Your One Favourite Photo From Lembeh

Back in January we had the "Your Favourite Photo Of 2005" discussion which was very popular and encouraged as many members as possible to share their favourite photo.

So I thought it would be a good idea to bring the idea back. And thought we should kick things off with that favourite UW photo spot of Lembeh.

The idea of this thread is to share your one favourite image from Lembeh (OK, and Manado, Bunaken and Bangga etc). The reason it is your favourite can be entirely up to you. Maybe it captures the location, maybe it was a creature you had waited years to see, maybe it offers an unusual angle on the location (I have seen some great Lembeh wide angle).

This thread is NOT a competition. It is designed to showcase the work of as many different photographers as possible. The only rules are that you are only allowed to upload one image, and it must be related to theme.

Alex

Aargh. This is difficult. Who made up these rules. I am torn between my dancing pygmy and this anemonefish. OK I'll go with the anemonefish...

Taken at Retak Larry, Lembeh Strait.

Nikon D100 + 60mm. F22 @ 1/180th

Alex

Kind of tough following Alex

Karl

D200...60mm....f22 @ 1/200

It was a toss up between a little crab photo that won me a BOS in NCUPS or a more current shot so I thought a more current shot made more sense.

Edit- If I could read I would see it said 2005. The following shot was taken mid December 2004 and I was there for a day in 2005. Anyway, if you think the 2 weeks eliminates it please pull it from the loop.

Love the first 2 shots boys!!

Cheers

Todd

Suppose it's no surprise one of my favorites was shot with the 2xTC. Several previous dive trips were dedicated to learning the best way to shoot it. Thanks to the photogs here, some good advice on strobe positioning and helping me understand about the true f stops and how the sharpness of the image was affected.

Anyway, a common subject (For Lembeh). My goal was to get these little guys as close to filling the frame as possible. I think this particular shot captures the shy nature of the Pygmy without it being the typical back of head shot.

D2X, 105mm, Kenko Pro 2xTC. f22 @ 1/80.

Nudi Retret, Lembeh.

Rand

PS: Alex, where did you find that beautiful anemone?? Color is exquisit.

This was my "artistic" shot. I used a 60mm + 2X TC for a narrow DOF getting the front in focus with the rear blurred.

before i get home to post, alex your dancing pygmy is one of my favorites

Here is mine.

I am returning to KBR/Ocean Rover in 2 weeks time - maybe I should wait before seding my fav image

not very artistic but a simple shot i had always wanted

Wow! Whitehead that is a great shot!!!

Well, this is from a trip 3 weeks ago, so not 2005, but what the heck. I may bribe the judge with a magic filter shot, once I sort through some more shots :-).

I like the geometrics which appeal to me as a designer and are unusual uw. Finding the spider (aka arrow) crab on a nice, red gorgonian was a plus. The dive was memorable, as I shot a nice pink pigmy, this guy, a huge white painted froggie, some cool little crabs and as a bonus, a manderinfish (in broad sunlight) while doing our safety stop!

Fuji E900, 2 stacked Inon macros

Jack

Here is one of my favorites. I have a lot of others that were harder to shoot but overall I like the interaction here, or the story this image tells. All of the posted images here are fantastic, beautifully composed and lit.

I did post what is probably my overall Lembeh favorite in the 2005 thread, from my trip last fall. I also have many other favorites from that trip, but decided not to look through them, for fear of indecision! I made my second trip to Lembeh a couple of weeks ago. Shorter trip, and the critters were more "quiet" than when I was there in the fall, but I still had a great time.

The photo I chose is one from two weeks ago that I thought for sure was throwaway. I was setting up to shoot a closeup vertical portrait of the face of a beautiful bright red Rhinopias, when he just up and yawned in my face. I wasn't ready, I wasn't expecting it. Ended up with a snapshot and me slapping my forehead because I missed it. Afterwards, I looked at it and realized I actually liked it. Even with the focus on the lips and not the eyes, and his rather clipped off look, I think I like it better than if I had been able to set up for it in my usual way. It reminds me of that fumbling moment, and I will always smile when I see it.

Linda

P.S. I think Alex did not intend for this thread to be limited to 2005 photos; he just mentioned the previous thread, which WAS limited. His own photo is marked 2004.

From my only visit to Lembeh (so far) -- lighting is far from perfect, but I was delighted just to witness the mating mandarins, let alone capture it on film (well, not film, but you know what I mean!):

Alex, which dancing pygmy photo is that? You can post a link if a pic breaks the rules.

I agree with wow whitehead! I took this in 2002, my third time at kbr, it won a 2nd in epic 2003. This is velvia slide film, as shot, no adjustments, or crop of any kind. You can see the eyes in the eggs.

Excuse me for showing my kindergarten work amongst all of u master.

At a first glance, the picture is as common as a common hermit crab feeding on a clam. But while i was reviewing the pic, it came to my surprise that there is in fact an infant on the left bottom corner. This discovery added an interesting baby-sitting story to the pic, which i very much like to share with you.

Olympus 5060, 2 x Inon 180 strobe