194 replies to this topic

[muppetcam]

My two favourites, the first because we spent two weeks sitting in a dug-out canoe for 7 hours a day trying to get close to the leatherbacks (on snorkel) and finally on the 2nd from last day I managed to get below one before she dived down. The second shot because it's a classic pantomime - 'look behind you', Roger was so fixed on holding his shot on the mother & calf (out of shot) that he didn't even realise the escort was behind him.

[shark8matt]

hello all -

as usual - an impressive collection of work. Not surprisingly, I submit a shark photo as my favorite. A a surprise though it is not a whale shark (which I study in Tanzania) or a lemon or tiger (now that BBFS is doing research there I was spoiled with 4 trips to Tiger beach this year). I give you a humble reef shark. It is my favorite though as there is a good story behind it. We had the Hooters Calendar dreamgirls visit the Sharklab this year and we took them out to snorkel with some Caribbean Reef sharks near Bimini. I was basically in the water surrounded by bikini models and sharks (which is how I always kinda envisioned heaven would be). I took some snaps of the girls and sharks but they were all lined up together with the sun behind them and it was a little rough so i wasn't getting anything too satisfying. However, the ambient light levels were pretty good for slow-shutter 2nd curtain sync shots and I decided to rattle some off. These shots are always difficult but the sharks were being pretty spunky today and coming right up to the camera. I worked on waiting until they came up close so their faces would be burned in with the flash and their tails caught "in motion" via the slow shutter. I ended up getting some good stuff. and this shot is my favorite - there are some bubbles moving across the shot that give it a little extra sense of motion. Funny thing was I was in the water surrounded by beautiful girls in bikinis and was completely focused on the sharks...My shark nerd-dom is confirmed...

canon 20D / aquatica / canon 10-22 / 2x ikelite ds 125s f 18 1/25 iso 200



happy holidays all...

cheers!

- MDP

[muppetcam]

hello all -

as usual - an impressive collection of work. Not surprisingly, I submit a shark photo as my favorite. A a surprise though it is not a whale shark (which I study in Tanzania) or a lemon or tiger (now that BBFS is doing research there I was spoiled with 4 trips to Tiger beach this year). I give you a humble reef shark. It is my favorite though as there is a good story behind it. We had the Hooters Calendar dreamgirls visit the Sharklab this year and we took them out to snorkel with some Caribbean Reef sharks near Bimini. I was basically in the water surrounded by bikini models and sharks (which is how I always kinda envisioned heaven would be). I took some snaps of the girls and sharks but they were all lined up together with the sun behind them and it was a little rough so i wasn't getting anything too satisfying. However, the ambient light levels were pretty good for slow-shutter 2nd curtain sync shots and I decided to rattle some off. These shots are always difficult but the sharks were being pretty spunky today and coming right up to the camera. I worked on waiting until they came up close so their faces would be burned in with the flash and their tails caught "in motion" via the slow shutter. I ended up getting some good stuff. and this shot is my favorite - there are some bubbles moving across the shot that give it a little extra sense of motion. Funny thing was I was in the water surrounded by beautiful girls in bikinis and was completely focused on the sharks...My shark nerd-dom is confirmed...

canon 20D / aquatica / canon 10-22 / 2x ikelite ds 125s f 18 1/25 iso 200

happy holidays all...

cheers!

- MDP

Hey Matt, my fellow Scubazooer Simon Enderby was also there at the same time and I have therefore seen images of the various hooters girls, I think it's only fair you share an underwater image with the wetpixel members!!!

[secretsea18]

I'm right across the GW Bridge. Wanna go look at the tree? I don't ice skate. It's too dangerous.

--
Ellen

Sure! ... but I'm out of town until January 5th ... I'll definitely be in touch when I get back! I'll shoot you a PM.

Hi Ellen and Jeremy,
This Wetpixeler is interested in joining in the fun in Manhattan, if I may be allowed...

Robin (in Manhattan)

[newmanl]

Hi Folks,

Up till now I've been a lurker, so this is my first post. I obviously agree that it is a very impressive collection of u/w images in this thread (thanks for starting it Alex) and as a way of both getting involved and saying thanks to those I've learned from (and that's a lot of you!) here is my favourite image of 2008:



I used a Canon 30D and a Sigma 15mm FE with a Magic Filter in an Ikelite housing - f 6.3 at 1/125th. The photo was taken at "Two-Step" on the Big Island of Hawaii back in April.

Thanks. Best of the Holidays to all.

Lee Newman
Port Coquitlam, BC

[wyzeguy]

I'm not sure if this is my favorite image, but it received the most exposure of those I took this year. Taken in less than 10ft of water on a night dive 10 minutes from my home.




Merry Christmas everyone!!

[Edward Lai]

Have been hoping for a nice pygmy photo for years. Luckily this time had the right lens (105VR) and a ring flash. June 2008 in Mabul, Malaysia.

[bvanant]

Here is mine. At White Beach in the Solomon's, off the Bilikiki. We were supposed to go see a tiny salt water croc, about 3 feet long that we had seen on the shore from the tinny. Went out later that day, jumped in, swam up to the bank and here was the tiny guys grandmother. About 8 to 9 feet long and we were all a bit worried, but she was pretty mellow. Enjoy

[zook]

Hi all!

O Wetpixel: wonderful pictures, really inspirational and motivating (keep'em coming!) and tons of information and with great people ready to answer any question, really cool community! I hope next year I'll be able to meet some of you...maybe in Antibes (or the Solomons)!

Small breaking of the rules, I'll post two, but entirely different pictures (let's say the right and left part of my heart )

Always stared with great fascination any envy the beautiful pigmy pictures posted here on Wetpixel (and of course here-and-there) but this year brought me to Indonesia for a wonderful 3 weeks (Bali and Wakatobi) and there I finally had the opportunity to meet these little guys... Not easy subject, I would say Here's one I like, hope you'll too...



And a totally different story, Egypt, the Salem. This is a picture for what I'm definitely going back for, because I see much opportunities in it...just after shooting I thought it is perfect, but once on board I saw that the diver is missing a foot... Anyway, somehow I wanted to show how small we are next to these enormous structures that we barely see again in whole. Quite a sad place this wreck is...



Merry Christmas to You all!
Csaba Tokolyi

[paul.hunter]

Aweosme images everybody

Here is my fav for 2008. This friendly whaleshark spent a good couple of minutes with us. What an expereince!

Attached Images

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[Marjo]

This topic is great! The images shown by everyone are awesome and so inspirational. In light of what everyone have posted it is s humbling experience to try to pick my favorite of the year. However, I would submit this image of a clownfish, because the memory of the dive as well as the "Hi Five fin-slap" of the fish, brings me a smile. This was shot at Lawadi in Milne Bay with Canon 100mm macro.



Now back to browsing all those beautiful "best of 2008" images in the thread...

Edited by Marjo, 23 December 2008 - 05:30 AM.

[ralphy]

What a great thread - and some fantastic images!

I've really struggled to find the favourite photo of this year (I've been able to get quite a few dive-trips in, so lots of pics to choose from!) but this one makes me grin every time I look at it:


I call it 'The Look'; it is the expression on the face of my long-suffering dive buddy, Roxy. It translates into "That's enough; you've been taking those @!x?&% pictures for hours now and I'm COLD".

It's been a good year dive-wise and I've enjoyed and learnt so much from this forum; Merry Christmas everyone!

R

[aczyzyk]

I only saw Oceanics from really close 2 times in my life. On first ocasion some years ago it was at the end of dive and I was out of film already.
That was very frustrating.

This year I tried to get decent shark shot for 3 days at Brothers. I only had one close approach that lasted just several seconds, but this time I was prepared




I know we are supposed to pick just one, but the second one is mostly above water. I guess that does not break the rule ...too much.
I had lots of fun taking the shot and I'm really proud of my dauther being such a great model.

[Paul C]

Hi Alex,

The attached is a common subject (a Damsel Fish), but it is my favourite this year because of its simplicity. It was taken on a Thistlegorm night dive with a digital compact (Sea & Sea DX8000G with one YS90 strobe). Although I have recently progressed to a DSLR and cannot wait to start working with that, I suspect that this photo will remain a favourite of mine for some time to come.

Merry Christmas to you & all

Paul Colley

[Painted Frogfish]

Hi all,
Nice pics.
Here's my favourite one of 2008, taken at Crystal Bay, Nusa Penida in Bali, Indonesia.
It was mola mola season and this one was at a cleaning station at nearly 30m or 100 ft depth. It was being cleaned by yellow butterfly fish and Moorish idols and was so comfortable it let me almost make love to it for over 20 mins, until I ran out of space on my 2Gb card! Normally they are skittish. Took shots from every angle imaginable up to an inch away from it but this one turned out best. It was taken in landscape format but I cropped it. My only regret was not having my diffusers on on this particular dive so the light is a bit harsh.

Merry Xmas!
Marcus

[mkrzysztofowicz]

Hi All,

Some class shots so far!

Here's my favourite. Some might say it's too dark, too underexposed... and they will probably be right. I still like it It's what they call a happy accident - my strobe didn't fire (it was still recharging after the previous shot) and my buddy's (very powerful) torch was just in the right spot

BTW - this was taken on a mental night dive in the Maldives: we've had white tip sharks hunting, we've had turtles, we've had a sting ray, and we've had lots of free swimming moray eels!

Anyways, here's the shot:



Best Regards,
mike

Edited by mkrzysztofowicz, 23 December 2008 - 07:39 AM.

[stewsmith]

This is easily my favorite photo of the year. Shot up in Port Hardy. There were un-countable numbers of jellyfish in the water. During a safty stop, I took a few pics of them as they floated by. While up-loading photos that evening, I asked Alex about the small critters that were clinging to some of the Jellys. He explained to me they were amphipods. I wanted to see about getting a good shot of them and spent the following dives shooting some on safty stops. A Redeye Medusa drifted by with something somewhat larger on top of it. Closer inspection revealed this small crab.



Rand

this is an amazing image. WOW

[AengusM]

Probably not my best shot but my fav of 2008;



Canon 40D, Aquatica housing, EF-S 10-22mm, natural light.

The shots taken in the "Deep Gutter" at FishRock off the north coast of NSW, Australia.

When I look at this shot it reminds me of one of my favourite dive sites and I relax.
Its probably more than just the diving as the launch site is 5 hours drive from Sydney and that thought signals a relaxing weekend out of the big smoke and away from the associated hassles.
I have dived FishRock many times and have learned that to get the most intimate experiences with the resident Grey Nurse Sharks (Sand Tigers / Raggy Tooth) you need to get in quick and get away from the crowds.
This shot is taken in the "Deep Gutter", I was on my own, a steep wall behind me, I dropped to the bottom clicking a couple of shots on the way and then just sat there for what felt like an ages.
The sharks didn't budge and kept to their swimming pattern sometimes coming up close for a good look at me.

There is a cave entrance behind me and soon the crowds keen to swim through it appeared, the sharks backed off and my up close and personal visit was over.

Hopefully the shot doesn't appear too dark on your monitor but I'm trying to convey a sense of calmness amongst what for many people would be a danger situation.

Merry XMas everyone!

Aengus

Edited by AengusM, 23 December 2008 - 03:06 PM.

[Michael]

These are my favorites, from Brazil (freshwater): Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman and 16ft. Green Anaconda photographed underwater. I went there this summer specifically looking for these guys and was very lucky to get both. We all know wild animals don't take appointments...





Best regards and Merry Christmas,

Michael Patrick O'Neill
Michael P. O'Neill Photography
Batfish Books

[jmuhilly]

Amazing images everyone! I have a few favorites for 2008 but this was my favorite for the year.

Merry Christmas!



John Muhilly
www.johnmuhilly.com