Saturday, April 23, 2011

Moar!

More fish!

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This guy was so long that I had to be this far away from him to get him all in frame. He had to be at least six feet long, probably more. I tried editing some color back into it, but there just wasn't enough data to work with.

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Grumpy fish, do not be grumpy! You live in the ocean! That should make you happy!

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You may be able to hide from predators, Mr Camo Fish, but you can't hide from the camera! I'm the freakin' underwater papperazi, I am!

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Mr Long Fin fish, why you have such a long fin?

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It's okay, Mr Plain Fish. I will take pictures of you, even if you are not the color of rainbow.

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Little fish, how you guys be so little?

Sunday, April 17, 2011

The payoff

$4,000 in specialty underwater camera equipment, and when the sea turtle comes to play, it makes every cent worth it.

(Click images to view full size)
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This guy wasn't bothered by our presence at all, it seemed. He was happy to just keep paddling along, occasionally dipping down to find some tasty part of the ocean floor to munch on.

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I should mention that none of these photos are cropped: I really was that close to him. He took little note of us, happy to keep swimming along and being a turtle.

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What stories of the ocean can you tell us, Mr. Turtle?

I could have spent the next hour doing nothing but taking pictures of this guy, but I was interrupted by the frantic tank banging of some divers a hundred feet off. Because while I was busy with the sea turtle, someone else had come out to play.

Australia, the resident Emon beach Manta ray.

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This isn't the first time this specific ray has shown up, people have been seeing it here for years. We've taken to calling it "Australia" on account of the patch on it's belly that's shaped like the continent.

And like the sea turtle, he showed no real concern about our presence, swimming within feet of us . . . and doing somersaults.

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I'm not sure why he spent most of his time engaging in underwater aerobatics, but after watching him do the second or third barrel roll in a row . . . I think he was just doing them because it was fun.

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The last few weeks, the water in the atoll have been very cloudy, filled with long strings of these plankton-like microorganisms. They get in the way of photography, but they make a delicious Manta snack. He made so many passes back and forth through us, scooping up giant mouthfuls of these delicious things.

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He was within arms length of me so many times, that when I'd finally pull my face away from the cameras viewfinder for a second, it was a shock that HOLY SMOKES, there's a giant Manta ray two feet from me. Sometimes so close that even with the 17mm lens I had on the camera, I couldn't completely get him in frame.

It was the best birthday present the ocean could have given me.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

*sigh*

My name is Tsaven, and I am an addict.

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(An Ikelite DS125 underwater strobe light for my camera)

I think this island is beginning to see me as a conveniant source of disposal for their un-wanted underwater camera gear. "Oh, I don't need this anymore . . . hey, just mention that you're selling it to that guy, he'll buy ANYTHING!"

Monday, April 11, 2011

More pictures

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Man these guys are hard to capture. Really shy and just as you get the camera at them, they've gone to hide.

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Colorful fish, how you be so colorful?

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Looking up at the surface is like a constantly distorting mirror.