Ajay

Hope, despair, outrage, beauty, and nostalgia. All in 16 min of honesty.

I think my first video lamp was the L&M sola 800. It worked well until it didn't (which is how my wife describes me). I loved the design, and the compact size and the idea that it was all sealed - leaving less room for leaks. Ajay

Some other divers staying with us had taken the ferry route. One feedback from them was that the beds in the private cabin had very thin/hard mattresses: they were wishing they had carried air mattresses. 🙂 Ajay

Indeed - getting there was a mess. I am thinking a better approach would be to dive Anilao a few days. Then take the overnight Ferry from Batangas (I figure it's only a 40 min car ride from any resort in Anilao). Ajay

ohhh, it was just a bit cold, we didn't do any night dives at all. Missed the sashimi shrimp. But still was great diving. Couldn't agree with you more about the need for a dedicated (super)-macro setup. Ajay

In an earlier chat about Philippines, @scubadiggy had recommended Romblon, so we decided to make a brief trip to check out this little Island. It's been around, I learnt, for a fair number of years, but lately they are focusing more on super macro. The guides enjoy discovering rice-grain (or smaller) sized critters. But I suppose the two things that make the place special are the Phantom nudibranch (aka, the ghost melebi nudi), and the tiger butterfly nudibranch - whose shape reminds me a bit of the Sydney opera house - hence the title of the post. A trip report is on my blog, along with more photos. Frankly, I felt a bit handicapped with the Sony 28-60 lens and Subsea +10 plus an Inon 165 macro wet lens in tandem. I've been somewhat reluctant to add more travel weight, but Romblon pushed me to seriously consider getting a dedicated macro lens and the associated ports, sigh. Anyway, in keeping with the title, here are two photos as teasers. Kind regards, Ajay

Thanks @Davide DB. My new year resolution(s): (a) Take some time to really learn how to take better photos, instead of returning from each dive with 18 copies of essentially the same poor composition &/or exposure of each subject. ... failing that (b) Take 36 photos of each subject, hope for the miracle.. ... failing that (c) Buy more gear. 😑 Ajay

Interesting video, @TmxDiver, thanks. Indeed, in a closed environment with a 360 camera, it's not clear to me what lighting would be preferred (your setup definitely gives a "scuba" feel to it; floodlight the entire space, e.g. cave, could also be interesting). I also hear rumors that Apple is reconsidering the Vision pro, but I do think that this tech will carry on; last summer we had an immersive experience of the Barcelona cathedral (in the cathedral :-)).. I think they used the Meta quest, still very nice. Ajay

A friend caught hold of the Apple Vision Pro, and we watched the immersive video (part of Apple's initial promo series to show off the hardware, I think?) on tiger sharks. It's ~9 min, and quite spellbinding, I felt. I dare say this immersive video could be the next best thing to actually diving, hehe.. Anyway, it got me wondering what is a good camera setup for making this style of videos (I mostly do photos, so I am quite uninformed about even normal UW videos, apart from enjoying the videos that folks post here). It would be nice to learn more form folks here about what could be pro level, or consumer level rigs specifically designed for this type of content creation. I am not sure if Apple will continue the Vision Pro, but this form of media consumption is definitely here to stay (I watched the immersive NBA show also, and it was 4 minutes of pure magic). Ajay

Thanks for the video, @bghazzal. If I was planning to dive in Mikomoto, this is exactly the kind of video I'd like to watch on the flight over to Japan, it shows me exactly what to expect and mentally prepare for :-). These guys have been working in what I imagine are challenging conditions for a fair number of years -- I think if anything, they have earned the right for the attitude, if any :-). And they made a nice video. All good. Ajay

@Luko your gallery is awesome! Thanks. Ajay

Great description @fruehaufsteher2. We dived Fuvamulah earlier this year (January). Couple of minor things to add: 1. There is a resident Sand Tiger shark that comes up form the deep (almost) every afternoon at a site (if I recall, Havitha Fannu). 2. The dive site Ferikkade has thresher sharks (we saw them couple of times, when I was at 43m, and the shark at 50+). Several in our group also ran into a school of hammerheads there, at around 46m. By the way, we stayed and dived with Tiger Shark Residence: it's owned and run by a group of Chinese/Singaporeans. They managed to catch a chef from China, and we had the best ever meals at the resort (we're quite used to eating Chinese food a lot, what with being in Hong Kong). I'd go back just for the food, haha. My dive blog post is here. Kind regards, Ajay

Simon runs a diving business (travel and more) out of HK. He recently posted this video to a whatsapp group - it's rather nice.. in fact.. downright amazing for me. Thought I'd share it with you folks. Simon Lorenz with albino baby humpback in Tonga Kind regards, Ajay

Reporting a short dive trip to Bali couple of weeks ago. Stayed with Utama resort, and overall quite happy with the arrangement. My last trip to Bali was ten years ago, and in this period, it seems to have turned into much more of a macro, I might even say, ultra macro, destination. Guides compete to find the smallest of nudibranchs, it seems. My trip blog is here. Feel free to comment on the images - apologies if the download speed is a bit slow. I managed to flood the battery compartment of my YS-01 strobe on one dive. Upon opening, it was a total mess inside, I was not optimistic. But our guide, Jaya, offered to give it a shot.. a shot of good old coke. Soaked it for few hours in coke, rinsed, cleaned, repeat. And amazingly it worked just fine the day after. It was the first can of coke I have bought in a couple of years (being a carbonated water person) - and it was the best coke I might have bought in my life :-). Anyway, here is a teaser for the trip photos.. a Donut (Doto) nudibranch. Kind regards, Ajay

Just a quick follow-up from my questions. We spent a few days at Utama. The executive brief: Resort: A Dive arrangements and dive guides: A Food: C. I think these are a bunch of good folks, and with a bit of guidance on food side of things, it can well be an ideal diving holiday resort in the Tulamben area. I will make a more detailed report of the trip, together with some selected photos and post in a few days. Kind regards, Ajay.