May 2010 Archives

Well.....Looking at the title some of you might be thinking I am going mad. Even, if it is not completly unaccurate as a statment I can assure you that everything is going well here in the Kima Bajo neighbourhood.

What actually is happening is that Ghost pipe fish are coming out and start to get together. At the near by dive site TJ. Bolung I have seen three Ornate Ghost PipeFish. Have a look at the picture below..........

Once again I have decided to go diving in Bunaken and between my 2 boat going out I have picked that one going to Lekuan 1, I love that dive, beside having myriads of Pyrmaid Butterfly Fish and other coral fish, you have the guarantee to see nice big green turtles resting on the reef or swimming around.

Anyway today my aim was to look for soft coral crabs, by the name you can tell that they are crabs living in the soft coral ;). While looking for this magnificient small critter I spotted a very beautiful little Red-spotted egg cowrie.  I have decided to make it my picture of the day :)

This week I have had the opportunity to pay a visit to our "new" operation in the Lembeh Strait.

What a change for our day tripper! Since the Eco Divers Lembeh Cottages operation assists us during the day trip we have been seeing at least the double of critters we used to find. That's quite normal having 2 Dive Guides like Iwan and Detmon (Iwan 15 years diving in the Strait) diving there every day, therefore this time I went there with a wish.........the wish of seeing a Lacy Renophias and as you can tell by the picture they could make my wish coming true.

By the way for the record I have seen 2 Renophias on the same dive site!! Thank you very much Iwan and Detmon.

The Bunaken marine park walls are very well know for the colorful walls, clear water, reef fish and pelagics. From a photography point of view most people coming here for the first time think that the best lens to bring here is a wide angle. It is beautiful to shoot wide in clear water when the sun is shining, however, on the other hand, shooting wide in an overcast day can be a bit disappointing for some. In addition to this every time you will bring your Wide angle lens you will have our eagle eyed guides showing you some very nice critters.

Many divers often ask me: "what should a bring with me, in terms of lenses , when I will visit the marine park?". Three lenses are my favourite for shooting in here.

1) Fish eye lens to use in shallow water during sunshine days and in deeper water for very nice drammatic shoots.

2) 60mm lens , this is one of my favourite.....I have bee shooting for more than 2 years with just this lens, it gives you a very wide range of possible shots you can take.

3) 105mm Lens, The best choice for shy critters, pigmy seahorses, small gobies, and still great lens for turtles portrait or reef details, excellent for our afternoon dives.

If it is fish eye shots you want to take do not forget to pack a macro lens for those day it might be overcast. This is a rule of thumb for underwater photography in the marine park.