Your best shot of 2007 (deadline: early Oct)

Solomon Islands

Canon 5D 100mm Macro, Sea & Sea, YS120s

Was following this lion fish waiting for it to come out of the crevice. It didn't, but I like the composition.

Solomon Islands

Canon 5D 100mm Macro, Sea & Sea, YS120s

The clowns are always good for safety stop photos. I was trying to get the flow of the anemone in with these two.

San Clemente, California

Canon 5D 100mm Macro, Sea & Sea, YS120s

Can't pass up taking several pictures of a fish with blue eyes!

Well, I finally learned to scuba and got my Open Water Cert and this is from my first dive!

Eye contact

Freedive photo:

Probably not a great photo but these little guys are truly bizarre!

3) Barracuda guarding the wreck

Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia

D200, Aquatica, INON Z240 (2) 16mm

2) Chasing Barracuda

South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Same gear

1) Smile for the camera

Wakatobi, Indonesia

Same gear

I already submitted two earlier in this thread, and it's apparently too late

to add/edit this one into that post (perhaps a moderator can do it?).

Since this shot seems to be (much to my dismay because it's not a technically

great photograph) one of the most popular photos I've ever taken, I'll throw it into the mix:

"Cheshire Cat Grin"

Lemon shark on surface at sunset - Bahamas

Canon 1D MkII, Sigma 15mmFE in Seacam with Inon Z220 strobes

Hi!

An amateur with a P&S working in cold green water hardly stands a chance in this amazing lineup, but I'll give it a shot with three of my greatest from 2007.

1)

Ridiculously spiky sea urchin resting on ledge.

shot in

Trolla, Trondheim, Norway

using a

Canon A620 in Canon WP-DC90 housing with Nikonos SB-101 & SU-101 (sic) with home made flash adapter

2)

A young lobster almost comes out of it's cave to study the strange looking photographer.

shot in

Trolla, Trondheim, Norway

using

same equipment

3)

Jellyfish that had lost all it's tentacles (probably during a storm). Still a beautiful creature, almost sad. Skin dive.

shot in

Kvaasefjorden, Kristiansand, Norway

using

just a Canon A620 in Canon WP-DC90 housing.

All shot with Nikon D70, DS125, Nikon 60mm off the Kona coast of Hawaii.

Look Out! Here comes Crabzilla

Cove north of Seymour Narrows, British Columbia, Canada

Subal housed Nikon D70/12-24 lens

Instead of fleeing this crab charged towards me as I was laying on the bottom photographing, it was huge.

Mosshead Warbonnet

Campbell River Area, British Columbia, Canada

Nikon D70/105 Micro Nikkor

This little guy swam in the hole and poked its head out for me.

A Wolf Eel Peeking out of its Den

Outside of Grouse Island, Campbell River area British Columbia, Canada

Nikon D70 with 105 Micro Nikkor lens

Rumour had it that there was a Wolf Eel at this site and I finally found one.

Lots of fantastic stuff commin in. Here's 3 of mine. This year's theme: open ocean.

Cheers,

Chris

1. Sunbeams pierce through the deep blue on a rare flat calm as a free diver plunges toward the abyss.

2. Bermuda

3. D200, Aquatica, 17-55mm @ 17mm, Canon 500D dioptre.

4. On the edge of a deep ocean seamount 23 km offshore in nearly 200ft vis during a flat calm, the sunbeams appears to create a reverse sunburst into which the free diver is drawn.

1. Nearing the end of a 12,000km journey to the North Atlantic from its breeding grounds off South Africa, this Greater Shearwater dives for fish in the rich offshore waters near Bermuda.

2. Bermuda

3. D200, Aquatica, 16mm FE, 1 SB-105 strobe

4. We found this hungry fellow sitting on the water near a seamount 23km off Bermuda and with some bait fish in the water he eagerly pursued ever last morsel. A surprisingly fast swimmer, these oceanic wanderers take on a silvery coat underwater as oil protects their feathers from waterlogging.

1. Cautiously curious: This oportunistic wahoo investigates its surroundings as it wanders across the barren open ocean.

2. Bermuda

3. D200, Aquatica, 17-55mm at 55mm, Canon 500D dioptre, 1 SB-105 strobe

4. Over a seamount 23km offshore, a prized wahoo fishing spot, this ocean wanderer investigates the photographer as it searches for a meal...

Away from home, so don't have access to my images, but here are two of my faviourites that are still on my laptop from a recent trip to Puerto Galera in the Philippines. Had to use the old back-up compact for these images as the DSLR was out of action after a flood, very frustrating.

1. Three moray eels sharing a very small hole.

2. Puerto Galera, Philippines

3. Olympus C7070, Inon D2000 strobe

4. We watched these three moray eels for almost five minutes. The little one would not stop moving, kept pushing the other two out of the way like it wanted to be centre stage.

1. Nudibranchs kissing.

2. Puerto Galera, Philippines.

3. Olympus C7070, Inon D2000 strobe.

4. There are some wonderful nudibranchs to be seen off Puerto Galera, but these two, that looked like they were kissing, were simply stunning.

Regards

Nigel

Hello, permission to post my three....

1. Underwater Modeling at Tulamben, Bali

Nikon D80 in Sea&Sea Housing, Ikelite DS125, Nikkor AF-S 17-55mm f2.8

2. Running Amock at Tulamben, Bali

Nikon D80 in Sea&Sea Housing, Ikelite DS125, Nikkor AF-S 17-55mm f2.8

3. Harlequin Shrimp at Seraya Bay, Bali

Canon 400D in Ikelite Housing, Ikelite DS125, Tamron 90mm f2.8 Macro

cheers,

Chris

Wow, there are a lot of amazing pictures! I thought I'd submit my faves anyway. All pictures are taken with a Canon Powershot A610 on a trip to Belize this past February.

The first picture is of an overly curious and friendly yellowtail snapper that kept inadvertently getting in my pictures - finally I gave him the attention he was wanting and took his picture!

The other two pictures are of the amazing Hol Chan Marine Reserve that hosts an abundance of marine life. In the last photo, I was just trying to capture the reefscape when the huge Southern stingray suddenly entered my line of vision and swam straight toward me.

Hello everyone,

So many great pictures so far.

Gear is a Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF-S 10 - 22 mm F3.5 - F4.5 in an Aquatica A20 Housing

All 3 pictures are taken with natural light.

Caption: Mantas Ballet

Location: Soneva-Fushi, Maldives July 2007

Datas: 1/90s - F5.6 - 10mm

Description: Just below the surface these 8 Mantas were turning around feeding like crazy

Caption: Lonely Manta

Location: Soneva-Fushi, Maldives July 2007

Datas: 1/45s - F8.0 - 10mm

Description: After the show, this manta came back, still feeding

Caption: Not a very shy Whale Shark

Location: Soneva-Fushi, Maldives July 2007

Datas: 1/250s - F4.0 - 10mm

Description: This very cool Whale Shark was feeding at the top of a reef, he lives then came back and cross just in the midle of us.

As you can see the water was not very clear because of the large quantity of Plancton in the area.

Enjoy !

Green Sea Turtle reflecting

Cousins Rock, Galapagos Islands

Canon Powershot A620, Ikelite housing, no strobes used for this shot

Out in the blue, I was following this turtle and shooting madly. Turtle started ascending faster than I wanted to go up. I saw that he would pass between the sun and me, so I waited for the silhouette. The bubble, I confess, was a bonus.

Throatspotted blenny, endemic to Galapagos Islands

Cousins Rock, Galapagos Islands

Canon Powershot A620, Ikelite housing, dual Ikelite strobes (DS-50 and 51), Inon macro lens attachment

On the wall at Cousins Rock, I was looking for seahorses without luck, but fortunately found this little guy, who was amazingly cooperative.

Panamic Sea Star, up close and personal

Cousins Rock, Galapagos Islands

Canon Powershot A620, Ikelite housing, dual Ikelite strobes (DS-50 and 51), Inon macro lens attachment

Still on the wall at Cousins Rock, I was still looking for seahorses without luck. These large colorful stars are all over the place in the Galapagos, and I already had a lot of boring whole body shots. I had the Inon attachment on already, so I moved in to get some detail.

Hope these aren't too late!

gc

Awesome pic's everybody. Here are my top three for 2007.

All taken in July 2007 in Southern Red Sea around St Johns.

I use Nikon D200 with Sea & Sea Housing and Sea & Sea strobes

Paul

Diver in cave taken on St Johns caves (Red Sea)

10.5 fisheye lens

F8 & 1/30 sec

Divers on a wall dive taken on St Johns (Red Sea)

10.5 fisheye lens

F5.6 & 125 sec

Small wreck dive in Southern Red

10.5 fisheye lens

F5.6 & 1/60 sec

I'm just a keen amateur but I thought I'd submit my best shots from the year

Above: Nassau Grouper

Carcharias Cut, Northern Bahamas

Canon EOS 5D with 17-40mm lens in Sea & Sea housing and 120 strobe

One of my favourite shots, I like the abstract pattern of the fish portrayed in black and white, with the strong contrast creating a moody effect!

Above: Caribbean Reef Shark

Carcharias Cut, Northern Bahamas

Canon EOS 5D with 17-40mm lens in Sea & Sea housing

Taken on a safety stop, I like the serene feeling of this image

Above: Swan

Plymouth, England

Canon EOS 5D with 17-40mm lens in Sea & Sea housing and 120 strobe

Something a little different from the usual, just for the hell of it!

It is hard to choose but here are my three

Sylvie

Some really great photos in the thread.

I figured I would add a few shots

Canon 30D, 18-55 Lens, Aquatica Housing and a DS-125 Strobe. Shot in Akumal Mexico

Here are 3 of my modest efforts

and

Thank you guys for sharing all the great shots. It is really inspiring

First something a little different from me:

Nikon D200 in Nexus housing, 10,5mm fisheye

F5,6 1/25 sec

The picture is from lake "Lygnstøylsvatnet" in Norway. The lake is actually a valley that was flooded after a rockslide in 1908, and there is remains of houses, plus roads, fences, gates, a bridge and an old forest - all underwater. The atmosphere is really "special"

Nikon D200 in Nexus housing, 10,5mm fisheye - Inon 240 flash

F8,0 1/60 sec

My buddy with a beautiful fancoral in Sharm El SheiK, Red Sea, Egypt

Nikon D200 in Nexus housing, 10,5mm fisheye - Inon 240 flash

F8,0 1/80 sec

Diver exploring Raz Mohammad-Sharm El SheiK, Red Sea, Egypt

'Wall of Ice'

Location: Fram Strait (Between Svalbard and East Greenland)

Gear: Olympus C8080WZ in Ikelite housing with wide angle converter & dome port. Dual Ikelite DS-125 strobes.

Description: The photo shows the ctenophore Mertensia ovum and its under-ice habitat. Shot on macro setting using wide angle (about 23mm)