Indonesia underwater photos - lotsa color!
SeattleYates
Registered Users Posts: 47 Big grins
I returned from another trip to Indonesia (my 5th dive trip there in the last four years), and finally finished going through the 3,751 underwater photos I took! As is my historical average (even going back to my film days!), only about 1-2% were what I consider good, but I did get a few I was very happy with. I put up a gallery of the best ones with commentary/titles on my website: www.UnderwaterReflections.com
You can click on the first photo in the gallery and then click your way through the rest like a slide show... Comments or suggestions are welcome!
This recent trip was perhaps my best trip to Indonesia yet, in part because we dove in some seldom-seen areas during an "exploratory" crossing from Sorong (Raja Ampat area) to Lembeh by way of Halmahera. The numbers of fish and healthy reefs were beyond anything I've ever seen - it was very encouraging to see that places like that still exist- and I got more colorful photos than on any trip I can remember.
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS
One of the most pleasant surprises of the trip was one of my mandarinfish photos. Of all the fish in the sea, colorful little 1-2 inch mandarinfish are probably the most often photographed "in the act"
. What is unusual about this photo is that it clearly shows the female releasing her eggs (a split second before the pair dashed back into the rubble). I'm sure others have caught this in photos, but I have never seen it, so I was delighted to have captured it. A pro photographer I know even suggested that I submit it to National Geographic! I'd love to say I timed my shutter release at that precise moment on purpose, but I'm afraid it was just dumb luck! 
Here's an example of some of the colorful reefs we found:
This was a school of at least a thousand (no kidding!) chevron barracudas (3-4 ft long):
This is a little zebra crab (less than an inch across) living in a fire urchin:
And finally, although it isn't a great photo, one of the most "special" experiences for me personally - I spent an entire dive with this 1 foot long female squid laying eggs and inserting them into this cluster of eggs already hanging on a mooring rope. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, I had a 100mm macro lens on, so I had to stay about 10 feet away to fit her in the frame, and the water was murky, so I didn't get any great quality photos of her...but it was nevertheless an unforgettable experience!
At any rate, Indonesia has about the best diving on the planet for underwater photography, and I hope these photos - and the others on my website - motivate some of you to schedule a trip there!
You can click on the first photo in the gallery and then click your way through the rest like a slide show... Comments or suggestions are welcome!
This recent trip was perhaps my best trip to Indonesia yet, in part because we dove in some seldom-seen areas during an "exploratory" crossing from Sorong (Raja Ampat area) to Lembeh by way of Halmahera. The numbers of fish and healthy reefs were beyond anything I've ever seen - it was very encouraging to see that places like that still exist- and I got more colorful photos than on any trip I can remember.
A FEW HIGHLIGHTS
One of the most pleasant surprises of the trip was one of my mandarinfish photos. Of all the fish in the sea, colorful little 1-2 inch mandarinfish are probably the most often photographed "in the act"
. What is unusual about this photo is that it clearly shows the female releasing her eggs (a split second before the pair dashed back into the rubble). I'm sure others have caught this in photos, but I have never seen it, so I was delighted to have captured it. A pro photographer I know even suggested that I submit it to National Geographic! I'd love to say I timed my shutter release at that precise moment on purpose, but I'm afraid it was just dumb luck! Here's an example of some of the colorful reefs we found:
This was a school of at least a thousand (no kidding!) chevron barracudas (3-4 ft long):
This is a little zebra crab (less than an inch across) living in a fire urchin:
And finally, although it isn't a great photo, one of the most "special" experiences for me personally - I spent an entire dive with this 1 foot long female squid laying eggs and inserting them into this cluster of eggs already hanging on a mooring rope. Unfortunately, as fate would have it, I had a 100mm macro lens on, so I had to stay about 10 feet away to fit her in the frame, and the water was murky, so I didn't get any great quality photos of her...but it was nevertheless an unforgettable experience!
At any rate, Indonesia has about the best diving on the planet for underwater photography, and I hope these photos - and the others on my website - motivate some of you to schedule a trip there!
Bruce Yates
Seattle, WA
Canon 5D MkII and 1Ds MkII (used mostly underwater), 1D MkIII for topside
www.UnderwaterReflections.com (my Smugmug site, customized by DGrinner jerryr)
If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it. WC Fields
Seattle, WA
Canon 5D MkII and 1Ds MkII (used mostly underwater), 1D MkIII for topside
www.UnderwaterReflections.com (my Smugmug site, customized by DGrinner jerryr)
If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it. WC Fields
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Comments
Hi Bruce, These are wonderful underwater photos, brings back lots of great memories from my diving days. I've been to Truk Lagoon but that was about the farthest I went in that direction.
How did you find the coral and reefs after all the terrible disasters they've had over there. From your photos it looks like things are pretty healthy and the colors are beautiful.
Thanks for sharing..
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Actually, Indonesia is a HUGE country, and the disasters (e.g., the big tsunami) were far from the area I was diving (North Sulawesi and East of there). I was in many areas far from civilization and pollution, as well as those natural disasters. And yes, the reefs were surprisingly healthy! I doubt they'll be that way 10 years from now...certainly not 20 years from now, bu they certainly are right now.
Seattle, WA
Canon 5D MkII and 1Ds MkII (used mostly underwater), 1D MkIII for topside
www.UnderwaterReflections.com (my Smugmug site, customized by DGrinner jerryr)
If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it. WC Fields
That is too bad about what you say about the reefs in the next 10 to 20 years. Hopefully, we humans we will act before it is too late.
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