We did three dives today, one in the morning, with a ripping current, so I did not take my camera, one in the afternoon, and one night dive. The morning dive was at Yembraimuk, and was very fast paced, and full of action. After the first dive we came back to the resort and Pat and Jake, the other two guests were getting ready to leave. They got the typical Pef musical send off, and then Leon and I went to dive. We hopped on the boat and took the very short ride out to Crossover Reef, just off of Pef.
(Pat and Jake Getting Ready To Leave)
The second dive, I used Leon and Claudia’s camera with a macro lens on it, which allows me to get much closer to my subjects. The goal on the second dive, at crossover reef was to get a shot of a mantis shrimp, because we know one is there, but he wasn’t in his hole. So Leon and I continued along on the dive, and I started shooting clown fish. I stopped at the first anemone with two banded anemone fish, a family member of the clown fish, and focused in on one that was no bigger than a finger nail. He was buzzing around, but the smaller ones are far more curious than the larger ones, making them easier to shoot.
(Baby Two Banded Anemone Fish)
We went on, and the next anemone we came to housed a Western Clown Anemone fish, or Nemo. Leon helped me to get the camera set to take shots of it, we used a very high Aperture, because the anemone was brilliant white, making the background jet black. I shot away at the Clown fish, as it bolted around its anemone, but with enough shots I got quite a few nice ones. On the same anemone were a whole bunch Commensal Shrimp, small clear cleaner shrimp with purple spots, they are tough to shoot, but eventually I got one.
(Western Clown Fish)
(Commensal Shrimp)
(Commensal Shrimp)
After the second anemone I shot a wobbegong shark, but unlike most of the shots I have of them these are close up detail shots. The first one I took was a close up of its eye, but based on how fast they are I am a little weary of getting too close, but after watching Leon show me how close to get to it I went for the shots. I got some close ups of its beard of tassels which is interesting, it shows you how rough and grainy their skin is.
(Wobbegong Eye Detail)
(Wobbegong Tassels Detail)
(Wobbegong Tassels Detail)
The last anemone we went to had the Spine Cheeked Anemone fish, a red guy, very cooperative. I am sure it was actually attacking me and trying to rid its home of invaders but it is one of the few undersea creatures that you want to be aggressive. Again I kneeled down on the sand and snapped away until I got some good shots. At the end of the dive, we saw a mantis shrimp, but when we managed to lure it out it was too quick for me to shoot, so we are back to the searching phase for now.
(Spine Cheeked Anemone Fish)
(Spine Cheeked Anemone Fish)
We had a great night dive, hopped in off of the resort's jetty, and explored the house reef. As usual on night dives, there are lots of little things out and about that are not active during the day. We saw the same crocodile fish as last night dive, but tonight I was shooting macro, so I could get detail shots of him. Every time my strobe fired, he bolted away, making me follow him around the reef to get a shot that I liked. I got a detail shot of his eye on the third try and decided that I was done chasing him around.
(The Eye Of A Crocodile Fish)
As I left the crocodile shrimp, Claudia found a hairy crab on the coral, and called me over. After coaxing it into a better position, I began to take some shots. I had to make several adjustments to my camera settings before I got a successful one. I am still not used to shooting macro, nor am I used to using Leon and Claudia's camera.
(Hairy Little Crab)
Before we went diving, I told Leon that I wanted to get a good shot of a pipe fish on this dive. After being told how difficult it was I had my doubts, but I came across two pipe fish on a little purple sponge that looked dead. They sat there letting me get as close as I needed, which worked out great. Pipe fish are about as thick as a piece of string and about 2" long, making them extremely hard to shoot when mobile.
(Tiny Little Pipe Fish)
I went back to a spot that I shot on the last night dive, a small anemone with little shrimp in it. I decided to get a shot of the shrimp itself, a Mushroom Coral Shrimp. They like to hide deep within the anemone, so they take some coaxing out. Leon helped me to get them into a shootable zone, and I went to work. I had to really push my camera close in order to get a shot, and it took some time to do in the current, but it worked out well.
(Mushroom Coral Shrimp Amongst The Anemone)
Next I came to another Scorpion Fish, sitting on a rock, and I decided to get its eye and mouth. Sitting very stable on the sand, I leaned in and started shooting. It was very dosile at first, but soon lost its patience with me, and started to move around. I got a good detail shot, and managed to not put my hands on his spike, so it worked out. After the scorpion fish I decided to head into the shallows.
(Scorpion Fish)
When I reached the shallows, I came back to the big coral with the Christmas tree worms in it, and decided to take some close ups. As I set up for my first shot, my dive light went dead. I turned on both focus lights on my strobes and carefully balanced in the surge. As I was shooting, I noticed a small clear fish near one of the worms, and started to slowly approach and take shots. It was quite a challenge when you are getting bounced about in the swells like a car in Nassau. As I was shooting my fish, I was summoned by leon to see something, so I followed.
Claudia had found Commensal Crab, which dwells on the bottom of Sea Cucumbers, they are very neat little things, and blend in well with their host. This was the second creature Claudia found on a sea cucumber, bristle worm, a bit like a mini millipede. At first I could not see what she was beconing at me to shoot, so I snapped a shot of the cucumber's underside hoping it would satisfy her, but on second glance I saw the creepy crawly thing.
(Commensal Crab On A Sea Cucumber)
Another succesful day of diving has drawn to a close here on Pef, and I am exhausted. To those on the other side of the world, have a good day, but I am off to bed. Check back tomorrow for another post, and more pictures. Don't forget that for all the pictures go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Deep-Blue-View/212183628805690.
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