razor sharp focus! I hated focus and shutter delay on the Manderin Dusk dive and physically "middle finger flipped-off" my camera numerous times! Time for a new faster focus camera with no shutter delay!!!
Banded Sea Snake, followed him along the bottom for a couple minutes while he was hunting, then he went to the surface to breathe.......I had one shot to get this photo, and I nailed it perfect. Thank you dive gods for the fish-eye wide angle lens, the snake was only about a foot in front of me!
Nudibranch, mindblowing stunning colors! Photoshop is for cheaters!
Another of my top favorite 3 shots, my first free roaming Mantis Shrimp. Stunning Powerful Clubbing front claws. Only saw this one fully out in the open during a zen-moment solo morning dive of just me and the shrimp.
Think Teenier and Tiny Tinyier!!! maybe only 1/4" - 3/8" long body, in 1/2" diameter bubble coral polyps. (crap, polyp isn't the right word, what is the swollen portion of a bubble coral called? not an arm, a bulby thing?........grins)
Another Ornate Pipe Fish, youngster with a wine bottle neck/openning for scale...fine fine sand...........cute little fishie wishie.
BTW, these shot were taken with a cheap 8-9 year old point-n-shoot 8 meg-pixel Olympus camera (SP-350) and wet-mount INON AD lens UCL and UWL and Ikelight DS-125 strobe. Nothing fancy or expensive here at all. It's not the equipment or camera, but the person behind the lens that makes the magic happen.
I'd love to get a Oly PEN 4:3rds set-up, but would miss my TTL and Ikelite strobe. Ikelite should reconsider offering a housing!
Hope you enjoyed the virtual dive, Thank you to the Philippine areas of Cebu, Dauin, and Apo Island for showing me a very diverse macro and mind blowing muk diving world.
Diver Dave
The micro scale of some of these critters, is what makes challenging super close up photography. Spot on narrow focus is everything. The black/white shrimp is the size of the Question Mark on your computer Keyboard. The Spiny Ornate pipe fish are mindblowing in texture. The Cuttlefish actively rapidly strobed his ink around and changed his skin color. For most these pics, just think tiny, then 1/2 that size again so then go tiny tiny, other than the 5 foot long sea snake (VERY COOL), everything else in these photos is less than 1-3" long, for reference, that is very fine grain of sands in many of the photo backgrounds.
No photoshop of even brightness or color adjusts on these, only a small crop to trim size. Mass Photoshop and extensive post-processing is for cheaters (grins - some divers rely too much on that, in my humble opinion.)
If one word sums up Philippine Diving, it is Diversity. Sooooooooooo many things that I've never seen before, from Hawaii/Fiji/Caribbean diving.....typically 1-2 new critters popped out on each dive site. I got in 38 dives in 2 weeks of diving. The Sea Snake was awesome, other stuff you stare at through a magnifying glass and say "what the heck is that little orange lump?. The Mantis Shrimp was a major major highlight for me....
Enjoy the pics, and Happy Bubbles to all present and future divers. I appologize in advance for any critter mis-identification or spelling.
TRIPLE Ornate Pipe Fish - awesome shot, rare to see them bunched up this close, and it's one of my favorite shots:
3/8-1/2" long black/white Crichnoid Shrimp
Cuttlefish was in Disco Mode with ink patterns strobing through his body.
Pretty Rare Green Ornate Pipe Fish. Only one we saw in 3 weeks of diving.
Psychodelic Manderin Fish, they come out at Dusk to mate wiggle wiggle rub rub squirt! ARGGGGG if it would of only been in razor sharp focus! I hated focus and shutter delay on the Manderin Dusk dive and physically "middle finger flipped-off" my camera numerous times! Time for a new faster focus camera with no shutter delay!!!
Banded Sea Snake, followed him along the bottom for a couple minutes while he was hunting, then he went to the surface to breathe.......I had one shot to get this photo, and I nailed it perfect. Thank you dive gods for the fish-eye wide angle lens, the snake was only about a foot in front of me!
Nudibranch, mindblowing stunning colors! Photoshop is for cheaters!
Another of my top favorite 3 shots, my first free roaming Mantis Shrimp. Stunning Powerful Clubbing front claws. Only saw this one fully out in the open during a zen-moment solo morning dive of just me and the shrimp.
Think Teenier and Tiny Tinyier!!! maybe only 1/4" - 3/8" long body, in 1/2" diameter bubble coral polyps. (crap, polyp isn't the right word, what is the swollen portion of a bubble coral called? not an arm, a bulby thing?........grins)
Another Ornate Pipe Fish, youngster with a wine bottle neck/openning for scale...fine fine sand...........cute little fishie wishie.
BTW, these shot were taken with a cheap 8-9 year old point-n-shoot 8 meg-pixel Olympus camera (SP-350) and wet-mount INON AD lens UCL and UWL and Ikelight DS-125 strobe. Nothing fancy or expensive here at all. It's not the equipment or camera, but the person behind the lens that makes the magic happen.
I'd love to get a Oly PEN 4:3rds set-up, but would miss my TTL and Ikelite strobe. Ikelite should reconsider offering a housing!
Hope you enjoyed the virtual dive, Thank you to the Philippine areas of Cebu, Dauin, and Apo Island for showing me a very diverse macro and mind blowing muk diving world.
Diver Dave
