In his book, Martin describes an occasion when he and a group of other divers came across some dolphins. Starting to think about exposure and other settings, Martin decided there was no time, and chose to keep the subject in focus and let the camera do the work. He was able to get the shot while others were still playing with their cameras.

In underwater photography, you often have time to set-up your camera to create a shot. However, sometimes you see something and with no time to choose the appropriate settings, just have go with what you have to get the shot.

This is exactly what happened during a dive on Friday at Agincourt Reef  on the Great Barrier Reef with Quicksilver’s Silversonic.

We entered the water for our third dive of the day. I had just reached the bottom with the other divers of our group still on the way down. Checking my camera housing to make sure there were no leaks, I spotted a Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) out the corner of my eye.

My camera housing still had bubbles around it, and struggling to read the screen settings, I managed to get it into video mode. I started thinking white balance, lighting, etc …. and decided I had no time.

Getting the Cuttlefish in the screen, I hit the record button, hoping the camera would have the correct focus. Cuttlefish are able to rapidly change colours to blend in with their surroundings, and this can often confuse the camera focusing system.

Trying to keep the subject in the screen, we got more than expected with the following video.

Fighting Cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) – Viewable on Vimeo and Youtube

The Cuttlefish made its way towards another one, changed colour from light grey to black, and attacked the second one. They then separated and went opposite directions…. something you don’t see ever day, and a great example of their ability to change color.

Forty seconds from touching the bottom, and the whole event was over.  Had I been deciding between stills and video, or been messing around with settings or lighting, I would have missed to whole thing.

Sometimes to get the shot, you just have to keep the subject in focus, cross your fingers and let the camera do the work.

The visibility was a little low the other day when diving at Agincourt Reef with Quicksilver’s Silversonic . The boat dropped us off at the end of the reef for a drift dive, and I noticed a coral trout at 15m sitting over an anemone on the sandy bottom with his mouth open.

Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes Holthuisi) – Viewable on Vimeo or Youtube.

I descended down with the aim of getting a photo of the coral trout, but it swam off when I got close. I looked down and noticed the anemone was loaded with anemone shrimp. Most times you will only see one or two shrimp, but this one was loaded with more than twenty. It was obviously a cleaning station, but at the time this did not register with me.

It is a great lesson in the more you know and understand a subject, the better you can anticipate events, the better experience you will have, and the more you will see.  I will be keeping a lookout for more of these in the future.

These cod are really friendly, and popular with the visitors. Normally once the divers get down and play with the fish, the visibility decreases as the sand is sturred up. On this occasion the rest of the diving group were a bit slow getting organized, so I went down ahead of the group, and spent some time photographing the smaller cod.

Camouflage Cod or Grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion)

I am always careful were I put my hands with these fish, with scars on one hand from having to professionally feed a couple of cod at the Cod Hole off Lizard Island a few years ago. They have rows and rows of small sharp teeth, and get a little aggressive if they are regularly feed.

Camouflage Cod or Grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion)

The smaller cod was  a lot more passive and even allowed me to get some good video of him.

Camouflage Cod (Epinephelus polyphekadion) – Viewable on Vimeo or Youtube.

More fish and underwater images can be viewed as part of my Great Barrier Reef Photography collection.

Photos

Chevron Barracuda (sphyraena qenie) on tropical Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Scuba diver silhouette mid water on tropical Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Gold Banded Fusilier (caesio caerularea) schooling on tropical  Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

Gold Banded Fusilier (caesio caerularea) schooling on tropical Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

Gold Banded Fusilier schooling over Green turtle on tropical  Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) swimming over coral – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) swimming over coral – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef.

]]> http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-underwater-photos-29-may-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/video-hawksbill-turtle-swimming-over-tropical-agincourt-reef/ http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/video-hawksbill-turtle-swimming-over-tropical-agincourt-reef/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:04:03 +0000 Carl http://www.carlchapman.com/?p=1689 Underwater video of Hawkbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) on Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef. Shot with Canon G10 while diving with QuickSilver’s Silversonic on 13 Feb 2010 from Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia.

Hawksbill Turtle swimming over tropical coral reef (View on Vimeo,  Youtube)

Hawksbill Turtle swimming in current over tropical coral reef (View on Vimeo, Youtube )

Photos

Tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Leopard Blenny (Exallias brevis) on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Green smallscale scorpionfish (Scorpaenopsis oxycephalus) on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Much Desired Flabellina Nudibranch (Flabellina exoptata) on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Giant clams (tridacna squamosa) embedded in coral on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Video

Yellowfin goatfish on tropical coral reef (View on Vimeo,  Youtube )

PRESS -RELEASE, 21 Jan 2010 :- Frans Lanting, hailed as one of the world’s greatest nature photographers, will visit Sydney in March to run his first-ever Australian photographic seminars.

Sydney is one of only two destinations the Netherlands-born, US-based photographer will visit while he is in the country – the other being the Central Coast. Lanting will also exhibit a range of his visually arresting images at the Ken Duncan Galleries at Sydney and Erina Heights while he is here. The free exhibition will run from 10am-5pm daily from March 12-15 at the Erina Heights Gallery (414 The Entrance Road, Erina Heights), and from 10am-6pm daily from March 18-22 at the Sydney Gallery (73 George Street, The Rocks).

Lanting, whose Australian visit is being hosted by landscape photographer Ken Duncan, has documented wildlife and the natural world from the Amazon to Antarctica for three decades to promote understanding about the Earth and its natural history. His work is prolific and appears in books, magazines and exhibitions around the world and is frequently commissioned by National Geographic, where he served as Photographer-in-Residence.

Lanting will appear at the InterContinental Sydney on Saturday, March 20 from 9am-4pm to present a multimedia seminar entitled Every Picture Tells A Story. His expertise and tips apply to a wide range of photographic styles and his seminars repeatedly play to sell-out crowds overseas. He will run a second seminar at the Ken Duncan Gallery at Erina Heights on Saturday, March 13. Numbers at these events will be strictly limited so attendees can have personal interaction with the master.

Additionally, on Friday, March 12 from 6pm, Lanting will host an intimate screening at the Ken Duncan Gallery at Erina Heights of his highly acclaimed epic audio-visual project, LIFE: A Journey Through Time. This is the first and only time the show will be screened during Lanting’s tour. LIFE is an original multimedia orchestral performance which chronicles the history of life on Earth. Lanting’s stunning photographs are transformed into moving images by visual designer Alexander Nichols and set to a score by Philip Glass.

Originally intended for presentation in concert halls, LIFE premiered in Santa Cruz, California, in 2006, and has been performed by world-class orchestras including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Torino Symphony Orchestra in Italy. It is about to be performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. An adaptation of the presentation was performed in 2008 by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande at the inauguration ceremony for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland.

Lanting’s Australian visit is part of an attempt by Ken Duncan to attract a wide range of internationally renowned artists to our shores to share their talents with photographic enthusiasts, and to raise the awareness of photography, which is the art form of the new generation. Any funds raised by the visit will be returned to Duncan’s Walk a While project – a photographic education program working with indigenous youth in remote outback locations. Lanting also has a strong connection to Australian indigenous art and is looking forward to assisting this cause.

Tickets to the Lanting seminars cost $440, while tickets to the LIFE presentation are $65. Both can be purchased for $490. Bookings: (02) 4307 8408.

For more information, images, or to arrange interviews with Frans Lanting or Ken Duncan, contact Stephanie Wilson on (02) 4307 8402.

More information:- http://kenduncan.com/index.php/component/content/article/2-featured-items/181-frans-lanting-visit

Photos

Giant clam (tridacna gigas) – Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef

Giant clam (tridacna gigas) – Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef

Fish on tropical coral reef – Agincourt reef, Great Barrier Reef

Video

Fish on tropical Agincourt Reef ( View on Vimeo , Youtube )

]]> http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-6-jan-2010/feed/ 0 http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-19-nov-09/ http://www.carlchapman.com/underwater/dive-trip-19-nov-09/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:31:39 +0000 Carl http://www.carlchapman.com/blog/?p=706 Went for a dive on Thursday on Quicksilver’s Silversonic to Agincourt Reef, Great Barrier Reef. The underwater visibility was around 10-12m but managed to get a couple of images and some video shot with my Canon Powershot G10.

Photos

Pink anemonefish (Amphiprion perideraion) and Magnificent Sea Anemone (Heteractis magnifica)

Flowery cod or groper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus

Lochs chromodoris nudibranch (chromodoris lochi)

For more information on his adventure:-

• Interview with Paul Nicklen
• Paul’s Photo Gallery
• Youtube Video
• Pauls latest book – Polar Obsession