UW Images from Papua New Guinea

[Dave H 0]

I have created a website that contains a selection of images that I took with the CP5000 in Papua New Guinea on a recent trip in January 2002:

Papua New Guinea CP5000 Images

 

I’m pretty happy with some of the shots that I got, please bare in mind that this trip was the first time I’d used the CP5000 underwater. Feel free to provide any suggestions or feedback.

 

Taking macro images took a while to get the hang of, by the end of the trip I had the settings and strobe position to my liking. I am very grateful to the advice I received from all the CP5000 users in the wet pixel forums, especially davephv! The settings I used for macro were: Shutter speed 1/500 or 1/1000, F8, White balance @ Cloudy, Speedlight turned down to minus 2, Strobe set to TTL, ¼ or 1/8 power (depending on brightness of subject) and the strobe positioned approximately 1.5 – 2 feet away above the camera. I normally used auto focus but sometimes would try manual.

[Dave H 0]

I have a couple of favourite images from the trip.

 

I like my Mandarin Fish photo as this guy was only 2-3 cm big and took about 25 mins to photograph:

 

my other favourite image would be the hairy ghost pipefish, it's probably not the best photo I've ever taken but this would be the rarest species I've ever seen!

 

 

Both these images were taken with the CP5000 using the macro settings I described above.

[herbko 0]

Dave,

 

Beautiful shots! I really like the Mandarin fish. Well worth the effort.

[davephdv 0]

Nice! What lens were you using? Did you try different WBs to see what they would do for your blue background in the wide angle shots? Did you have any trouble focusing on free moving animals such as the shark shots. B)

[Cybergoldfish 1]

Good work Dave,

 

Great shot of the Mandarin - Jealous I am... They hid in the coral everytime they saw my guide coming two weeks ago!

 

The Red Ornate Ghost Pipefish is actually a Harliquin Ghost Pipefish but ID is not as important as capturing the little beauties. Nice to see male and female in the same shot, this is where the DOF of digital is most welcomed.

 

The lighting on the PSH's looks a bit strange for macro - These are cropped? Nice you got the orange variety - again jealous!

[Arnon_Ayal 1]

The mandarin is awesome !

[Simon K. 0]

Wonderfull shots. Just another point on my allready to long "Places I have to go" list ;-)

 

Simon

[yahsemtough 0]

There goes Bob showing off again! Yes, another shot to make me feel inferior. Bob why don't you go play somewhere else.

 

Just kidding!! As you know again...outstanding shot.

 

On the first shot, is the focus crisp? Or, the lighting a little dim on certain features. I am not try to be critical just more curious as I do not know the fish well although, wish I did as it is amazing looking.

 

I too shoot the cp5000 and appreciated that you posted your settings, thanks.

[james 0]

Dave,

 

Truly fabulous images! I love to see pygmey seahorse pix where the gorgonian polyps are still extended! A tribute to the photographer - who does not bash his subject while shooting it!

 

So why are your photos hosted on an Australian server???? We gotta talk.

 

Cheers

James

[yahsemtough 0]

Now that I looked at the site...

 

I loved the pipefish close-up on the website. Well done!

[markh 0]

Very nice Dave. Mandarin is gorgeous.

 

Bob, that harlequin is equally as good. I came across some of the same shrimps in Maldives.......tres joli.

 

Bob, amongst your many tens of thousands of pics do you have one of the vampire octopus?

 

Mark

[Dave H 0]

Hey guys,

 

Thanks for the kind remarks, if you ever get a chance to do some diving in PNG don't hesitate - it truely is one of the best diving destinations in the world. And for those with a camera it is true heaven - especially if you are interested in weird and rare marine life!

 

In reply to a couple of your questions:

Davephdv - I was generally using the 28mm lens and on a couple of occasions I used the 19mm in the dome port - I was a little nervous at first at using the 19mm as I was worried about flooding through the dome port - obviously my concerns were not warranted. As for adjusting white balance, that is something I'm going to spend practising at my local divesite which is 1 min away! Focusing on sharks was a major pain in the arse... I was buzzed my hammerheads on 3 occasions and by the time I got the camera settings correct they were to far away for a worthwhile shot.

 

Bob - yep they are Harliquin Ghost Pipefish but in Australia people also refer to them as Ornate's. I normally name everything by scientific name but this gets confusing for people. The species is most likely to be Solenostomus paradoxus. I love your image of the Harlequin, I tried a couple of similar shots but got nailed by backscatter

 

The pygmy seahorses proved to be the most difficul subject to photographer b/c of the way they just 'dissappeared' into the fan! Unfortunately I could only spend about 10 mins on the fan so I rushed my shots... I was a little dissapointed when I got them back but I suppose I should be happy for my first attempt. And yes they are cropped, but only by a small amount.

 

yahsemtough - As Bob eluded to photographing Manadrin Fish is not an easy task. They are generally only active at dusk/night and this is the best time to photographer them out in the open. I spent about 20 - 30 mins with my buddy trying to get 1 decent shot, she would spot the mandarin fish with a torch which I needed to focus with. However, these fish do not stay still!!!! Trying to follow a fish that is 2-3cm long in your view finder by the shine of a torch is very frustrating!!!! And your buddies pateience only lasts for sooooooo long......

 

jamesw - Thanks for the comments. I spent 2 weeks before I left printing out all the information that davephdv and yourself had posted on the CP5000 before I went to PNG. When I was over there I used the information you both posted to help fix problems/setting etc... your information proved so useful As for why my photo's are on an Australian server, probably because this is where I live, work and dive

[yahsemtough 0]

Thanks for the added information. Then, that is a great Mandarin shot, as a couple with experience have eluded to.

 

I too have reviewed the settings that were posted in a thread in the past. I found them very useful in reducing the cameras learning curve.

 

I believe they were mainly on the camera settings as opposed to stops and strobe settings etc. Again, thanks for posting your info. I will do the same in a couple of weeks when I go to Roatan. And, try your settings out also.

 

I found the shutterlag manageable with the hammerheads or other sharks but, that was what our trip focus was (no pun intended). I still would have preferred the rapid fire ability of a DSLR but, was able to make it work, if only the strobes did that trip I would have had some shots to post.

 

You can see the one shot on www.digideep.com. Under the POTW winners banner for 2002 I believe week 35 is one of my shots.