Leafy Seadragons - CP5000

I have always wanted to see a Leafy Seadragon - I had seen the pics but I had never been down to South Australia to look for them.

So last week a fellow CP5000 user (Aengus M from wetpixel) and myself drove 3500 kms in 6 days to get some Leafy Seadragon shots. We dived at Rapid Bay Jetty - one of the better shore dives in Australia.

Was it worth... well I think so

And we were fortunate enough to find two Leafy's together (thanks to some excellent spotting by Mr A Bowie from wetpixel).

All the below pics were taken with a CP5000 with the Nikon 19mm wide angle lens on Jan 26th (Australia Day).

and here's 3 more... They are without a doubt the most majestic animal I have ever seen.

green with envy...............jealous................grrrr

that must have been an incredible experience, great shots of a fantastic animal!!!

/paul

Fantastic Dave!

I agree majestic indeed.

Stunning images..........very nice lighting and good focus

2 Thumbs Up!

I would be interested in your aperture and shutter speeds on these shots.

Karl

beautiful pictures - majestic indeed.

the picture of the couple is the best.

BTW: How big were these Dave (20-30cm)?

I concur with the other comments, and I'm triple-green with envy!

Sweet!! Very nice doubleheader! Great exposure.

I'm even more envious than everyone else

I've never seen a shot with two in frame simultaneously before, lovely stuff. Sadly, I've only ever seen these in aquaria.

What's the next color after green??

Beautiful shots, double WOW!

Rand

Hello Dave,

These images are beautiful. Well done. The black background's are perfect. Please tell Andrew that I would appreciate his help and services as a guide one day soon as well. :-) Just do not tell him that he should start charging big bucks for those services! ;-)

Congratulations!

Scott

Absolutly great creatures and very exelent pics!

Simon

Great images! I went to Australia a few years back to shoot the dragons and the white sharks. I actually liked shoot the Dragons better and have considered going back to do it again. We were on Kangaroo Island.

I was shooting film then and found them tough to shoot. You are to be commended. I love the shot of two. Can't imagine how you got that.

I found them impossible to find without a guide. The Weedy Sea Dragons we found on our own.

Thanks for all the comments guys – its always good for the ego to get positive feedback!

In regards to a couple of the questions:

Bob – You were spot on. Both Leafies were about 20 – 30cm’s. As they were hanging out together one would assume that one was a male and one was a female but unfortunately it’s very difficult to tell unless the male is carrying eggs.

Karl – The camera settings were ISO 100, matrix metering, F8 and I varied the shutter speed from 1/500 to 1/1000. I had both strobes set to 1/4 power

Davephdv – I completely agree with you – they are impossible to find unless you know where to look and also what to look for. Without our excellent guide (ABowie) I don't think we would have found them. Now that I have finally seen them I can say that they are without a doubt one of the best things to see in the ocean.

I managed to get quite a few shots with both of them – I was fortunate enough that I stayed together whilst 3 of us took turns taking shots from different positions. I think I took about 40 shots in total – I’ve only put the black background pics up as I like the contrast.

Cheers,

Dave

Amazing animals and very god shots!

Congratulations!

Fantastic Dave! Who flys direct from San Francisco to South Australia?

Get in the queue!

If your going I'm onboard.

Dave sure makes ol' ike proud. He also publishes wonderful information on how to do it:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~diving/coolpix5000.htm