Anilao Dive (August 14, 2011) SHARK! SHARK!

Like I said, my dives last Sunday helped convince me to buy an underwater strobe. I really had a hard time shooting photos because of Light issues and silt issues. Either the lighting left a lot to be desired or there was just too much particles floating in the water to make a decent picture. Here’s an example:

I would’ve loved this super front view of this anemone fish if not for all those particles littering the photo. An underwater strobe would supposedly help eliminate some of these because the light hitting these particles will bounce back to the flash, and not at the lens. Key word: supposedly. I have yet to try my new strobe out so I don’t actually know if I’ll do it right. Anyway, the big news is…I SAW SHARKS!!! Why is this a big deal? I started diving back in 2004. Almost 150 dives after, I have yet to see a shark. My friends, who I accompanied on their check-out dive, saw sharks on their FIRST dive. Until Sunday, every time there was a shark, I would somehow manage to miss it. Everyone I studied diving with already had multiple sightings of sharks. It was #sharkfail after #sharkfail after #sharkfail. So when we went to the shark cave in Ligpo, I wasn’t even hoping. I was more like, “Shark shmark whatEVER.” Then, peering inside a cave at the very bottom of the ocean floor…THERE THEY WERE. One was just sitting there, breathing, opening and closing it’s mouth to take in the oxygen-rich waters. The other one was a little scarier, because it was swimming around in circles inside the cave. Our instructor usually goes a little deeper into the cave for a better photo of the sharks, but only if they’re “sleeping”. If any one of them is swimming about, we all stay in the relative safety of the cave opening. So was I able to take pictures? BARELY. Since we were at the very bottom, and there were quite a big number of us there, the silt that was stirred up by the fins made shooting almost impossible. All that came out was lots of green with white dots. But I was a bit lucky to get some blurry outlines of the sharks, clear enough to prove that they were in fact, sharks.

Here’s the “sleeping” one

And here’s the swimming one

Actually, even if I wasn’t able to take photos, I still would’ve been so happy just to finally see sharks. After 7 years and almost 150 dives, the curse has been broken! It’s actually exhilarating and electrifying to see a shark so close. It’s one thing to see them on TV, but once you’re within feet of them, the sense of awe is indescribable. You have to experience it to know what I’m talking about. Of course these are white tip reef sharks, the relatively more harmless version of the pelagic white tip shark, which has among the most recorded attacks on man. So I don’t know how much I’ll enjoy/peeinmywetsuit if I see the relatively scarier pelagic sharks. Just putting it out there, I have ABSOLUTELY NO DESIRE to dive with a great white, tiger or bull shark any time soon. Hear that, universe?

Anyway, I’m really stoked to try my hand shooting with a strobe. Everyone’s warning me to be patient, because it takes some getting used to. The gear is now infinitely heavier and bulkier. Plus, it’s not just a matter of pointing and shooting now, I also have to angle the strobe perfectly to get the best shot. But anyway, I’m willing to learn. So, I hereby conclude that this set is my last of my “pre-strobe” photos (naks!). According to a friend, @jayserver: “Our photography will never be the same again!” That is the hope my friend, that is the hope.

I Finally Got My Underwater Strobe!

I finally took a GIANT leap for my hobby and got something I never thought I’d invest in — an underwater strobe (Sea & Sea YS-110A). I always told myself that my underwater photography was just a hobby, that I wouldn’t invest too much the way I did with my land photography. But after all these months of joining our monthly NUDI night (the underwater photography club I’m part of), I learned one thing: one main reason my photos sucked as compared to the other photos — strobes. And after yesterday’s dive that yielded very little good output, mainly because of silt and light issues, so I finally decided to take a deep breath, and jump. Why all the drama? Basically it’s very expensive. It’s no joke to buy a set-up. It’s not just the strobes that cost a lot, but the accompanying plate, arms, brackets, and fiber optic cables, which added up, costs about as much as the strobe itself.

Plus, it will be a huge spike in my learning curve. I’ve never used a strobe before, and it’s a totally new skill to master. How near, how far, at what angle, how much light, etc. I’m nervous and excited at the same time! It would major investment fail if my photos don’t improve after this! Hehehe…I just hope my output will be exponentially better, directly proportional to the expense I just bled out. Hopefully I can dive this weekend to test drive my new baby. Anilao, and it’s wet denizens, humanda kayong mga potah kayooo!!!

Pulau Tenggol, Malaysia

I forgot to post this lovely little island we went to when we were in Malaysia called Pulau Tenggol. Pulau means island, much like our pulo, and Tenggol means, I don’t know, tingle? So Pulau Tenggol means “island of tingles”?

It was really a little piece of paradise there. It was a cove, so there were very little waves, as it was protected from all sides by the mountains. We went there basically just to snorkel and for lunch after. The pictures weren’t really much, since I took these not while diving, but from the surface while snorkeling, so the quality wasn’t really that good.

This puffer fish was huge! It also wasn’t very shy. I’d free dive really close to it, and it didn’t even budge. It was like: “take yo’ picture, you mofo’, then scram!”

Of course we have our token clownfish photo, mainly because they’re so common and so easy to take pictures of. They’re feisty little scrappers, very territorial of their patch of anemones. I’ve actually been “pecked” quite a number of times by clownfish and their nastier cousins, the damselfish. When they nip at you at full speed, it feels like someone made you batok.

This picture is very deceiving. This was taken from way up on the surface, as this was very deep waters, and that grouper was an absolute monster! Easily that thing was about as long as I was! I actually panicked when I first saw it beneath me, because it looked like a shark. But large as it was, it was very shy, and the moment it saw me, it went under some corals. Huge motherclucker!

Here’s a cute one. The other snorkelers were asking about this school of huge fish, that was circling at the shallows. They were huge, skittish and swam very fast. The dive masters were all trying to guess what they were, even bringing out a fish identification book, trying to find the species of fish. I scrambled for my camera and I asked it these were the fish. Everyone said yes. Then I looked closer and I said: “I think these are bangus.” So I asked them to look for Milkfish in the book, and lo and behold, the picture matched the fish that we saw. Strangely though, the Malaysians had no idea what they were. I told them they’re the most popular fish to eat. I’m surprised they don’t know it! Plus, I got confused. I always thought bangus were freshwater fish? Some said they were saltwater, some said they were freshwater.

Pulau Tenggol is famous for their sea turtles. We saw quite a few of them, so we were pretty much happy to see these shy creatures. Some won’t mind you until you’re close enough to touch them. Then, I guess knowing that we don’t swim very well, calmly swim away when we get too close for comfort, into the open blue.

This sexy beast, the one with yellow fins chasing the turtle, mystified me. I tried to consult so many fish identification books, but couldn’t seem to find a description that matches this exceptional sample of undersea grace and beauty. It was muscular, sinewy, and a powerful swimmer.

Balicasag Underwater Photos (Black & White)

I thought I’d do an experiment, and post my underwater photographs in black & white. I just wanted to see if, even without the dazzling colors, the beauty of the undersea world could still be captured. I hope you enjoy these:

This next one is my favorite. It’s a stunning example of camouflage. I don’t know if you guys can see it, but there’s actually a crustacean-like creature nestled in between the crynoid arms. When the dive master was trying to point it out to me, it took me a couple of minutes to figure out what the hell he was pointing at. I just found it the most fascinating creature:

The Fire And The New “Gadget”

Prologue: When I was on my way home after boardwork, I was shocked to see a dark plume of smoke rising from where I could estimate our village was. Of course this sent chills down my spine and sent me into panic mode, given that we’ve already had a fire in our family’s history, and it’s something I’ve grown to dread extra. So I sped up a little faster, and soon as I had my sight on our house, and saw that it was smoke-free, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. But sadly, there was a fire around 3 blocks away, still a little too close for comfort, so we watched and waited until thankfully, the firemen were able to put out the fire. After all that stress, I whispered to myself that I needed to detoxify and therefore: “I NEED TO GO SHOPPING.”

Which brings me to — I finally bought it! The Ikelite 6242.95, the underwater casing for my Canon S95. It’s not really a gadget, but a “gadget”, since it only houses the official gadget. Whatever. I needed to upgrade my underwater photography gear, which I had since 2003. So no more Olympus Camedia 5060. The Canon S95 takes really kick-ass images, much better than my old camera. It’s great for low light, and I’ve seen pictures from regular folks and the underwater creatures looked incredible! So since I’m leaving soon for my annual long vacation, I decided to buy the casing since we might go for a dive or two, and I’d flog myself if we see spectacular stuff and I don’t have my camera with me. I still plan to buy strobes for my new set-up, but the strobes can wait. For now, I just need to be able to bring my camera into the depths of the deep blue. I can’t wait! I want to go diving already!!!

 

My New Baby: Canon Powershot S95

After hemming and hawing between the Canon Powershot S95 and the Canon Powershot G12, I finally decided to buy the S95.  Most reviews comparing the 2 would basically say that both cameras are practically the same camera.  One is just bigger and more ergonomic, while the other is more compact and slightly cheaper.  Given my budget constraints, I opted for the more affordable of the 2.  I’m not complaining, seeing it after I took it out of the box made me tingle in places I cannot reveal.  I had goosebumps!  I’m definitely very happy with my decision, but now I’m bracing myself for the matching underwater set-up that goes with the camera.  The strobe alone would cost more than the camera itself, and that doesn’t include the arm and the tray, etc. that come with strobes.  So good luck to my wallet on that. Hopefully by next year I’d have the budget for the strobe set-up.  For now, I’ll spend my time getting to know my baby a little better.

Bubbles “Art”

The pool at the resort we went to, had steps under which were open areas where you can swim under.  So there I was, swimming under these “bridges”, when I happened to look up and noticed that bubbles were trapped underneath these steps.  Out of curiosity, I tried taking pictures of the bubbles, and I was amused at how the different bubble formations under the different types of tiles, with matching algae outgrowths, made for interesting patterns. So I decided to take as many photos as I can and try to make “art” out of these bubbles.  Of course it entailed staying under the bridges for a substantial time, practically upside down, just to get the shots.  Here are some of the results:

Underwater Photography 1

I’m starting a new series, hopefully a series with many entries, about my original passion, underwater photography.  Way before I bought my first DSLR, way before I took my first lesson on basic photography, I was consumed with the hobby of underwater photography.  I loved capturing wildlife and scenery under the sea because it’s a totally new planet down there, with everything looking very alien to our landlubber eyes.  After I took photography lessons in 2008, I completely forgot about underwater photography. I got into landscape and travel photography full time, so when we finally got back into the water last Saturday, I was sooo happy to be back.  I was praying that my underwater casing wouldn’t flood, since I haven’t used it in years, and thankfully, it cooperated and stayed sealed for the 2 dives.  So despite a free-flowing regulator (thank goodness our instructor had an extra) and some Eustachian tube issues (had a hard time equalizing), we finally descended to 60 feet and was transported back into inner space.

We got our gear serviced, got in touch with our dive instructor, and finally went back to Anilao to dive after many years of being dry.  Wer went to Twin Rocks, one of my all-time favorite dive spots, with it’s big fish, very friendly to divers, swimming fearlessly near us, with no skittishness whatsoever.  But to our surprise, there was now a lot of new undersea creatures that are resident to the area.  Apparently there are now several sea turtles residing there, so it’s almost a sure thing to sea a turtle or two.  True enough, within minutes of descending, we saw a turtle patrolling the huge block of concrete that’s a landmark in Twin Rocks:

And we were surprised to know that there is now a huge school of jacks in the area!  We usually see large schools like this in Bohol, but not in Anilao, so close to shore!  It was an amazing sight.

It was like rush hour, fish-style!  It was an incredible experience.  At one point, I was almost inside the swarming ball of rushing jacks.  The had these large, blank eyes, almost lifeless in their one-mindedness, just swimming where everyone else was swimming.  Until now, I couldn’t get over how majestic the whole experience was.  After Twin Rocks, we did our surface interval time ashore, then proceeded to our 2nd and final dive at Solana.  If Twin Rocks had large fish of types, Solana had more of the smaller, but no less spectacular fish, more suited for macro photography.

It was like a psychedelic explosion of colors! My favorite subject nudibranchs, different species of clownfish hiding in different types of anemones, and a treasure trove of photo subjects if you’re just patient enough to look for them.  I was just so happy to be back.  I hope I get to dive and shoot regularly after this. Diving is the perfect activity during the rainy season, because barring typhoons, you can dive even with rain pouring down, it’s usually calm underneath even if it’s rainy on the surface.  I feel most alive when I’m in the water, so I really pray I spend more time diving, snorkeling, and swimming.  I’d be a happier camper for it.

 

 

 

Underwater Photos (Batangas)

Underwater photography while snorkeling is extra challenging for me because one, my vantage point is always from the top, which is never fish’s good angle; two, I struggle so much trying to sink that all the jerky movements tend to scare the fish away; and three, since I’m so far away, I have the tendency to depend on the zoom, which diminishes the picture quality to a large extent.  So the quality of snorkeling pictures is nowhere near as good as photos taken while diving, which gives so much better perspective.  Plus I used my waterproof Canon D10.  I prefer the photo quality of my Olympus Camedia 5060.  For me, huge difference.

These were the photos I took while the RX staff went snorkeling in the Dive & Trek house reef.  I swear, the few minutes we spent there yielded so many sightings of different species of fish.  Those I can identify I will, for the others that I can’t specify, I’ll try to come as close as I can.  I remember that when taking my advance course in diving, I loved the part where we did fish identification.  When you see the biodiversity of Philippine waters, you really get a strong urge to try and keep the ocean life alive and prospering.  Sadly, if we don’t do anything collectively to preserve the ecology of our waters, we might live to see the day when we can no longer find fish as stunningly beautiful as these to take photos of.

The next two photos are quite blurred because these fish are so skittish, that I could barely manage to shoot from afar before they swam away:

Crocodile Longtom

Trumpetfish

Bluespotted Rockcod

Moorish Idol

The next three photos are from the family of fish that’s pretty common in reefs, very easy to find, and lots of colorful species to enjoy.  These are just three of plentiful versions of this beautiful fish.

Lattice Butterflyfish

Vagabond Butterflyfish

Pacific Triangular Butterflyfish

Brown Tang

Anemonefish

Either a Lizardfish or a Grubfish

Jeweled Blenny

If you hear crunching sounds under the sea, there’s probably one of these nearby.  They feed on corals, so you’d probably find them crunching away at the hard corals with their parrot beaks.  I could never distinguish the different species of this rainbow-splashed fish because they all look the same to me.  I don’t know if this is an endangered species, but I often find these fish offered as grilled fare every time I’m in Puerto Galera.

Dusky Parrotfish

Scribbled Filefish (juvenile)

These are pretty hard to photograph when snorkeling. They usually stay in open deeper water, so they’re harder to sneak up on.  Although the bigger versions of the unicornfish are much braver so I’ve had a couple of close encounters with those during some dives.  These can get really huge.

Bignose Unicornfish

Possibly my favorite of the reef fish, the triggerfish.  I find them very regal.  Although I’m petrified of the biggest of the bunch, the Giant Triggerfish, mainly because it really bites when you’re in its territory, I’m fascinated with the smaller cousins, the more harmless variants of this stunning fish.  The designs on their bodies are rarely matched in the ocean kingdom.

Striped Triggerfish

Paddlefin Triggerfish

Black-blotch Triggerfish

This one I’m really stoked to have found.  It’s very rare to find juveniles of many fish species mainly because they usually hide in rock crevices and wisely stay out of the open water.  This is a breathtaking fish to behold with its bright blue stripes that stand out like neon in the water.  No wonder they hide a lot, they’re so easy to spot.

Half-circled Angelfish (juvenile)

Here’s how this fish will look like as an adult, an old photo I took from a previous dive.  It’s a humongous fish, but very gentle.  The sheer beauty of this large fish is awesome to behold.  This specific fish had the diameter of maybe a coffee table.

Half-circled Angelfish (adult)