Great Barrier Reef WARNING LOTS OF PHOTOS!

[Elliott]

just stumbled on this thread, very nice photos, thanks for sharing. I use the Nikonos RS which which I really like. I think your G9 will work very well for you, all the best.

[tor101898]

what housing and strobes are you using with your G9?

[melev]

Your latest pictures look really good. Is that Blooey? He's actually blue!

[coraljunky]

Just found this thread. Great shots!! This may sound stupid, but I must ask. Did you see any Crown of Thorn stars??

[edr42]

Thanks for the kudos guys!

Elliot: i can't tell you how much i salivated over the Nikonos RS! Is it really as good as it seems to be? I'm hoping the G9 is powerful enough to produce good images and be useful for many years to come.

tor101898: i'm using the canon WPDC-21 housing without any lenses or strobes (at the moment!) The ikelite was just too bulky and heavy, and didn't really offer enough advantages over the canon housing to justify it.

melev: Thanks so much for your continued support! and yes, that is indeed bluey. He really is that blue, it's quite startling.

coraljunky: thanks! I have seen crown of thorns, the grand total of 4. there are a couple of shorts of them further back actually, and they are quite surprisingly beautiful when you look closely. They really aren't the huge threat to the reef that some people have suggested, they are just a part of the reef system. Parrotfish are far, far more destructive with corals, but its just the way it works. Huge outbreaks can be an issue, but the natural balance (assuming we haven't messed with it!) will ensure that the populations remain relatively constant.

Anyone with an sps tank can attest to the rapid growth rates corals are capable of, so as long as the environmental conditions are not adversely altered, the corals can take care of themselves no problem.

(p.s: not a stupid question)


I've been snorkelling recently, and have some shots to share (including some of a giant cuttlefish). So stay tuned!

[Carnavor180]

wow great pics!!!!!!

[edr42]

Ok, time for some photos (these are all from Gordons Bay in Sydney):

[edr42]

and some more:










These colourful little fellows are Eastern Hulafish.

[Elliott]

yeah, the RS is quite nice, one feature that I like is the ability to set up a focal plane auto shutter release. So, lets say you are waiting for your favorite critter to come out of it's cave, just set the focal plane right at the entrance of the cave, when the critter comes out and crosses the plane it automatically trips the shutter, perfect picture! there are many nice features, but it's 35mm, I use Velvia 50 asa film which gives nice vivid colors and tight grains, able to enlarge nicely.

if you get a chance, get over to Vanuatu. I did a live a board with Cathy Church (highly recommend btw for photo instruction) for a couple weeks, went some 300 nautical miles, visited some "virgin" reefs and islands that visitors are far and few between, some of the best diving ever. Fiji, at the soma soma straights is another really great spot, lots of current!! but that makes for great soft corals blooming everywhere.

just thinking about it makes me want to go diving!!!!

[edr42]

ohhh, i want an RS!

There's something about film that just keeps drawing me back, but i guess i'll have to indulge that little obsession later on in life.

I've heard some fantastic things about Vanuatu, and it's definitely on my 'to do' list. So far that list includes the Red Sea, Belize (flyfishing the flats for bonefish as well!), Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Palau, Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, and Cocos Island. (the GBR goes without saying as i'm already here).

On another note, does anyone have any experience with the Inon DS2000 series of strobes? These guys are the front runners at the moment in my quest for a good strobe, and i'm gathering as much info as i can before spending up big.

[Elliott]

yeah, you got the list right, don't forget Fiji, not only great diving but the people are fantastic, the geography is spectacular, green lush mountains coming straight up vertical from the ocean, nothing like it

[melev]

How long would you say is that cuttlefish? It looks so cuddly, like you could go over and hug it. How does it respond to your presence? Can you touch it, or is that a bad idea?

I just saw some at our public aquarium (Dallas World Aquarium) and they were maybe 4" long at best. Tiny compared to that guy. It looks like you got a great camera.

[edr42]

That cuttle was about 2 feet long. A small adult.

They are really communicative and curious. This guy was napping when i found him, so he didn't do anything terribly active, but he did do a few colour changes and poke at the camera a few times.

You can touch them, but how they respond is entirely up the the individual's temperament. Most of them shy away, but some will come up to you and feel around with their tentacles. I've come across ones that are quite playful and came over to me to see what was going on, but i've also seen others that rapidly disappear as soon as you spot them.

I'm pretty pleased with the G9 so far, i recon in a few months i'll have figured out all its quirks and will be able to get some really good shots. Strobes are a necessity though, the built in flash is predictably hopeless underwater (its designed around the use external strobes anyway).

[Elliott]

Marc, they get fairly large, about 2 ft or so, they are very intelligent animals (same family as octopi) but don't try petting them, they have very sharp beaks that can filet your hand quite easily, also use ink to stun their prey and hide their escape, they can be gone in a split second. I once had a group of them literally surround me on a dive, was a bit spooky, but they are peaceful unless they perceive you as being aggressive

[Elliott]

edr42, I use dual mounted Nikonos strobes, makes all the difference, lighting is everything underwater. try aiming upward whenever possible, get as close as you can to your subject and F8 is usually a sure bet

[thor32766]

that cuttle fish is awesome!!!

[mymazda6]

more pics more pics

[edr42]

Time for an update:
First of all, the weather over here is monsoonal rains with a big swell just to add insult to injury. But it is to be expected during a la nina year. As well as bringing rain, la nina also bring hot water, so when the weather clears, i'll be able to enjoy the 24C water.

I still have a few shots to share to keep you interested:

Crimson Banded Wrasse



This one's interesting, its a luderick being cleaned by a couple of mado (little reef fish). I've heard of this happening, but never actually seen it until now.



A traveller on the east australian current from the north.



A rather friendly Maori Wrasse



Bluey







I have expanded my system to include an Inon D2000S strobe, and am hoping to get a couple of UCL165 macro lenses. As soon as the weather clears i can try it out.

I'm due to go out to the Grey Nurse shark colony out at Magic Point next weekend, so stay tuned for some shark photos!

Fingers crossed that the weather clears though....

[cbui2]

wow great pics, how big is bluey? he barely fit the pics

[tor101898]

with the new strobe, how do you have it setup? Is it a slave setup or hooked up with sync cord? also what made you get this strobe over some of the others on the market?

sorry about the questions,I got the G9 after taking a look at housings for my DSLR. As you can imagine the costs were astronomical and I just could not justify such an expense at this time. I had decided on getting the G9 to have a smaller camera on hand and I have yet to be disappointed. And so the next step is to use it underwater. Hope you don't mind my off topic questions.

By the way you seem to have an understanding with bluey, how friendly is he towards divers?

[edr42]

cbui2: Bluey is probably a bit over 3 feet long, and very think across the shoulders (as you can see). A big blue barrel.

tor101898: My strobe is mounted on an inon ball joint arm system with a base plate that bolts directly into the thread on the base of the WPDC21 housing.
It's a fibre optic sync cord which traps the light of the inbuilt flash and triggers the strobe unit. It uses an intricate STTL system that is actually really good and almost always get the right exposure.
Basically it's like having a direct connection to the hotshoe, but there's no cables running through the housing. Lessens the chances for a flood as well.

I chose the inon for a couple of reasons: it's light and compact, it's very powerful, well priced, and connects brilliantly to any digital housing. The sea a & sea range haven't got the same quality TTL and are really designed for the sea & sea systems, so the don't go that well with the housed digitals. Ikelites don't do the fibre optic thing well, but are great if you have the ikelite housing.

Essentially the Inon has the best performance with housed digitals. I can also continue to use it when i expand my system or move on to another camera/housing.


I recon you won't be disappointed with the G9. I'm pretty happy with it so far!

If you want to go wide angle though, you'll have to go for the ikelite housing with the short port. The canon housing's port is too long to utilize wide angle lenses, but you can employ macro if you find a mounting ring for the housing.
There is no official mounting ring for 67mm lenses, but a couple of guys have done a nifty DIY, and there's a couple of detachable options that look pretty good floating around.

Blue groupers are a very social fish and quickly become friendly with divers. This led to their downfall in the 60s and 70s when spearfishermen would find this huge fat fish coming up to them and swimming slowly in front of their face trying to be friends. They were the easiest of targets.
Fortunately spearing blue groupers is not illegal, and carries a $25,000 fine (as well as the wrath of the locals).
Groupers are now coming back again, thankfully, and almost every sydney dive site has a resident friendly blue grouper. Bluey is famous because of the popularity of the clovelly pool and gordons bay as dive and snorkel sites.

[melev]

Originally posted by edr42

Fortunately spearing blue groupers is not illegal, and carries a $25,000 fine (as well as the wrath of the locals).
Groupers are now coming back again, thankfully, and almost every sydney dive site has a resident friendly blue grouper. Bluey is famous because of the popularity of the clovelly pool and gordons bay as dive and snorkel sites.

I'm assuming that was a typo, and you meant "is now illegal...."

Which is good news indeed!

[edr42]

darn, yeah i meant now. (thats a pretty unfortunate typo!)

thanks melev!

[tor101898]

edr42 thanks for your input i will look into the inon,great pics keep them coming.

[ezcompany]

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...8/45e402af.jpg

i thought that a potato cod

great pics as usual, keeps me happy over this side of the planet. is it also illegal for tourist to feed fish over there?