Eddy's Scuba Blog

The next couple of days were somewhat low-key, I did not have any rare encounters and in some respect it was somewhat disappointing. On the other hand, it was a good chance to hone in the skills and follow the advise that we were getting from the Drafahls.

During the next two days we visited the following dive sites by boat: Coral Garden, Andrea II, Sampler (Klein), Point Vierkant and Knife (Klein). In addition, I made three shore dives, two of which were night dives. The night dives were somewhat disappointing, we did not have any interesting sightings. However, I did perfect my settings for night dives, which will come handy later.

This posting is about how I applied some of the lessons that I had learned in the classroom, in the "field".

Adjusting and Positioning Lighting: Sanddivers

Sanddivers, as their name suggests, sit on the sand. In terms of focusing and framing, they are easy to deal with: they don't move, as long as you don't any sudden moves. The challenge with photographing these guys is the possible reflection from the sand as they like to sit on sandy areas. So, lighting is most challenging aspect in photographing a sanddiver. In this particular picture, I wanted to focus on the eyes and the little teeth. It took me about 10 pictures to get this right. I was moving my strobe around to get the lighting on the eyes. On a couple of pictures, I was getting a lot of reflection from the sand. At the time, I was using ISO 200, in retrospect, I should have tried a lower ISO like 100 or 50.

This is also a case where a second strobe could have come handy. No matter where you put the strobe, you were going to get a shadow somewhere because the subject is right on top of the background (the sand).

Sanddiver. 1/125 at f/8, ISO 200, 24 mm focal length.

Spotting Behavior: Trunkfish

In the past I've found that trunkfish were usually hard to photograph because they moved a lot. Most of my pictures of trunkfish have been from behind, and at best from the side as a result of a long chase. In turns out this time at site called Sampler in Klein Bonaire, this threesome of trunkfish were "hanging out" around a soft coral. They were swimming around and chasing each other. It could have been a mating ritual.

Trunkfish Pair. 1/125 at f/7.1, ISO 200, 24 mm focal length.

For whatever reason, the trunkfish allowed me to get very close and they were also curious. This allowed me to take pictures from the front. Since they moved around a lot you had to be ready with the shot. In this picture, I was no farther than two feet from the trunkfish.

Trunkfish Close-up. 1/125 at f/7.1, ISO 200, 24 mm focal length.

Behavior and Focus: Juvenile Drumfish

I have made several pictures of drumfish and I knew how they moved. They usually swim left to right and right to left and stay around a crevice, or a hole in the coral. One of the most challenging things about photographing a drumfish is getting the camera in focus. Since this guy moves rather fast, it is sometimes hard to for the auto-focus to lock in, especially on point & shoots that have shutter lag. In retrospect, it would have been a good idea to either use manual focus or lock the distance with a half press of the shutter button. In this picture, the focus was on the coral behind, but the fish was close enough that made the focus good enough.

Juvenile Drumfish. 1/125 at f/5.6, ISO 100, 24 mm focal length.

Waiting for the Right Moment: Ribbon Nudibranch

One good thing about nudibrachs is that they move really ... really slow. This gives you time to adjust your settings. However, one bad thing about nudibranchs is that they move really ... really slow. So, if you find them on a background that is not appealing or difficult to shoot, you have to be patient and wait until they move. In this picture, I shot the ribbon nudibranch from above. It would have been nice to photograph one coming off on a ledge, but waiting for the right moment on nudibranchs requires a lot of patience ... and air.

Ribbon Nudibranch. 1/125 at f/5.6, ISO 100, 8 mm focal length.

Looking for a Unique Composition: Soldier Fish

One advise about composition that has been stuck in my head-either by one of the lectures by Jack Drafahl or Marty Snyderman-is that two of anything always makes good composition. Soldier fish are common in the Caribbean and you find them everywhere. However, this was a good chance to practice with them. Their bright red color, which is usually lost in the depth, usually makes an excellent contrast to its surroundings. This is a fortuitous shot of getting a pair of soldiers each looking in the opposite direction.

Two Soldier Fish in Opposite Direction. 1/125 at f/5.6, ISO 100, 8 mm focal length.