Pacific Panama macro

Hi all,

Today I finally got to try my 105mm lens on the D2x. I didn't use this lens too much with the F100 because I thought it was kindda slow and it annoyed me a lot with all the focus hunting. For my surprise, it works beautifully and a lot faster with the D2x, even with the bad conditions that I econtered today (it was raining and dark, one of those days when I wouldn't even try with the F100 due to low light underwater).

Well, here are the pics, I hope you like them. Comments are welcome!

Wow, these are really just superb! Especially the blennies and the hermit. Gorgeous. As for the sabellid, well, I've never seen anything like it before. Really. The arrangement of the crown indicates one genus, the eyes on the tips of the crown suggests another, and I've never seen blue in anything but a christmas tree worm. I don't suppose you'd like to go back & collect it in the name of science? Pretty please with sugar on top????

Nicely done! Great color and contrast.

Wow, these are really just superb!  Especially the blennies and the hermit.  Gorgeous.  As for the sabellid, well, I've never seen anything like it before.  Really.  The arrangement of the crown indicates one genus, the eyes on the tips of the crown suggests another, and I've never seen blue in anything but a christmas tree worm.  I don't suppose you'd like to go back & collect it in the name of science?  Pretty please with sugar on top????

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No problem Leslie, there was a lot of them, the color caught my attention, that's why I photographed it. I will be going back there before the end of the month, if you send me a private message with instructions on how to collect and preserve it I will give it a try!

Beautiful images Luiz. Blennies can be so comical. I really like the first shot.

Rand

Sweet! That first shot really rocks, perfect for a 2 page spread....

Good job Luiz. I remember seeing similar critters when I was diving on the pacific side of costa rica. I was doing my safety stop holding onto a rock at 15' and it was literally crawling with those tiny blennies. I remember thinking "Whoa, these guys are green and pink and purple!" But of course I didn't do underwater photography back then...

Cheers

James

Thanks guys, I appreciate the comments. Slightly off topic, of course, just because I had my 105mm there was a ton of eagle rays swimming around.

Luiz

Nice shoots, I'm really looking forward till I get a housing for my D2x.

Thats typical that the rays show up then you have the wrong lens/out of film/camera trouble.

Really nice. What strobe do you use?

I think the best macro shots come from the 105 but have always thought poorly of it's AF capacities. I've been thinking of trying it with my D2X and now am motivated to try.

Do you do most of your diving on the Pacific or Caribbean side?

Hi Dave,

I do most of my diving on the Pacific side, I live in Panama city. I also wasn't expecting much from the 105 since it behaved poorly with all my previous cameras (N90s and F100). I was very pleased when used it with the D2x and didn't feel the need for manual focus. Also, keep in mind that the conditions were not perfect, it was a cloudy day (as always here in Panama), and it was very dark. Some of the photos like the yellow coral and the polychate were inside small caves and the 105 didn't even hesitate to lock focus. So, the D2x is exceeding my expectations in regards to focus.

Strobes, for those I used one Ikelite SS200 and one 100a, both in half power.

Luiz

That first shot is really nice. And it is composed very well. Great work, Luiz.

Joe

Thanks! I put a small gallery together with the photos that I took in Panama in the last few months. Here is the link:

http://www.luizrocha.com/Panama/