Photography Conundrums

It’s time for some more of Barb’s wonderful photos from the last week or so. Be sure to check out the two galleries below.

Barb has been going out to the sites on the south coast of Ambon, the so-called wide-angle sites. And this is where the conundrum starts…

or

However, our incredible guides and their ability to find rare and astounding small critters everywhere around Ambon have made it a very difficult choice as to what lens you bring with you!! It’s easy in Ambon Bay, as you know it’s going to be muck, but what to bring on the south? (I get around this problem with video by bringing two video cameras with me, a GoPro for wide-angle stuck on top of my macro video setup 🙂 )Traditionally the south coast sites have been the wide-angle sites, due to the crystal clear water, pristine reefs, beautiful swim-throughs and underwater arches (Hukurila Caves and Pintu Kota) and, of course, our amazing discovery of the Flashlight Fish Cave at ALFA Point.

A perfect example of this was when Barb went to Hukurila Caves last week. She had her big wide angle dome with her, to capture the swim-throughs and cave, and the guides found a Blue Ring Octopus!! It’s always a treat to find one and particularly on the coral side, as the background colour is so beautiful compared to muck/rubble. Luckily she managed to get some great shots with the dome as you can see below. So this first gallery is the wide-angle one, taken at Hukurila Caves and ALFA Point

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

 

And this second gallery is all from just one dive at a site called Tengah-Tengah, another amazing location we’ve found on the coral side. It’s a big rock underwater, surrounded by white sand, and it’s just covered is critters!! We did a 100 minute dive there and could have stayed for longer. As you can see, Barb took her macro lens this time and was exceptionally happy….though next time she wants to take the wide-angle dome..

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

So it’s a conundrum, but it’s a good one to have…..