Murene and cleaner shrimp, Java Sea Indonesia

[Joachim Bolte]

I saw this 'Wildlife'category, and just was compelled to post this.

Enjoy. C&C always welcome.

 

[Eric Diller]

What a cool looking image! Love the colors and clarity! Where these taken under water or in a tank?

Nice capture!

 

[Asher Kelman]

I saw this 'Wildlife'category, and just was compelled to post this. Enjoy. C&C always welcome.

Joachim bolte: Murene and cleaner shrimp, Java Sea Indonesia​

Joachim,

How did you take this picture. Is this with one of the waterproof digicams or you have a special case. We cannot take such sight for granted in a changing world!

I've been fascinated by the story of the invasion of British waters by a Caspian and Baltic Sea shrimp[/uel], that kills native species and is causing a lot of damage to the ecosystems.

"According to the Environment Agency, the animal, known as Dikerogammarus villosus, often kills its prey and leaves it uneaten. Insects such as damselflies and water boatmen could be at risk, with knock-on effects on the species which feed on them. D. villosus has spread across most of Western Europe over the last 10 years. It can be as small as 3mm but may grow up to 30mm long, making it much larger than native freshwater shrimp."

Asher

 

[John Angulat]

I saw this 'Wildlife'category, and just was compelled to post this.

Enjoy. C&C always welcome.

Very nicely done Joachim! I'll chime in also: Tell us more!

 

[Joachim Bolte]

This was east of Bali, at a few rock-island known as 'Gili Tepekong' (snake island). You can find it in Google maps, opposite to the town of Candidasa.

http://maps.google.nl/maps?f=q&sour...777,115.576429&spn=0.056702,0.067463&t=h&z=14

Depth was about 10 mtr., and the shot was taken with a Canon Powershot A570is in an 40 mtr. proof underwater housing. The housing has a nice diffusor, so I flashed the picture. This shot is practically SOOC, I had very little work postprocessing it (unlike other deeper shots that day).

And yet also there one can see the 'hand of man'. Not so much at these island, but nearer to the shore there is much evidence of dynamite-blasting corals in the 70's for obtaining chalk to make cement for houses and hotels. It will take decades to recover. Also there are less and less big predators.

 

[Asher Kelman]

This was east of Bali, at a few rock-island known as 'Gili Tepekong' (snake island). You can find it in Google maps, opposite to the town of Candidasa.

http://maps.google.nl/maps?f=q&sour...777,115.576429&spn=0.056702,0.067463&t=h&z=14

Depth was about 10 mtr., and the shot was taken with a Canon Powershot A570is in an 40 mtr. proof underwater housing. The housing has a nice diffusor, so I flashed the picture. This shot is practically SOOC, I had very little work postprocessing it (unlike other deeper shots that day).

And yet also there one can see the 'hand of man'. Not so much at these island, but nearer to the shore there is much evidence of dynamite-blasting corals in the 70's for obtaining chalk to make cement for houses and hotels. It will take decades to recover. Also there are less and less big predators.

Kevin,

It's amazing to see such beautiful images with a humble digicam. Being able to shoot with a camera at 10 meters underwater is really extraordinary and we take so much for granted. Time was when this would have taken thousands of $$ of clumsy gear!

I wonder how many others here are using underwater setups? What do you use or lust after?

Asher

 

[Joachim Bolte]

Sorry for my late reaction to your calls, but I don't really seem to have any time left recently...

'humble digicam' indeed! I did this with my wifes Powershot is570 in a little underwater housing. This picture is taken in natural water, depth about 10 mtrs. down in clear weather conditions. If I recall correctly I did use the flash with a diffusor screen. Don't believe it is very straightforward, In every good picture that I shot there is about half an hour of Photoshop time to get rid of colourcasts and unsharpness.

With that lens, you have to get in quite close, more than I was comfortable with. I believe the distance to the murene is about 1 mtr. This one was docile, but I also have a few pictures where one is getting ready to snap at me... mhhh... I took off before it had the chance.

If you are into underwater photography, Indonesia really is the bomb! This one was taken on Bali, near the ferry terminal to Lombok. Teeming with life, but If you would really like to see something special, there are other destinations that are 10x as rich. Radja Empat, on Irian Jaya, is still on my wishlist.

 

[Joachim Bolte]

Asher asked me if I had more underwater pictures. You can find some under this link:
http://rockz.climbing.nl/galleries/Indonesie2008/index.html
They are bluecast-corrected using an old method in Photoshop RGB space. Today I would use other methods, also involving Lab colorspace. Quite an interesting subject to dive into (pun intended), because of the extra-ordinary lighting conditions under water.

 

[Joachim Bolte]

Here a turtle that I spotted on another dive, the same day. It has got a little sucker on its shell, and 10 points for who can detect the 3th animal lifeform in the picture.

​

 

[Asher Kelman]

Here a turtle that I spotted on another dive, the same day. It has got a little sucker on its shell, and 10 points for who can detect the 3th animal lifeform in the picture.

​

Joachim,

This is said with one word!

Splendid​

I've seen underwater creatures in the waters off Hawaii, but not as rich as this! Look how many species there are in this picture. Who can name them?

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Everyone should take up Joachim's invitation and explore the myriad of creatures in his collection here.

Here are some of my favorites, but there's so much more.

​

Anyone know what the green disk is on the white rock-like structure on the lower right?

Asher