Lembeh Strait - North Sulawesi

Hello everyone

I posted more than 150 shots from Lembeh Strait there :

http://2a2b.free.fr/

The site is under construction (I still need to identify these critters, tough job !), but it gives a good idea of what can be seen there !

Canon G2 / Ikelite housing / DS 125 / Epoque DML-2 macro lens

I used the Epoque macro lens for the first time. It's been hard to focus with it at the beginning, but I got used after a few days... some shots are nice, some others are less sharp... still need to improve !!

Enjoy !!

PS :comments are welcome

EXIF information would be a nice have.

Are you shooting auto or manual ?

Cheers,

Stephane

Glad to see the wonderpuss is still there! Great shots Ben.

I agree with you Bearaway... but it's such a workload !!

If you need some information, I'll be glad to provide it to you

I shoot in aperture mode in order to contyrol the depth of field (most of the time f8 with the macro lens).

I switch in shutter speed mode for ambiance shots, in order to get this deep saturated blue (1/125 or 1/250 when light conditions are fine). Then the aperture is wider (usually f4.6).

I never use the manual mode because I like to shoot "digital TTL" with the strobe (using the pre-flash), especially in macro mode. And there is no pre-flash in manual mode...

To Cybergolddfish : yes the wonderpus is still there, but not so easy to find ! We looked for this guy for one week and we saw it during the very last dive on the very last day... a special gift to make this trip really ungorgettable !

Yes, the wonderpuss is always on Hairball, up on the flat sand before the bommies. Normally one can see just it's beady eyes poking out of its lair in the sand!

I'm equipping myself to get just eyeball shots on our trip in October!!!

Good luck

PS : is it wonderpus or wonderpuss?.... (actually there is no trnaslation in French)

I agree with you Bearaway... but it's such a workload !!

Get your hands on Breezebrowser, it's a breeze to generate an html gallery with exif information.

"Wonderpuss"

Ben,

I like the shots of the hairy frogfish and the yellow frogfish together. Great stuff,

Alex

Nice shots! Brings back good memories. Just a note re: your nudibranch gallery 1. The topleft and middle photos and third down on the right are actually flatworms. Still gorgeous critters, though! Nicely done.

Great shots!

A little off topic, but it appears that a few of you here have dived Lembeh, and I've got two weeks at KBR at the end of October

I'm still shooting 35mm and have 60, 105 & 2X, 16 & 20 lenses.

Out of interest, how much use will the w/a lenses get? and as for macro, which lens in your opinion will get the most use?

Thanks. I'm really looking forward to the trip.......

Andy

It depends if you want to go off and dive nearby reefs at Batu Mandi or a day trip over to Bangka Island, these are ideal for WA. If not, you may as well leave the dome at home.

I used my Nikonos 20mm quite a lot last year in Lembeh itself with some good results, but it is predominantly a macro site. We are there at the beginning of October, we'll let you know where we locate the better stuff!

You'll need a WA for some GOOD surface shots.

I know this octupus as mimic octopus

and just one remark the first 2 nudibranches are actualy flat worms that mimics in color and shape the more poisones nudibranches.

. We are there at the beginning of October, we'll let you know where we locate the better stuff!

Cheers & have a good trip yourselves

Its a wonderpuss as it is brown and white, the mimic is black and white although there are 3 flat worms on the first page of the nudi's I have to admit I always consider them nudi's for cataloging of photos purposes also.

Thanks for your comments about the worms... I'll correct it as soon as I can !

In whcih concerns the woderpuss, I agree with cmdasia : mimic octopus are black and white and are known to mimic predators' shapes and behaviours.

Actually, do wonderpusses mimic opther species as well? Anybody knows?