Luko

2- Local fishermen action Fishermen traditionally use "Bubu" local name of bamboo woven traps that they set on the bottom of the spots where they fish, for decades or centuries it hadnt done too much harm since the traps are resting on a mostly sand or rubble, they also allow smaller fish to get out of the trap. Unfortunately fishermen are using more and more narrow meshed nylon fishing nets like seines which are damaging both the fish and coral life. Indistinct fish like damselfish or anthias find themselves entangled, these larger nets are disposed on larger coral fields. Even though still better than bombing, that trend might become a threat to the more delicate coral fields and also to the small coral reef fish. Scouting the bottom for the perfect bubu location : Bubu down Securing the Bubu Bubu check Fishing nets and spearfisherman

1- Shallow parts : The shallower parts of some of the main sites in Alor (Bama Wall, Cathedral, The Edge, Red Sand beach etc.) are incredible, I would stay there for the whole dive instead of going deeper on the wall. This thanks to the topography, the fish and coral life density and also the incredible visibility : the walls drop off almost immediately starting from 3 to 7m deep close to the shore, hence compacting the shallower reef inhabitants in a relatively small area with great visibility making it ideal for Snell windows or sunbeams. However the downside is that you can be often swept sideways or over the shallows by a sometimes raging current. Alor is not a joke for currents, but then you get the fishlife. Here's below the idea. Cathedral which is typical for sunbeams and greenish light coming from the tree shades and the algaes in the shallows Bama Wall - my favorite dive site in Alor- Other sites like The Edge, Red Sand beach or even Rumah Biru

Alor can be a PITA to get since it takes at least 2 domestic flights from Jakarta or Bali, the flight connexions times are not optimalat all -undesrtatement-. it will most of the time force you to an overnight in the dull city of Kupang, add on top the indonesian carriers enjoy canceling their flights on last minute (happened to me twice in a year with the same airline group that I’ll shame here ; LionAir, WIngsAir or BatikAir ). At least the newer seafront Sotis Hotel provides occasions to see local life at sunset time : Alor Divers is located on the island of Pantar which is one hour mixed car and speedboat ride from Alor. Once you get there you’ll be beached on a fantastic white sand beach then greeted by the resort and dive managers who will set the tune and success of your stay (this year dutch couple Koen and Melissa made everything easy ). The 9 Bungalows are all facing the beach, 30m for the most from the sea, deluxe bungalows have a large shaded terrasse with sofas, an entrance to the outdoor bathroom, two large tables for the photographers need and all the electrical sockets you need. The bungalows are spacious wiith mosquito netted queen beds, no AC but 2 fans on top and on the side of the bed. In august it was cool and breezy enough at night to sleep with double sheets on. View at sunrise from Alor Divers bungalows : The place is quite well known to me : It was my 5th stay at Alor Divers over the past 10 years, so I could focus on what I was looking forward to. Luckily, we were only 5 divers and sometimes 2 snorkelers, hence I could discuss with the managers to plan dives I wanted for the days after. Once this said, mother Nature wasn't fully cooperative with my major target : the famous hammerheads. Although the party had seen them on the day I checked in, another operation consistently spotting up to 15 HH on the two days before we dived the site… yes, before... of course, you could guess the outcome : there were zilch on the day we went there. For those who haven’t dived Alor, it’s a weird sort of area full of marine ressources but uneasy to capture : Alor is a mix of vivid blue waters teeming with fish but NOT schooling, the coral life is outstanding as well, add on top you will find a mini Ambon/Lembeh sort of muckdive environment when diving Kalabahi bay. Aside from the hammerheads which are a hit or miss (Overall I’m on a 30% success rate on the HH site) , the main photo interests for me as five-peater photographer in Alor are : · The fantastic shallows in crystal clear waters (the guides are always surprised when I tell them I want to stay in the shallows rather than diving deep on the wall), · Human action (you often meet local people fishing or setting bamboo fishtraps underwater – aka « Bubu »-), · The nice Bakalang ferry jetty with populated with batfish between the colorful coral encrusted pillars. · and the ubiquitous Rhinopias when going to muck sites. UW photos to come.

Bob Halstead who invented the word "muck dive" at that time moored his boat and went diving Dinah's beach aka. Lawadi, a place which is located near to Tawali close to Milne bay, easternmost point for the main island of PNG and 300 miles south from Kimbe Bay, a completely different location. Having dived there, I reckon this is a really muck/black sand dive spot, the highlight being lots of Cyerce Nigra butterfly seaslugs (up to 5 spotted in one of the 4 or 5 dives I did there). What's a Cyerce nigra : Funnily enough, this black sand spot is neighboring the famous Deacon reef which is a magnificent reef/drop off packed with pristine hard corals and seafans with 30+ m visibility and loads of fish. On my personal podium list of all the sites I dived. It is unique to find such opposite kinds of dive sites a few 100m close to each other. Milne bay is definitely a region of PNG I would recommand for diversity (from muck with sometimes Lacey Rhinopias sightings - the one you can only find in PNG or New Caledonia- to blue water coral gardens, fish schools and sometimes hammerheads). View of Deacon reef

Sure, always happy to share info with colleague photographers.

Frequent diver in the Phils, here. For two weeks staying around the Visayas is an easy option to travel, since a ferry or a car ride won't take you more than a half day, resort door to resort door. A combo Alona(Panglao/Bohol) - Dauin(Negros) would allow you to dive and see a good range of what the Phils have to offer in terms of diving : schools of fish and corals in Balicasag, then a 2hrs ferry ride to relocate to Dauin for the macro stuff, you can also add up Moalboal on the way back to Cebu (it takes a 5-6 hours car ride to get from Dauin to Moalboal). Warning the last typhoon wiped out most of shallows in Moalboal and the sardines school is not so impressive as it was. Personally I do not recommend spending time in Anda which is subpar for fish & corals compared to Balicasag and really inferior to Dauin for macro. if you want some impressions of the Visayas including Alona/Balicasag, Cabilao, Anda, Dauin, Sipalay, Moalboal & Sogod Bay, you can check out my gallery here :

I am looking for a Backscatter MF2 strobe (No MF1) with its snoot, I cannot stand anymore big strobes for shore/macro dives like in Tulamben. Preferably buying from a European Union seller. Thanks.

On Amazon you can find more elaborate EF "double" adaptors which are used both as a lens reversing device and will also connect to the baionet side of lens (ie. on the front of the whole system), a cable system between the two rings allows to drive the actual aperture. That said that's a lot of cables inside the port, it also reduces the fixed focus distance since it adds up some cms on the front end. There's also a trick which works on Canon dSLRs : if you unscrew the lens while pushing the shutter release on BULB mode, the lens will sit at the current aperture when unscrewed. So then you can reverse it with any fixed aperture you'd want. BUT the big trade off is that you're loosing light within your viewfinder, at some point it will be so dark you won't see anything and mess up with your manual focusing. Uh... choices, choices... First ones with a 70D the rest with a R7.

Olympics in Paris getting slower, business as well though still a short week to go before my usual august trip to Indonesia. Maybe a good time to post a few pics. I'm often looking to try unusual techniques in Tulamben/Bali since macro subjects are plentyful and the guide I have been diving with these past 10 years is able to find anything an eye cannot even catch. During my last stays I dedicated a few dives to the "Lo-tech/Lo budget" Reverse Ring Macro technique that a few old timers might have practiced decades ago. RRM involves reversing a wide angle lens used as a super macro lens. The wider, the more magnification you get, you'll also see RRM is the epitome of frugal technology. For this you need a random wide angle lens, it could be a cheap wide angle zoom lens, which front optic side is attached reversed to the camera sensor baionet with the help of an appropriate ring, hence the name "Reverse Ring" Macro. I used my 15-85 Canon zoom attached with a 10$ reverse ring purchased on Amazon, in order to spice it up a bit (Indonesia is home of the spice islands) and since I had additional room in my macro port, I added a macro extension tube of 3cm in between the reverse ring and the camera EF baionet (15$ more on Amazon... OMG such crazy expenses : have I told you RRM is for cheapskates on macro?). With that rig, depending on your wide angle optics and the extension tube you are using, you may get down to a magnification of more than *4, this is where crazyness begins on a cropped sensor camera. Once you're happy with the costs, you'll have to cope with the downsides of this technique : the aperture is fixed to the MINIMAL f/ stop, hence you'll be better off with a a crappy lens that opens to a max f/4. the focus point is fixed to the MINIMAL distance, which is usually not more than a few cm with the reversed lens position (a couple of inches at most). You need then to have a macro port really adjusted to your RRM setup, otherwise you won't be able to get any subject in focus. Having said this, the Depth of Field you'll get is critically minimal, not more than one or a couple of mm, you then need to have a clear view through a good quality viewfinder and be very precise to get your subject in focus while rocking your camera. 99% of the subjects you casually shoot will be too large to fit in the frame : finding the good one with enough contrast will be a challenge in its own, having an eagle eyed guide who understands the kind of subject you need is key to taking decent shots. In summary, do not expect more than a 10% success rate (meaning framed and in focus subjects) for a maximum of 30-40 images on a 70-80 minutes dive. You know you had a decent RRM session when you have a headache at the end of the dive. Is that worth? You tell me : at least I had focused dives, fun... and headaches too. Nudibranches are hard to focus, I found that crustacean eyes had the most interest in terms of contrast and shapes. 1- Ghost shrimp 2- hairy shrimp (gives you an Idea with the magnification) 3- Thor amboinensis "sexy" shrimp 4- Eye of a juvenile harlequin shrimp 5- Incredibly small Trinchesia sp. nudi 6- Juvenile Micromelo nudi

Love the yellow hairy froggie pic for the complementary colors and shallow DoF.

Everything is SOLD now. Thanks

Thanks for your article, Vandit. Nice to read some photo writing that doesn't focus on fisheye angle definition nor on a rare camouflaged nudibranch (guilty of both). I'm parisian, originally a BW street/travel film photographer on a Leica M6 (darkroom addict as well) every bit to become a long time ago an afficionado of HCB, as a photo theorist, an image maker and a free person as well. So you got my attention there. I completely agree with you on the "artistic" effort you must first engage into photography. (However as a complete fan I don't like to use "artistic" for photo since dear Henri abandoned photo in his late days assessing he denied any form of "real art" lying into photo but rather looking into painting or drawing. A Photo just needs an eye and a finger, he explained. Eventually he didn't use any camera but spent his days drawing for the last 20 years.) It may not be a different take from yours though, I think the utmost effort should be applied on thinking and trying to visualize the context possibilities, the evolution of the scene and the expected result of your image before starting the shooting : visualizing sounds more Anseladamsish here but that's also what HCB recommended, being a Zen archer, ie anticipating and waiting for your scene to compose BEFORE shooting. The geometry inside your framing is paramount, this can be depend on either on a fixed (background, sides) or an evolving fish movement) context. Hence you should exercise your eyes into recognizing the immediate geometrics patterns or when it become something interesting. Oppositely, I am not an advocate of shooting hundreds of images of the same scene until you get it right, I'd rather stop and think, take some time to remember some photos or paintings that have very little to see with the scene I am shooting and try to get some inspiration. I remember for exemple taking an image of a turtle surrounded by snorkelers that I tried to get in position to remind a painting of Matisse. (Though only me finds the reference when I show this pic to others... skill gap with the original I guess... hahaha...) FWIW at my very humble level, I often realize that composition wise (ie . apart from lighting adjustment) my first frame in a series of 5-6 photos is the first take. I hardly take more than 7-8 shots on a single scene, I feel like I have no idea left. Personally I think the most efficient way would be to inspire yourself and your photo outside diving, browsing through photobooks of legendary land photographers (in that respect, Magnum is an excellent agency) or vistiing photo exhibs whenever possible. Anyway great topic and I'm totally in with your suggestion

Retra strobes are SOLD Retra LSD snoot still on sale : The Snoot Retra with its pouch is sold at 190€. (EU shipping charges are extra and payable by the buyer)

I have purchased Fotocore GTX strobes which are a rebranded version of the Supe/Scubalamp D-Pro with additional features such as strobo/multiflash available in slow shutter mode (3 or 6 flashes in one click, funnily enough these two modes replace the 8 and 9 power levels that seem quite redundant on the D-Pro). I'm using a Nauticam manuaI trigger and like you, I have had much trouble firing them at first tries with my older Inon/Nauticam optical plugs and fiber cables. It just didn't work, neither inon "small bell" nor S&S plug connectors were working, none of them could fire the bl$*dy strobes... After contacting the owner as well as 2 other Southeast Asia based photogs I know who are sucessfully using such strobes, I switched to thicker kind of connectors like the ones that are present on Weefine fiber optics : it worked like a charm. Now firing every time. The thing is that I was confirmed that it wouldn't work with double cable bush so I changed all my older fiber optics with single cable S&S type bushes. Since the S&S plugs are also too loose I inserted them into a Inon "small bell" connector that screws on the strobe connector socket : it works fine as well. Hence I can confirm it does work with Nauticam manual trigger, it's only a matter of bush/plug type on the strobe socket side.

Hahaha. Yes, he's been my guide every year since he began freelancing 8 or 9 years ago. Very nice chap. I warned him when he started with colored lights (I think some asian photog showed him) I didn't want any of that stuff, he still tries but that has become a running joke between us. I see sometimes he recreates similar photos with various guests (thats' how I can recognize the guide)

I am selling 2 original model Retra strobes, delivered at the start of 2018 plus a Retra LSD snoot compatible with this model of flash. Selling price, EU shipping only : The 2 strobe units with their accessories are being sold as a package for 900€. The Snoot Retra with its pouch is sold at 190€. (shipping charges are extra and payable by the buyer) I've used them for a little over 4 years and 12 dive trips (about 250 dives) without any problems except for the leakage of a set of batteries into the battery compartment of one flash unit, which led to the compartment and contacts being cleaned and the battery compartment cover replaced by a new one after being returned to Retra. The strobe has been used again since the repair, with no after-effects other than cosmetic: the immediate exterior of the compartment is slightly marked by battery acid, but this has no effect on its waterproofing or operation. I have just changed and bought new strobes, I wish to finance part of this purchase. The flashes are available with various accessories. The full kit I am selling includes : 2 original Retra flash units with ball & neoprene protection 2 wide-angle diffusers 2 reduction rings 2 sets of macro+super macro rings to be fited on the reduction ring. 2 helicoidal optical cables as is (Inon bell type ends on flash side and S&S insert on housing side). 2 sets of 4 AA Eneloop Pro[/b] batteries (less than 5 charges/discharges). Retra LSD snoot compatible with the original Retra bayonet includes : a Retra nylon fabric pouch to protect and attach the snoot to the stab. a set of 3 ‘light shapes’.

Nice pics. Were you diving with Ajiex?

AFAIK Seraya resort was reopen end of last year (I saw them mildly active when I was diving Seraya dive spot) however the owners/management changed from what I have been told locally. Your best bets in Tulamben : - high end/all inclusive : Villa Markisa - mid market : Liberty dive resort - Budget although excellent dive guides : Utama villa Personally I always stayed at Tauch Terminal for the last 13 years for the accoms comfort and the conveniency, although using a private freelance guide or another dive operation.

September may not be the best season for Raja Ampat, Dampier straits can get really cloudy and rainy (think PortVila start of august ... taem ren i foltaon ), moreover with waves that can make the divetrips quite unpleasant and longish. Other criterias worth mentionning : - Dampier "star" sites are located around Mansuar/Kri or near to Waigeo/Gam, however the western part and the small islands get less rain, it's worth at that time settling closer to west Gam/Yeben, that's a shorter trip to Fam/Piaynemo or the Passage and gives access to great sites as well (Mayhem, Citrus ridge, Rufas, Melissa's garden that I mention even though I think it's not photographically that interesting) but you'll be far away from the classic sites. - Lots of operations like Cove Eco resort or Papua Explorers make a 15% discount for off season staying until sept30th. Agusta have even more spectacular discounts (NOT in july-august) up to 20-25% but you must ask them first as they're not all published, Biodiversity offers 10% discount in September. - My take upon some of the "reasonably priced" resorts (that checks Sorido, MIsool and Raja4Divers off the list) : Cove Eco resort. Loved it in August, very flexible dive organization, with a party of 3-4 you may get your own boat if you tell them youre a photographer, the only resort that will lead you to their own manta place when other resorts say mantas in Dampier are not seen (last dive with Cove : 70 minutes of mantas dancing over a cleaning station) . Good food with french flair, comfortable accoms. Agusta resort, last I visited in April. Italian enthusiasm, you're sure to have fun on their boats. Great to dive with Marco the owner who's also a photographer. Will take all of your requests seriously. Comfortable de luxe bungalows right on the beach, though no house reef too much current, good italian-indonesian food, sometimes even too much with their 5 course dinner. Raja Ampat Dive Lodge, one of the oldest with Kri, used to be good when I dived there (myself and two guides, with my own boat), accom with aircons, a bit of a let down from the most recent feedbacks. Food was the main problem. Papua Explorers, spacious accoms bungalows built over water although without aircon, good dive center, good and plenty of food. A powerful speedboat used for further trips. Kri Eco was the first resort in Raja Ampat, only the renovated bungalows (4 out of 10) have ensuite bathroom, no boat diving on saturdays for religious reasons (Sem olsem churchy pipol blong Vanuatu, eh?) but does well thanks to its agressive marketing from the start. I wouldn't really call it a "house reef" like a dive that you would do by yourself or shore diving. You need to take a diveboat (and for sure a guide) when diving Cape Kri which is further off the resort, it can be a very currenty dive leading to a washing machine bordering east to the shallower plateau. hence you must consider it like a regular and very popular dive spot that is in front to their Sorido resort, which you certainly dive also using other resorts (usually lots of dive boats and liveaboards on this site).

Looking for 2nd hand Nauticam macro port 41 (#18704) Would buy if located/traveling in the EU & shipping to France, otherwise taxes and shipping are hitting too hard.

Thanks. Yes that's the original model with single O-Ring. Will do as soon as I am back home (first days of january).

Calling to anyone who experienced such problem. A couple of hours ago, on my last dive of the trip (as well as the last one of the year) and second dive of the day, some very little bubbles and a strange mineral foamy texture exsuded from the battery cap of one of my Retra strobes (original model). I had changed the newly charged batteries (Eneloop pro) the night before and very slightly greased the joints. The dive was shallow not more than 23m similar to all the 19 other ones I had during this past week in Tulamben/Bali. When I opened the battery compartment, there was a dark greenish brown "paste" coating all the inside of the battery case, the whole didn't look flooded but rather "melting". My first reaction was to remove the batteries, most of the dark liquid paste and to wash as much as I could the inside of the battery compartment with clear water in order to stop the chemical reaction in there. I then tried to dry everything with paper tissues. Now what should I do and expect? flood everything with WD40? or even Coca Cola as I read somewhere? I'm quite sure I'll have to send it to Retra in order to see whether they can repair/clean the battery compartment, but should I try something in between?

Rich, Tim : done, thanks!

How can I get my french flag back? My profile has been automatically tagged as indonesian since I am posting from Bali. Oh well, I can stay there if that's what you want. 😄

Hello waterpixelers, I'm Luko/Ludovic/Ludo from Paris/France currently writing my intro from Tulamben/Bali, my usual playground for macro a few times per year. Even though not a "regular of the pub" I kept the same nickname as the one "on the other board" (and ALL the other boards where you might find me). I have been diving since a tad more than 30 years, mostly if not exclusively in tropical waters, mostly in SEA. I used to practice film photography even before that, therefore I found the urge to have an UW camera in hand a year after I was certified : firstly hired a Nikonos V whenever I could (was too expensive in the days), flooded some, then bought the first Oly digital compacts 4Mp, flooded some, then Canon digital dSLRs, flooded some with different housing brands, and since end of last year I haven't yet had the time to flood my latest R7 Canon in a Nauticam housing + addon wetlenses. I'm using Retra strobes -the original ones- as well, I'm looking to change them for another brand. My main interests in UW photo are mostly macro critters where I modestly try to perform my best and use various techniques (except for - god forbids- ... colored lights), I have the utmost respect for wide angle/big animal photographers but I feel it's too complicated for me to master everything. Hence I try, and I try, and I try but I can't get no... (hey hey hey) Other than that I think i'm more of a photographer than a diver, and may be more a traveler than a photographer. Sorry if I'm not a compulsive writer nor an hyperactive member, I generally don't discuss techniques or tools unless I have myself a technical problem to solve, though I find it is often very interesting to reading these discussions. You might find me more in the bio or the travel sections (esp. if it concerns Indonesian/Philippines destinations). Thanks for reading. Luko