Luck? I don't think so

"There is no luck in photography, those lucky shots you think they are, their photographers just do more shots than you."

A common jellyfish with an uncommon passenger

I always remember what my underwater photography senior/mentor William Tan said: "Never throw away bad pictures, keep them for awhile. You might want to use them for a reason."

In my journey, I've made some shots that I almost throw them away until I saw the details on a bigger screen (and, yes I meant BIG screen for my -not so- old eyes :p ). 

First photo above I made in Kakaban stingless jellyfish lake (one of 3 in the world). I took so many shots that day and this one just looked so common. I almost delete it when I saw that little isopod attached to the jellyfish. I zoomed it in, and I got in on focus! Was I lucky?

Yes, Your Highness

I can hear you, LOUDLY

I was so happy when first time I met the cutest nudibranch: the "Pikachu" (Thecacera pacifica). It was on a night dive in Kupang. This one was so small and has very interesting colors. I took tens of photograph of it, and that is when I got these two photos of the Pikachu with a friend.

The one above is the pikachu bows to a fish embryo. And the one on the right is the pikachu with an isopod on its tentacle.

Hovering 

The photo on the left I have when I tried to make photograph of a nudibranch with focus only on its tentacles. I saw that little "bug" hovering around the tentacles, I positioned myself for a right angle and waited for the bug to "place himself". I got it!

This last photo (right) also one of the photos that was almost went into my Trash bin. To photograph a Pontohi pigmy seahorse (Hippocampus pontohi) really needs patience. It is very small (less than 2cm) and very shy to the light. To have them facing your lens will take tens of minutes. I will be happy enough to be able to photograph it on one side and get one eye in focus. On this photo, I got it on one side... but NOT focused on its eye. "Lucky" I got it focus on an embryo of a shrimp that was playing on the seahorses eye.

So, was I lucky? Or I just did so many shots that allows me to have these "lucky" photographs? 

Ah, never mind... I will just do more and more shots .... to get lucky :D

Where do I begin 

“Where do I begin 

To tell the story of how great a love can be 

The sweet love story that is older than the sea 

The simple truth about the love she brings to me 

Where do I start “

I build this story based on the old time famous song of Andy Williams:  Where Do I Begin (Love Story) because I found the structure of the song help me in telling how I fell in love with underwater photography.

Rare fish I found in Alor. Using my old time pocket camera

With her first hello….

It was not the love at the first sight. Few first dives I was still busy with controlling myself well underwater. I had no “time” nor “eyes” to see those little things or big pelagic swimming in the dark of the sea pointed by my instructor. But at least I know that it is not as scary as I thought. Slowly but sure, I got more acquainted with the underwater beauty. I fell in love…..

She fills my heart with very special things…

Scuba Diving Grand Prize Winner - USA

I bought my first pocket camera with underwater housing because I want to memorise those special things I met underwater. Then I realised that an underwater strobe is essential for underwater photography. I bought one, and another one a year later. With limited tools, I started making photographs and joining some competitions. One day in 2008 one of my photographs won a Grand Prize in a competition then I bought my first DSLR and its housing using the prize money I earned.

Pocket Camera vs DSLR Camera+Diopter

With angels' songs , with wild imaginings…

With a DSLR camera I have more options in creating photographs. Make better wide angle photos which was a lot more limited with pocket camera, photographs small objects, or creating more interesting photographs like the NDOF photo (read my previous blog).

I think it is a journey that will never end as long as I am alive.

Flamboyant cuttlefish 

“How long does it last 

Can love be measured by the hours in a day 

I have no answers now but this much I can say 

I know I'll need her till the stars all burn away 

And she'll be there”

Narrow Depth of Field

“Photograph to express, not to impress- unless you are paid” 

When it started, when our elders were still using film cameras, underwater photography was meant for underwater creature identification. With limitation of about 36 exposures per-dive and there was no way to evaluate the photo until you got them printed, photographers in that era normally set their camera in small apertures which allows the camera to capture wider Depth of Field and reduces the failure rate of unfocused photographs.

A dancing shrimp where I focused only on its eye.

Nowadays most of underwater photographers are using Digital Cameras, where trial and error are possible in creating photographs underwater. You can have hundreds of exposures and check the result on the spot.

Few years ago, I started creating my underwater photographs in big apertures which I call it NDOF (Narrow Depth of Field) photographs. Although it is more challenging where the range of focus is narrowed down to a few millimetre, but it also makes the object more stands out, or sometime makes the object looks  mysterious.

f/5.0

f/40

What I like most from the NDOF photos is we can still get the ambience colour. To me, the pastel colours on the background make the whole picture looks more interesting rather than just black background. That also makes you as the photographer is challenged to be more creative in angling  your lens to get more interesting background colour and also more creative in composition of the photograph. Later I found out that the non-diver “audience” are more acceptable to the NDOF photos rather that the black background, maybe because it keeps them out of the thought of the creepy deep of the Ocean.

Limited focus from forehead to its tip of the mouth with f/32

Limited focus only on its eyes f/4.5

More NDOF picture on my website.