Wakatobi album

I finally got my act together and sorted out my Wakatobi photos.

http://herbko.home.comcast.net/wakatobi/

Herb

Your photos really rocked. You seem to be into the macro cirtters too.....

One of the things I envy about still shooters is you don't need to keep yourself as still as us videographers do....

Those shrimp on the sea fans/whip coral, there is just no way I could get a whip coral to stay perfectly still in a current.......

On another subject, rumor has it that the people at Wakatobi are realy militant about not touching anything underwater.....to do macro of animals, for me that is just not possible, I must come to rest on my knees of I can find a sandy area to stablize myself to minimize movment....

What is your take on their alleged policy?

One of the things I envy about still shooters is you don't need to keep yourself as still as us videographers do....

One of the things I envy about videographers is that you don't need to get as close as we photographers do and you don't need as much light...

On another subject, rumor has it that the people at Wakatobi are realy militant about not touching anything underwater.....to do macro of animals, for me that is just not possible, I must come to rest on my knees of I can find a sandy area to stablize myself to minimize movment....

 

What is your take on their alleged policy?

I didn't see any of this while I was there. I heard that they were like this in the past, but when I was there three years ago the guides handled quite a bit of marine life.

Herb

 

Your photos really rocked. You seem to be into the macro cirtters too.....

 

One of the things I envy about still shooters is you don't need to keep yourself as still as us videographers do....

 

Those shrimp on the sea fans/whip coral, there is just no way I could get a whip coral to stay perfectly still in a current.......

 

On another subject, rumor has it that the people at Wakatobi are realy militant about not touching anything underwater.....to do macro of animals, for me that is just not possible, I must come to rest on my knees of I can find a sandy area to stablize myself to minimize movment....

 

What is your take on their alleged policy?

Thanks. I have no experience with video and don't know how hard it would have been to shoot those shrimps on whip coral. Wakatobi is mostly walls and those whips were coming out of a wall and there was nothing to hang on to. Also, this is my first trip with this camera and I found that the macro setup is too heavy to shoot one handed, something I plan to fix before the next trip. I took almost all my shots without a hand on anything, and didn't really put their policy to the test much.

One of the things I envy about still shooters is you don't need to keep yourself as still as us videographers do....

One thing I envy about you videographers is that each frame you shoot doesn't have to be perfect.

darren

one thing i envy about photographers...

strobes are cheaper than lights.....

Good looking stuff Herb, love the reds but sheesh, took you long enough.. and now ski season starting...

Herb,

Thanks for sharing. You have a nice balance of critters and w/a shots. The 5D looks like it handles the sunballs quite nicely.

ya, i noticed the sunballs too.. colour me jealous.... #)(*$)#@(*%*_#*

Hi Herb,

I really enjoy your photos!!!!

Stunning beautiful....thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Dave

Lembeh since the 90s have ALWAYS been hands on the critters... to the point of harassment and beyond. Then competition in 2001 with Lembeh Resort came and the dive ops "attempted" to be less intrusive (realizing the critters looked more natural when doing their thing vs running away and being poked to death). Suffice to say it's not successful.

From 94-2005, I've seen dive masters dig out mandarin fish from the rubble, force octopus out of holes with prods and a lot of other stuff. So they are definitely not hands off. The newer ops I have not been to but their staff is from KBR (only a few guides have not worked there to get their critter hunt 'licence').

The best way to shoot whips is to VERY lightly have someone steady the whip and you use a mono/tripod.

Nice pics herb

Each frame does not have to be perfect..Pah !!

Maybe to some, but not yours truly...Thats why it takes me so long to film anything... :glare:

Fantastic pic's by the way. Got a WOW! as soon as the page loaded..Cool.

Dive safe

DeanB

Thanks for the comments. The two things I wanted to work on during this trip was shooting small swimming fish and sunballs. The conditions weren't always ideal for WA, but I glad to have gotten in few good dives with the WA setup.

Maybe to some, but not yours truly...Thats why it takes me so long to film anything... :glare:

DeanB

...off course I was being facetious...you moving picture guys rock...and if anyone would like to continue this converstaion, try here http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16381&hl=

Herb, sorry that your topic was hijacked, but hopefully that is fixed now.

Your Wakatobi images are great, so much diversity, looks like you had a great time. Your gallery sure makes a good promotion for the destination.

Of the close-ups, I particularly liked IMG_3518.JPG, the selective nature of the depth of field really enhances the eye contact with the subject.

From the wide angles I loved the balanced light and content of IMG_3328.JPG, shame the divers didn't behave as well as the fish!

The files look nice too, as mentioned earlier the 5d has done a nice job.

Are these jpgs straight out of the camera?

Very nice Herb-well worth the wait!!

Are these jpgs straight out of the camera?

Thanks. No. I always shoot raw.

Thanks. No. I always shoot raw.

I'd hoped you were shooting RAW+jeg and those were the 5d's jpegs. Oh well.

darren

Those pictures are fantastic Herb. Colors are great! I thought you had been shooting with a 5D more than just two trips.

I have a question for you. I have the same or nearly the same rig as you. 5D, 100mm, Canon 15mm, Aquatica, and Z220 strobes. I’ve taken this on two trips now. Photos with the 100 are all very fine, no problems.

However, my 15mm shots are all terrible, from both trips. I’ve tried all camera aperture, shutter, focus modes and strobe settings. The main subject(s) in all my wide angle pictures are either under exposed or over exposed and without color, washed out appearance. I thought I could for sure blame it on a poor combination of lens and strobes, but can’t go with that theory after seeing your wide angle pictures...

Can you tell me what settings you’re using on your camera and strobes with your wide angle. Thank You!

Thanks. This was my first overseas trip with this setup.

The EXIF is embedded in all the photos. Look there for the camera settings. In all the WA shots at least one of the two strobes was on full power, usually both. White balance and saturation adjustments in the raw converter makes a big difference. Some of the sunball shots were done in C1, the rest were done in Canon's DPP.

Herb,

I especially liked the parrotfish -- IMG_2794.JPG. I think it's a nice example how strobes positioned to allow a bit of fall-off away from the main subject (the head of the fish) can really isolate and impart mood.

Were you able to preserve any texture in the white stripe on the clownfish? The jpg looks blown, but the raw may not be. Those are tough exposures.

Thanks for sharing!

Chris