Milne Bay - Papua New Guinea

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share my latest episode in the 'Rolling in the Deep' series. This time taking a look at the critters in Milne Bay. PNG is a terrific destination, and Milne Bay is an area where it can offer both fantastic macro and wide angle photography.

As always comments are welcome. Let me know what you liked and didn't.

Enjoy!

Dustin

great video

Really beautiful macro work on this one Dustin. I especially like how you framed many of the shots with the camera steady and the animals moving slowly across the frame. I still can't imagine how you keep it rock solid with such close focus. Anyway, congratulations on a beautiful job.

Amazing stuff Dustin considering how elusive some of those creatures are. Masterful lighting effects as well. But the ending ..... yikes !!! :nea:

Lovely, thoroughly enjoyed watching this. Thanks

Diggy

video skills on another level, what a talent The music is awful though (after the first 35 seconds), it's like something you would hear in the waiting room at the doctors.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments. I am happy you all liked it.

Dustin

Fabulous, as always!

That Pygmy seahorse looks like a Severens! I didn't know that they were in Milne Bay. It doesn't look like a Pontohi, to me. The only place I've seen Severens is in Fiji.

Fabulous, as always!

 

That Pygmy seahorse looks like a Severens! I didn't know that they were in Milne Bay. It doesn't look like a Pontohi, to me. The only place I've seen Severens is in Fiji.

I think you are right Allison. It looks like a Severens to me as well. The guides there just called it the Milne Bay Pygmy..lol. They were all over the place. Of course, I couldn't find any myself, but the guides showed us probably 50 during our stay. Very pretty species, although their background isn't as pretty as the traditional sea fan.

Here's a pic, my wife took..

http://www.oceanshutter.com/p439135783/h1ef33517#h1ef33517

Dustin

Absolutely amazing!! Congratulation Dustin.

Dustin, that is a stunning photo!! Your wife should be very proud!

I am amazed that the Severins is in PNG. It is great discovering that. I have spent many months, over the years, in PNG and I am obviously still learning a lot about that country.

Absolutely amazing!! Congratulation Dustin.

Thank you Rafa. I appreciate that.

Dustin, that is a stunning photo!! Your wife should be very proud!

 

I am amazed that the Severins is in PNG. It is great discovering that. I have spent many months, over the years, in PNG and I am obviously still learning a lot about that country.

Thanks Allison. I will tell her about your compliment. She doesn't frequent wetpixel as often.

Png is certainly a remarkable place. It's too bad it is so expensive and difficult to get to. Of course, that may be why it's still special.

Dustin

Wow. I'm blown away. The octopus at the beginning looks completely like CGI (as they do, I guess!), and the christmas tree worm is awesome. Did you put that in reverse by any chance?

Wow. I'm blown away. The octopus at the beginning looks completely like CGI (as thy do, I guess!), and the christmas tree worm is awesome. Did you put that in reverse by any chance?

Thank you very much for watching it.

As for the Xmas tree worm. No it wasn't in reverse. It was sped up like 500%....but not reversed.

Dustin

Dustin, that is a stunning photo!! Your wife should be very proud!

 

I am amazed that the Severins is in PNG. It is great discovering that. I have spent many months, over the years, in PNG and I am obviously still learning a lot about that country.

Hey Allison, Here is another picture from our trip to Milne Bay....I think this is the Pontohi...Seahorse you were referring to. http://www.oceanshutter.com/p439135783/h9154455#h9154455

Looks like Milne Bay has quite a few pygmy species!

Dustin

Yes, Pontohi it is! Another nice shot. You weren't chasing it around, were ya??

Yes, Pontohi it is! Another nice shot. You weren't chasing it around, were ya??

I doubt she chased it. My wife isn't like that. Based on my experience filming them, they tended to jump from spot to spot, normally within a 12 inch radius. A lot of time they are in pairs, and when one leaves the other typically follows.

Did I just see Nudibranch poop at the end? Heading to Anilao in a couple months, really hoping to get some stable shoot like yours. Always enjoy your work Dustin!

Did I just see Nudibranch poop at the end? Heading to Anilao in a couple months, really hoping to get some stable shoot like yours. Always enjoy your work Dustin!

It was actually a sea cucumber there at the end. You should hear the audio. I start laughing and then start cheering....its pretty funny.

I am jealous. Anilao is my favorite place in the world for macro shooting! I hope you have a great time!

Dustin

Ha ha, now you got me curios, what sound would sea cucumber pooping like, squeaky, fart-y, popping...... I once saw a fish poop in mid air and the next fish went behind and eat up the poop...... makes me wonder if marine life are conscious about hygiene........ alright, I think too much

Oh, one last thing, how do you know when the sea cucumber is going to poop? It's not like it has some sort of expression to make (do they?) I think one of my videos lack is capturing unique/interesting behavior, and your videos have lots of them. It's hard to know and anticipate when they're going to do something or strike for food. My videos are mostly staring contest with fish before either one of us swim away. Being diving in a group (as small as 2 people per group), I can't just sit there and wait for things to happen most of the time because there are other divers behind me waiting to take photos.