D300 macro shots

I've had my Ikelite housing for the D300 for about 2 weeks and I've had a couple of test dives with the Nikon 60mm. Unfortunately I haven't been able to play with any wider lens as we've had constant rain for the past month and vis and the seas are terrible.

Anyway, here are couple of shots from my backyard:

Suicidal seahorses... there are 2 in the pic if you look closely!

Mr 'No Nose' seahorse. Even without his nose he's still feeding okay and has a real hot gold female as a partner... he's doing alright!

A mouthful!

Mating platypus cowries

The eyes have it!

Some more sample shots can be seen here:

http://www.daveharasti.com/D300/index.html

cheers,

Dave

nice shots, I am waiting for my d300 conversion back and plate so I can use my d300 in my d200 housing. My feeling is that the 300 is a big improvement over the 200, at least on the surface and the below water shots I have seen taken so far. were you using the 60 or the 105?

all shots are with the Nikon 60mm, its the only lens I have to use at the moment as I lent the 90mm to a friend and I'm waiting for the new Ikelite flat port system for the 105.

Fortunately I'll be in Sulawesi next month so I can put all my lens to the test!

Very nice images you posted here, Dave and some stunning shots on your site!

Dave,

Great shots.

My housing cleared customs today and I should receive it tomorrow. I plan on taking it on its maiden voyage this Sunday in Sydney Harbour. I'll probably go with the zoom rather than the macro.

Good stuff Dave.

You do make me chuckle though... resisted the SLR for so long and now BAM! you are on your second one..

Dave,

Very interesting behaviors/situations!! I love to see cool creatures in different scenerios!

Do you think the seahorse saw the striated frogfish - he is in a "safe" area there, but just barely? Or do you think he just latched on cause it looked inviting? Too cool!

And I hope the "snoutless" seahorse is still OK & "in love", can you keep tabs on him and let us know if you see him again and how he is doing?

Other shots - very interesting. Many photographers can take beautiful images but it is something special to know creatures well enough to get really interesting pictures of their lives and that is what photography is all about anyway.

Thanks for posting and I want a d300!!!!!!

Carol B)

i think i see two seahores at the first photo, is that right ?

... sorry i didn't read the comments.

Dave,

You know another thought I had is the seahorse mounted on the frogfish and the one on the substrate might actually be there on purpose? Maybe to feed on a few bits stirred up when the frogfish feeds?

I just kinda doubt they don't sense the frogfish there, especially the one perched on him -- but I don't know??? Still "Russian Roulette" a bit for sure!

Thanks, Carol

Wow! I would definitely trade my backyard to yours...

Dave,

 

You know another thought I had is the seahorse mounted on the frogfish and the one on the substrate might actually be there on purpose? Maybe to feed on a few bits stirred up when the frogfish feeds?

 

I just kinda doubt they don't sense the frogfish there, especially the one perched on him -- but I don't know??? Still "Russian Roulette" a bit for sure!

 

Thanks, Carol

He, he... in my 'spare' time I'm doing my PhD on seahorses, in particularly Hippocampus whitei (the seahorse in the pics) and one of the things I'm looking at is what predates on seahorses.

Pretty close to the top of that list is Anglerfish!! I often find the anglerfish hanging around the seahorses and on two occasions I've now seen them munch a seahorse! So they are not very friendly towards them thats for sure!

I think on this occasion both seahorses in the image were ignornant of the anglerfish as he didn't move the whole time I was watching and he was pretty well camouflaged against his orange sponge. Interestingly enough, only 6 weeks ago this anglerfish was yellow in colour and about half the size. I've been watching him gradually change his colour to match his sponge habitat and he's growing quickly... probably because there are lots of seahorses about!

You do make me chuckle though... resisted the SLR for so long and now BAM! you are on your second one..

Not only am I on my 2nd one, I kept my D80 so I can take 2 camera's around with me on dives!!!

But I do still 'occasionally' miss my CP5000 for macro shots!!!

He, he... in my 'spare' time I'm doing my PhD on seahorses, in particularly Hippocampus whitei (the seahorse in the pics) and one of the things I'm looking at is what predates on seahorses.

 

Pretty close to the top of that list is Anglerfish!! I often find the anglerfish hanging around the seahorses and on two occasions I've now seen them munch a seahorse! So they are not very friendly towards them thats for sure!

 

I think on this occasion both seahorses in the image were ignornant of the anglerfish as he didn't move the whole time I was watching and he was pretty well camouflaged against his orange sponge. Interestingly enough, only 6 weeks ago this anglerfish was yellow in colour and about half the size. I've been watching him gradually change his colour to match his sponge habitat and he's growing quickly... probably because there are lots of seahorses about!

Dave, this is NOT what I wanted to hear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor little guys....., I had hoped they were smarter than that.... <_<

Dave that frogfish is a. striatus (striated or striped frogfish), isn't it? Looks like it to me and its world-wide. Or I guess it could be a. hispidus?? I can't quite see the lure clearly? Just wondering... Cool you saw it turn orange from yellow.

Dave can you at least feed me some good news about the "snoutless" seahorse and his lady friend? I need to believe.......... !

Carol

Dave, this is NOT what I wanted to hear!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor little guys....., I had hoped they were smarter than that....

 

Dave that frogfish is a. striatus (striated or striped frogfish), isn't it? Looks like it to me and its world-wide. Or I guess it could be a. hispidus?? I can't quite see the lure clearly? Just wondering... Cool you saw it turn orange from yellow.

 

Dave can you at least feed me some good news about the "snoutless" seahorse and his lady friend? I need to believe.......... !

 

Carol

The frogfish (which should be commonly called an Anglerfish!!!) is indeed the striped anglerfish (a. striatus) as you mentioned. They are pretty common here at the moment, I found 5 on a dive the other day - 2 yellow, 1 black, 1 grey and 1 orange!!! This page shows their colour variations in Nelson Bay:

http://www.daveharasti.com/articles/specie...danglerfish.htm

and this is a pic of the little angler with his lure fishing from 2 weeks ago, you can see his colouration is not quite as orange as in the photo above.

The good news is that Mr 'No Nose' is still doing really well, I found him on a night dive last night and he's attractive gold girlfriend is still hanging with him... it just proves you don't have to be good looking to pull the hot chicks! I've seen them together now for almost 2 months!

Nice BRO

Great collection in your gallery. Especially the dwarves ... but where are the other three?

The frogfish (which should be commonly called an Anglerfish!!!) is indeed the striped anglerfish (a. striatus) as you mentioned. They are pretty common here at the moment, I found 5 on a dive the other day - 2 yellow, 1 black, 1 grey and 1 orange!!! This page shows their colour variations in Nelson Bay:

 

http://www.daveharasti.com/articles/specie...danglerfish.htm

 

and this is a pic of the little angler with his lure fishing from 2 weeks ago, you can see his colouration is not quite as orange as in the photo above.

 

The good news is that Mr 'No Nose' is still doing really well, I found him on a night dive last night and he's attractive gold girlfriend is still hanging with him... it just proves you don't have to be good looking to pull the hot chicks! I've seen them together now for almost 2 months!

Yes I do agree "anglerfish" is a much better term - ahhh those Australians are always right...... B)

You know we have a. striatus (striated frogfish; oops - anglerfish...... ) here in Florida too! They "say" it is the same species world-wide.... Ours are usually the brown, drab color - but I've also seen them black and yellowish coloration - no colouration (ah, those Americans just never get it right now do they?? ).

Ahhhhh, good news re: Mr 'No Nose' - yes just what I wanted to hear. And doesn't this prove yet again something I once heard about its not the size of the nose or at least something to that effect????? I'm glad she is still with him and I'd appreciate any updates in the future?

Cheerio, Carol

Cool stuff Dave thanks for sharing. Love seeing different shots and learning a little more about what is going on underwater.

Cheers

Todd

Hi Dave,

I'm from down south in Ballarat (Vic) and was wondering about the water around Sydney?

I would have thought that your area would have been more temperate than tropical?

Do you get southerly currents or ???

I noticed in your articles on your web pages that you list the Anglerfish as being tropical...

Just the ramblings of another confused Victorian...

Great, informative web-site BTW

Bruce...

Really nice images, Dave. Glad you have got the D300 up and running underwater - excellent set of images.

For those who want to see more of Dave's images or are planning a trip to SE Asia they should check out Dave's new book:

http://www.daveharasti.com/book/index.html

Although the book is about Bootless Bay in PNG, many of the species are from the wide SE Asia region. Also it is soft cover - so is an ideal travel ID book.

Alex

Hi Dave,

I'm from down south in Ballarat (Vic) and was wondering about the water around Sydney?

I would have thought that your area would have been more temperate than tropical?

Do you get southerly currents or ???

I noticed in your articles on your web pages that you list the Anglerfish as being tropical...

Just the ramblings of another confused Victorian...

Nelson Bay (in Port Stephens) is temperate however it also receives warm water from the East Australian Current (EAC for the Nemo fans) over the summer period. During the summer we get lots of different tropical nudibranchs, cowries and fish turning up and if they are fortunate they actually survive during the winter when the water temp drops. It also helps that Nelson Bay has the best sponge garden and soft coral habitat along the east coast of Australia!

The striped anglerfish (A. striatus) is considered to be a tropical species but fortunately it seems to do very well in Sydney Harbour and Port Stephens and can be found all year round. Over summer they are more comon as they come together for mating and about now we start seeing the baby anglers around the place.

cheers,

Dave

Really nice images, Dave. Glad you have got the D300 up and running underwater - excellent set of images.

 

For those who want to see more of Dave's images or are planning a trip to SE Asia they should check out Dave's new book:

http://www.daveharasti.com/book/index.html

Although the book is about Bootless Bay in PNG, many of the species are from the wide SE Asia region. Also it is soft cover - so is an ideal travel ID book.

 

Alex

Hi Alex, thanks for the book plug!!! I hope yours arrived in the post okay. I'm now down to my last 50 personnal copies so if anyone wants one they are going to have to be very quick and offer some good bribes!!!

cheers,

Dave

Congrats on you new book.

Is cold beer enough of a bribe ?