Under the Water

[Goldcoastgolfer]

So there was this one time I found a reasonably large bull ray sitting on the bottom of the river I dive in. They're not the biggest sea creature - I think this one from memory was about two and a half feet in diameter.



Of course their tail is something you have to keep an eye out for. Anyway, I was a bit bored that day so I got as close as I could to it and took a close up of its eye - for no other reason than I just wanted to see how close I could get before it swam away.



I got pretty close...

[Goldcoastgolfer]

And now on to something small.

This is a blenny.



They hang out all through the river that I used to dive in regularly and are one of the more robust creatures around. When we have heavy rains that alter the salinity in the river which often causes all the sealife in the river to die out, the blennys are usually amongst the first to return.

A lot of the time they hide in little holes and crevices.



They'll often poke their heads our briefly to have a look around.



But if they feel threatened they'll go back into their little hidey holes.



Finding these guys can be a challenge. Did I mention they're small? Just to put things into perspective...



So it can be challenging getting a good shot of these guys. Thankfully, they don't really swim around so a little patience will usually result in a good shot of them.

Kerry thinks they're cute. What she doesn't realise is that when she's not looking they actually pull faces behind her back.

[FrankMi]

Beautiful shots Mal, and a superb sense of size with the glove in the shot!

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Beautiful shots Mal, and a superb sense of size with the glove in the shot!

Thanks Frank. While the large underwater sea life can be mind boggingly majestic, the small stuff can be amazingly interesting and unique... if you can find them.

This is a photo of a juvenile box fish. It's not so pretty when they get bigger as they lose their bright yellow colour, turning mustardish.



This guy was probably twice the size of the blennys above. However, man can he move! It took me three dives to finally get a nice shot of him because he just would not stay still!

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Yet another blenny... and in the background a boring old bream trying to steal the lime light.

[Stagecoach]

Now that's a real cracker !

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I've only had a few opportunities to take photographs of sharks, mainly because they generally are around in winter in slightly deeper waters than Kerry can currently dive in. They also can be a bit camera shy, especially the grey nurses which are mainly harmless to people. The quality of these photos aren't great, but I thought I'd put them up anyway.

I've edited this one fairly heavily as there was a lot of sediment in the water due to the strong current I was diving in at the time.



This one is the first shark Kerry ever saw. She tried to tell me it was coming as I didn't see it until it was right in front of me (hence why I missed a bit of its nose) however all I heard from her was a bunch of bubbles.

[kezmal]

In my head, under the water it was a high pitched scream

[Donald]

...(hence why I missed a bit of its nose)...

But there's something mystical and magical lent to the image by that fact. It's as if it's just passing through and you're allowed to see it for a moment as it goes on its journey. I like it.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

But there's something mystical and magical lent to the image by that fact. It's as if it's just passing through and you're allowed to see it for a moment as it goes on its journey. I like it.

Truth be known that's exactly what it did. It passed by at about an arm's length in front of me. I just had enough time to bring the camera and take a happy snap. I think it was about 7 or 8 feet long.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Some Lionfish shots now...

This one was in Fiji. 24 meters down in a small cave. This is one of those times when a second strobe would be handy to eliminate the shadow.



And this is what they look like when they have all of those poisonous fins tucked away while they rest.



It ended up getting annoyed with me and swam away, everything back out again to encourage me not to follow.



Up close and personal they have quite an interesting look. I had a macro lens end to get these - which only keeps subjects in focus when you're about an inch away from it. Kerry was a little bit concerned at the time as I wasn't wearing any gloves...



But the risk was well worth it (given I didn't get stung in any case). I love the eye of the Lionfish in this one - just a really interesting natural pattern.



You know, it would be really nice if some of these subject were more considerate and brushed off some of the sand on them before posing for photos.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Some old nudibranch photo - one of my favourite sea creatures to take photos of because of their diversity in shapes and sizes.

[FrankMi]

Fantastic set Mal! I really like the profusion of colour and intricate detail in these!

[Downrigger]

Very nice images - color, light, and subjects all lovely.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

This is photo of some fish I never got around to identifying (which actually happens a lot). They were quite different - nothing like I'd ever seen and quite haunting as it was getting close to dark when I took this.

[Donald]

Gorgeous, but I'd want to crop it immediately below that bottom 'ribbon' of the lower fish. Balances up the top fish which is hard against the edge of the frame.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Gorgeous, but I'd want to crop it immediately below that bottom 'ribbon' of the lower fish. Balances up the top fish which is hard against the edge of the frame.

Ah yes - great observation! I'll have to go dig out the original.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

This is one of my favourites, even if it perhaps isn't the best photo. It's a very small crab hiding in a sea anemone. Very, Very small.



He does however have a very big claw.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

The water conditions were less than ideal and the flash is too bright on the turtle but that's Kerry in the background behind the turtle so we just like this photo

[gregj1763]

So two weeks before I'm up your way, can i get my PADI licence in that time or should I go out in the garden with Jazzy.
Brilliant images Mal