PhotoFriday – ‘Little things’

This week’s Photo Friday entry: ’Little things’

I’ve very recently did two large posts on underwater macro photography (see here for with a 60mm – the set-up still for sale and here for 105mm). I love to take photographs of little things – this weeks photofriday theme, so I thought I’d focus (no pun intended ;)) on newer photos. The photo above is of a tiny pygmy squid I saw on my recent trip to Raja Ampat. Another little creature is the now famous pygmy seahorse. If you are thinking of photographing these adorable little creatures be sure to check out the Pygmy Pledge – the code of conduct for photoing these little guys. They get stressed by the light of the flashguns incredibly easily and can die as a result so to limiting your shots (to four or five) means you spend a long time waiting at depth for them to turn their little heads towards you. It doesn’t aways result in you getting the shot as these photos show but you get to spend quality time observing them safe in the knowledge you arn’t harming or upsetting them.

There are a couple of different types, above is a photo of a bargibanti pygmy seahorse (the knobbly-looking chubby ones) and below a photo of a Denise pygmy seahorse (the slightly less knobbly and skinner ones). There are also other types but I didnt see those on that trip.

They are masters of camouflage – can you spot the one in the photo below? Sometimes on the dive its hard to see them even when they are pointed out to you.

You can see more Raja Ampat photos here.

If you want to see my underwater photos from various places then check out the galleries in my Reef Beasties Gallery. Or my best from 2012 here.

See all the other photo Friday entries (and submit your own) for ‘Little things’ here.

PS: I’m currently selling my 60mm/D300 underwater macro set-up. Click here for more details & the full list of equipment for sale or email me at scubasuzy-sellingnikongear@yahoo.co.uk. Thanks for supporting my work!

PhotoFriday – ‘Springtime’

This week’s Photo Friday entry: ’Springtime’

Huh, so as it turns out I rarely take photographs in springtime! It had to back to 2010 archives to find these. We often go on a trip around February time (still very much winter) and then its a few months until a summer trip. It doesn’t stop me wanting out with my camera but the photos tend not to be underwater so I turn to my macro lens for amusement.

Its also a time for fun experiments like this one where I tried to take a photo of myself in water droplets…

If you want to see my non spring time underwater photos from various places then check out the galleries in my Reef Beasties Gallery. Or my best from 2012 here.

See all the other photo Friday entries (and submit your own) for ‘Springtime’ here.

PS: I’m currently selling the set up that took these photos. Click here for more details & the full list of equipment for sale or email me at scubasuzy-sellingnikongear@yahoo.co.uk. Thanks for supporting my work!

PhotoFriday – ‘Mornings’

This week’s Photo Friday entry: ’Mornings’

I’ve got to admit, I’m not at my best first thing in the morning. For Landscape Photographers morning time is their bread & butter. Sunrise & dawn is often a time of most beautiful light. Sometimes if you are in an area near water a nice mist forms that has dispelled by the time most people are up and about (as in the photo above taken in Crystal River in Florida). And of course the obvious reason – the lack of people. Nature is allowed to wake up gracefully (apart from a photographer or two) before all the humans arrive with their boats and cars.

We got up very early in Crystal River to see how many manatees were hanging out in the springs (they sleep there over night for warmth in the winter). This blog post has reminded me that I still have many photos to go through from that trip so I can’t show you an early-morning-many-manatees-sleeping photo like I wanted too. Here’s a picture of a little baby one from later from about 8am though…

If you want to see my underwater photos from various places then check out the galleries in my Reef Beasties Gallery. Or my best from 2012 here.

See all the other photo Friday entries (and submit your own) for ‘Mornings’ here.

PS: I’m currently selling the set up that took these photos. The top image was taken using Nikon D300 and 18-200mm lens. The manatee image was taken with Nikon D300, Tokina 10-17 FE, Subal housing with Dome port. Click here for more details & the full list of equipment for sale or email me at scubasuzy-sellingnikongear@yahoo.co.uk. Thanks for supporting my work!

Wildlife Safari Lens

Wildlife Safari Lens! Today I want to feature photos taken with my 80-400mm VR Nikon Zoom lens. A list of lenses is stark and boring so I wanted to do a feature of photographs taken with some of the gear I’m selling. I’m not a commercial trader or anything like that so all the gear I have has personal reasons for buying it in the first place. In 2011 we went on an amazing trip to Namibia. I had nothing with enough reach in my lens collection at that time so I bought this one and didn’t regret it for a second. The VR is amazing, it has three settings, off (for use with a tripod), normal (for general walking about and hand holding) and active (for on the back of a moving safari truck)! Perfect for shots like these:

Hand Held walking about:

Cheetah Cub shot at 400mm on D300

Mamma shot at 400mm on D300:

Naughty Cheetah stole a camera bag shot at 220mm

Hand Held from the truck:

Backlit lion shot at 400mm on D300 (you can see the exif on pbase by clicking these images and then select “view exif” under the photo):

Mamma Lion shot at 400mm on D300:

Giraffes Kissing shot at 400mm on a D300:

Giraffe Harem shot at 200mm on D300:

Lion Play fight shot at 400mm on D300:

Zebra in the road shot at 240mm:

Elephant shot at 120mm

At the watering hole (on a tripod) shot at 46mm:

shot at 150mm:

Not going on an amazing Safari trip any time soon? No Problem there’s plenty of wildlife at home. When I first got the lens I went for a wander around a Dorset town and got this shot of cheeky gulls:

Just because I’ve personally only used this as a wildlife lens that doesn’t mean there is only one use for it. You could use it for Astronomy, Landscape, Wildlife, Portraits, Spying on your neighbours (joke) etc etc! The lens is in excellent condition for only £700 (basically new as I only used it for this one trip & a few test shots). There is not much call for such a zoomy lens in underwater photography. I hope you enjoyed my photos here. Either email me with your interest on: scubasuzy-sellingnikongear@yahoo.co.uk Or head over to the full list of gear for sale.

Photo Friday – ‘The Great Outdoors’

This week’s Photo Friday entry: ‘The Great Outdoors’

Ah.. summer is here so where do we head? Some of us head to Egypt for some lovely Red Sea diving! That’s where I was last Friday and the reason my photo Friday is late (hopefully I’ll get around to a trip report or at least a few photos from that here soon)! Here is my raise to this weeks challenge: the great outdoors. Mike and I don’t really like to get too near the (above water) nature so here is my photo from Peru (Machu Picchu) to prove that we really do go outside sometimes.

Click image to go to see alternate sizes.. and the rest of the gallery.

See all the other photo Friday entries (and submit your own) for ‘The Great Outdoors’ here.

To see my other Peru Images click here.