Across the Flores Sea

We just got off the boat and are enjoying the hospitality and charm of Ubud, but I thought I'd share a few images from the trip. I'm still trying to get my head around everything we saw and experienced. I'll write up a trip report when we get home next week.

These are pretty much straight out of the camera on an uncalibrated screen so please excuse some color weirdness. I experimented a lot with the Tokina 10-17 and the Zen 100mm dome and had a blast.

We had a chance to do a Mandarin dive at the Magic pier

And we had a great time muck diving for two days

There are a few more on the Flickr page

I want to thank all of you who provided quidance and support for our trip to Bali. We're having an amazing time here. Thanks to for all the photo help, especially want to thank Alex for all the guidance on CWFA. I feel like I've turned some kind of corner with my photography. I realized about halfway through the trip that I wasn't having to think about what to do or struggle with setting up the shots, they were just sort of making themselves. I learned an awful lot for next time I'll try to put in the trip report.

Cheers, off now for more shopping,

Steve

Fantastic images Steve!

I'm really excite with my zen mini dome (not wet yet).

Simply splendid, Steve!

Enjoy Bali!

Jen

Too bad you didn't see anything cool...

Looking forward to the rest.

Outstanding Steve! I just got back from that area myself - looks like you had a great trip.

I warned you about the shopping in Ubud! Don't forget to have a Bintang or two ...

Phil

Hi Steve,

I'm sitting at home with a cup of coffee, it's blowing a gale and raining and you just made my day!

Beautiful images.

Thanks for sharing them

Adam

Sweet shots Steve. Glad to hear you had a great time. Looking forward to feedback on the dome. Are the corners sharp on classic wide angle shots?

great!!

Absolutely beautiful Steve!

The cuttle fish and mandarin goby images are to die for.

WELL DONE U!!

Thanks folks!

Phil, I learned quickly it makes no sense to order the small bottle of Bintang.

John if you stay at f11 or above the corners look tack sharp to me. My tests with the rig before the trip showed f8 was the lower limit. I was getting much better blues with f11 and around 1/125 so I just stayed there for most of the trip. I haven't seen the images on my big monitor yet but they look OK on the 15" laptop.

Cheers,

Steve

good stuff Steve! tough to get the pair of mandarins like that looking at you.. i have spent many hours being frustrated by them.. Great job!

This large bintang that i am drinking at the moment.. its a cheers to you!

Will miss you in Bali, i might be there around the 17th or something.

Best

Mike

Thanks Mike! One of the craziest photo dives of my life. 30 minutes with over a hundred mating pairs rising up in the water column. I used the 100mm and for some reason thought spot focusing would be a good idea. I had a female and two males doing their thing right if front of me. I have a shot of the triple in here somewhere, I'll have to look when I get home. After the deed had been done the female decided she liked to look at my focus light and the two males thought my port would be a great place to rest. They hung out for 5 minutes sitting on my rig. I was looking for someone with a camera but no luck. What a night.

Sorry we'll miss you in Bali, have one for me.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks for the feedback on the port Steve.

Great stuff Steve! Looks like a fantastic trip.

Thanks guys, I've finally recovered from the jet lag and have added a few more images to the Flickr page. Here is the triple Mandarin shot Mike. I had read that smaller males sometimes rise up with the mating pair but never expected to see it.

These are the guys who decided to rest on my port after the deed was done.

Have fun,

Steve

Welcome back Steve, great shots, truly some amazing ones.

Thanks guys, I've finally recovered from the jet lag and have added a few more images to the Flickr page. Here is the triple Mandarin shot Mike. I had read that smaller males sometimes rise up with the mating pair but never expected to see it.

 

These are the guys who decided to rest on my port after the deed was done.

 

Have fun,

Steve

Very nice Steve. Looks like you had a successful trip. If I may ask, which diving place did you like better? I've only done Komodo down there but would like to return to Indonesia in the not too distant future.

Dimitri

Thanks Drew, I drank a few rum and cokes for you,

Dimitri, I'm working on a trip report to try and make sense of everything we experienced down there so more later but a combination of some time at Wakitobi and 10 days on the Pelagian in it's home waters around the resort would be very hard to beat.

Cheers,

Steve

Thanks Drew, I drank a few rum and cokes for you,

Thanks, and it explains how I got buzzed when I wasn't even drinking, empathy imbibing is so cool

Great stuff Steve, The 3 Amigos ( mandarins ) shot is outstanding.

I cant wait to see the rest of your keepers and the trip report to go with them. Sounds and looks like you had a great time, which I knew you would.

Stew