An update
Posted by aussie, Feb 16 2009, 08:07 PM in Random ramblings
Hi all,
I haven't been in the water over last last week or two (I've lost count), but I thought I'd do an update as to what's been going on with me.
Firstly, a few places you can find me on the web. You may have already seen my Flickr site, but if not, go and check it out. It's where I do the most photo uploads, both above and under water. I also have a gallery on Smugmug, that I've been a little slack with, but is more my best work (plus some travel galleries). Finally, I just signed up to Twitter so people can easily keep up to date with what I'm up to (especially when I'm on the road).
I'm starting to feel like I'm spread out around the web quite a bit, and eventually would like to bring it all together onto the one page, somewhat like what Eric Cheng has done (althoguh I assume he's designed his own page?). Maybe someday, but for now, I have neither the time or the know how.
Also new with me, I've been made a moderator on Wetpixel, and am really looking forward to helping out. I've learnt so much over the years as a member of this site, and am looking forward to giving something back! If you're new to underwater photography and/or wetpixel, sign up, start reading, and if you have any questions or comments, post them!
Finally, I'm about to undertake a sojourn north for a few months. I'll be spending my time in Cairns, working as an underwater photographer for Scubapix. I may not get much other travel in this year, with our weakening aussie dollar and slumping economy, so I'm going to make the most of this working holiday! Really looking forward to the change, although with a bit of luck, the floods and stingers will have gone be the time I get there.
(OK, I'm sure I'll find a way to do more travelling in '09, maybe just not as much as I'd hoped!)
Well that's about it for now. I plan on getting at least one more dive in before I take off up north, so stay tuned!
Ryan.
Trying my hand at above water photography
Posted by aussie, Feb 12 2009, 02:33 PM in Random ramblings
Seeing I can't be in the water ALL the time, I've been trying my hand at above water photography over the last few months. I've been lucky in that I've been travelling up and down the coast quite a bit, so I've had a good few opportunities to practise.
One area I really want to get into is surf photography. Seeing that it's been too many years since I stood up on a board, I thought this would make up for it on those non-diving days at the beach. I'm yet to get in the water with my camera, but I did have a bit of a play around with some friends on the beach at Byron.
I've been concentrating on using natural light, as well as polarising filters, to create different effects. And of course, there's always photo shop to make a unique image!
Being a water person, waterfalls have always appealed to me as well. I picked up an ND8 filter as well, so I could slow down the action on these types of shots.
And of course, on those mornings when I can drag myself out of bed early enough, there's always sunrise photos!
That's me in the foreground, it's hard to find other models that early in the morning!
Hope you've enjoyed viewing them as much as I have making them!
Making the most of Summer
Posted by aussie, Feb 12 2009, 02:20 PM in Dive trips and stories
Well it's been a while since I last posted, although I'm happy to say I've been getting plenty of diving in, and making the most of the great conditions we've been having this Summer. I've gotten a whole bunch of dives in at Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, where I'm still seeing (and being shown) new critters every dive, and a weekend at Stradbroke Island, off Brisbane. 
'Straddie', as it's know to the locals, has some of my favorite diving in the area, although it is a little more effort to organise than heading south to Byron. The highlights of Straddie during the warmer months are the giant manta rays, and the numerous friendly leopard sharks. Surface conditions weren't perfect while we were on the island, resulting in bad conditions (and no mantas) at the manta cleaning station at Manta Ray Bommie, but great conditions at other spots (20m vis, 25*C water, etc).
I have a bunch of new photos on my Flickr site from these most recent dives. Head on over to check them out, and see what Summer's been giving us here on the east coast of Aus.
Christmas break in my home town (and lots of diving)
Posted by aussie, Jan 11 2009, 06:34 PM in Dive trips and stories
Christmas in Australia is different to what I would expect it is in other countries. The middle of summer means hot sunny days, a cold Christmas lunch, a few beers, and often an afternoon on the beach. For me, it means heading back to my home town of Nambucca Heads in Northern NSW, a small beachside town, and spending as much time in, on and around the water as possible.
Nambucca Heads, NSW, Australia
While I didn't start diving until after I moved away from this area (7 years ago), I do love heading back down, as some of Australia's top dive sites reside around here. To the north is the Solitary Island Marine Park, a chain of islands from Coffs Harbour north, that I always enjoy diving, and to the south is Fish Rock, off South West Rocks, a rocky island a couple of kms from Smokey Cape that consists of a 120m long underwater cave and more grey nurse sharks than I have seen anywhere else.
Fish Rock, South West Rocks. Photo cortesy of South West Rocks Dive Centre
I did seven dives at Fish Rock, diving with South West Rocks Dive Centre. Conditions varied, with vis being between 5 and 15m, the water getting quite green on the last day. A number of dives we did in and around the cave, starting at around 24m deep and finishing at around 15m, and a few were shark dives at other parts of the island. These were endangered grey nurse sharks, in large numbers, which was great to see, although quite a number had fish hooks lodged in their mouths. Considering the number of fishermen on the surface, this shouldn't be supprising. My one goal was to get a good shot of a grey nurse in the mouth of the cave, however I was out of luck in this, with the only day they were their in numbers being the day of green water. I did get a lot of other shark photos which I'm fairly happy with though.
Grey nurse shark at Fish Rock, South West Rocks, Australia
The camera performed well with no major dramas, and on a whole I'm very happy with it. I was shooting with a Tokina 11-16mm with a +2 close up lens, although without a zoom gear, so it was being used as a prime (ie I wasn't able to zoom in and out). I feel this lens is great for this type of shooting (ie sharks, big fish, etc), so will purchase a zoom gear sooner or later. Eventually I plan on shooting with a fish eye as well, but for sharks I feel a fish eye would be just too wide. I took a couple of hundred photos, the majority of which are of sharks, and a couple of bat fish while on safety stop. The Aquatica housing is great, I don't have a single complaint about it, although one day I'd like to pick up an Aqua Viewfinder. My 2 Inon Z240 strobes are going well too, I like the fact that they're nice and small but still pack plenty of punch.
I'm back in Brisbane now, missing staying on the coast, but there's still plenty of local diving to do up here.
A few more photos...
Clear water = happy diver
Posted by aussie, Dec 10 2008, 03:40 AM in Dive trips and stories
Yet another weekend at diving Julian Rocks. Vis was around 20m, which was a good change 
(although it did drop down to about 5m at one point). A fair bit of life around, large schools of snapper and jew fish, wobbys, bull rays, and LOADS of blue spotted sting rays.
Used the Sigma 17-70mm on both dives, which did well, although corners of some wider shots are coming out a bit soft.
A colourful section of the reef
A friendly old turtle. My lens wasn't quite wide enough for this one (she was pretty much touching the dome)
Sleeping wobby
Blue spotted ray
And a self portrait
Two things from Martin Edge's book were in my mind on this dive. First was that the majority of things in the ocean you just wont be able to get decent images of. I found a lot of cool critters where this was the case - nudis and eels in bad positions, even a cuttlefish that put its head in a hole soon as I turned up. I tried waiting around for him to come out, but he was obviously irritated with my presence, and I don't belive in over stressing marine life, so I left it alone.
The second was to shoot up. Especially in clear water, this makes such a difference. Obviously not always possible, but in the right situation, it can make for a great photo!
One more when I tried this style. Didn't quite get the angle that I wanted, but you get the idea.
Think I'll have this weekend off diving, but then I've got a few lined up that aren't at Byron Bay!!!
Always something new at Byron Bay
Posted by aussie, Nov 29 2008, 11:21 PM in Dive trips and stories
Headed down to Byron Bay for a dive at Julian Rocks today. The water wasn't overly clear, but the ocean had really flattened out, and the sun was out, making for a beautiful day. I used my 60mm macro today, which I really liked for small stuff, although I don't think it will be as good a fish lens as I'd hoped, and might look into getting something a little wider (around 30mm?). I did manage to find a clear coloured shrimp in an anemone that I got a few pics of, something I hadn't seen at Julian before.
There was a bit of larger life around too, a spotted eagle ray, schools of large king fish, blue spotted sting ray, but in between the low vis and macro lens, I didn't get any shots.
I can't get enough of diving Byron at the moment, there's always something new to discover. I've even got a few photos on the Julian Rocks website of things I've found that they didn't have images of before. It's been keeping me even more interested trying to find new species to be able to send in for the site!
With a bit of luck, this good weater will hold out for the week so I can get down there next weekend too.
Byron Bay on a good day
Posted by aussie, Nov 18 2008, 02:00 AM in Dive trips and stories
Last week finally saw some decent conditions here on the East coast of Aus. Only problem was, I was on the west coast for once! No diving over there, but I did make it back to get a dive in at Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, on Sunday. Vis had dropped from about 20m to 15m, but from the reports I'd heard, the fish life had increased =)
15m vis, warmer blue water, I hadn't seen it like that since the end of last Summer! And the reports were right, the marine life was great! I was setup with my Sigma 17-70mm macro again (the macro port for my 60mm still hasn't arrived), so was more or less covered for wide angle down to the small stuff. I'm starting to like this lens more, although I am looking forward to also having dedicated lenses.
Highlights of the dive were a grey nurse shark inside a swimthrough (it came straight out at me as some other divers scared it out from the other end), although it was so surrounded by fish that it was challenging to get any photos, massive king fish, and a LOT of huge bull rays. Lots of the usual small stuff around too, including one rock covered in about 10 nudi's (hypselodoris bennetti).
This was the first time I gave using 2 strobes a really good try. I loved it, but this is the area I'm really going to have to work on in the future. But, practise does make perfect! Back to the books and forums to see if I can get some more pointers.
Of course, there's photos to show off. Hope you enjoy!
Learning from scratch (again)
Posted by aussie, Nov 3 2008, 03:36 AM in Random ramblings
I recently upgraded my underwater camera setup from a fantastic little Canon G7, housing in an Ikelite housing and with a single DS-51 strobe, to a full blown digital SLR rig. This money pit consists of a Canon EOS 40D, a very sexy Aquatica housing, 2 Inon Z240 strobes, ports, accessories and a bunch of lenses from Canon, Sigma and Tokina. I tell myself I have enough gear now, but who am I trying to joke here?
I'd been shooting the compact setup primarily in AV mode, with the strobe on eTTL, so it's not like I was a complete newbie. I had somewhat of an idea about photography. Now, however, I'm shooting and learning a new camera, in full manual mode, and with two strobes in manual. What's this mean? Basically I make all the decisions now, so I can't go blaming the gear so much! I took to the manual settings quite well I think. I picked up Martin Edge's book right before I received the housing, so this was some help. Last weekend was the first time diving with both strobes though, and that took a little getting used to. Well, it didn't on the first dive, as somehow the strobe cord inside the housing had slipped off the hotshoe, so I also got to practice my natural light photography. I learnt two valuable lessons there: 1, stick that bastard down with electrical tape, and 2, my old rule of taking some pre dive photos to make sure everything is working is not as fool proof as I thought. I did get one dive in with everything working, and while it was a fast drift in somewhat low vis with not a great deal of subject matter (slightly less than 10m, at The Pines in Moreton Bay), I got the chance to experiment with everything.
The other thing I'm finding might take a little getting used to is the lens selection. With a compact setup, I was covered for everything, from wide angle to macro, thanks to wet lenses. Now, I have to work out which lens I used before the dive! Don't get me wrong, I know the benefits, and love my new gear, I just miss the flexibility. So far, I’ve been using my Sigma 17-70mm Macro, and one dive with my Tokina 11-16mm, both behind an 8” dome. I’ve got a 60mm macro waiting to get used, as soon as the macro port arrives for it. The Sigma’s been a great lens, not perfect at either wide or macro, but a good ‘in between’ lens that still gives me a lot of flexibility. The dive with the Tokina was the above mentioned natural light dive, so I can’t really comment on how it’s going.
I’ve managed to get out diving 3 weekends in a row now, taking the opportunity to get the new gear wet. The first two weekends were at Julian Rocks, Byron Bay, diving with my friends at Sundive, and last weekend was diving inside Moreton Bay, at Curtin Artificial Reef and The Pines. I've taken a couple of shots that I'm happy with, but I realise just how far I have to go! Some photos below.
I'll do a proper review on the new gear once I have some more experience with it.
Ciao for now.
An eagle ray at Julian Rocks
Red Scorpion Fish, Julian Rocks
Green Turtle, Julian Rocks
Ceratosoma Flavicostatum, Julian Rocks
One of the wrecks at Curtain Artificial Reef. The vis was the best I've seen it there.
An introduction
Posted by aussie, Nov 3 2008, 03:10 AM in Random ramblings
Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog.
Reading wetpixel over the years has taught me many valuable things, one of which is how lucky I am to be living somewhere where I have the opportunity to dive most weekends. As long as the weather's good, I make the attempt to get out for a dive, take some photos, and generally chill out underwater. While most of us in Aus tend to take living by the ocean for granted (in my case, I'm an hour's drive away), i now realise that a (or maybe ever the) majority of the world's best underwater photographers don't have this luxury.
Due to this, I'm going to attempt to show how grateful I am for this fact, by showing you how much I'm enjoying spending time in, on and around the ocean.
Living in Brisbane, Australia, the capital of the 'Sunshine State' of Queensland, may sound like the perfect place to be based. And while I do love it here, it's a little more than the 5 minute walk to the Pacific Ocean I had growing up. Still, I can't complain. To the north is the Sunshine Coast, with it's beautiful beaches and wreck of the ex-HMAS Brisbane. To the south is the Gold Coast (can't think of too much positive to write about that...). Off Brisbane are Moreton and Stradbroke Islands, with their amazing beaches, diving and scenery. And just over the boarder is Byron Bay, one of my favorite places in the world, a party town during summer, the total oposite during winter, and home of Julian Rocks Marine Park. Outside of these local dive spots, I also venture further south into NSW a few times a year, diving the Solitary Island Marine Park and Fish Rock Cave, off South West Rocks.
I'll attempt to put photos up in the future with these blogs, as I mention any special dives I do, but for now, my gallery can be found here.
Thanks for your patience, I hope my future ramblings keep your attention as I attempt to write about dives I do, learning to shoot underwater with a dSLR (I feel like I'm starting from scratch again!), gear reviews, and who knows what else! For now, here's a couple of my favorite photos I took pre-SLR. Enjoy!
Ryan.
