Gettin' Excited

I will be back in Papua on the 13th of October...headed back to paradise for a week of diving...I am bringing 21 other people with me this time, and will be teaching an underwater photography workshop....really looking forward to it!!

I just posted this photo on Google Plus, and thought I should share it here too...they are like the Bad Boyz of the reef...

New Blog Coming Soon

I have been working every night for the last few nights on my new blog. I finally went with Pro Photo Blogs, and have been most impressed with their customer service. There seems to be an infinite different things I can do to customize my blog...I think I have the color scheme I want, the layout I want, but I am now working on my pages, bio, and other links...it is great fun, though, playing around with all the options. It should be ready for viewing in a couple of days...exciting stuff!!

In the meantime, here is a photo for today's post...

Headed Back To Raja Ampat

I just paid for my plane tickets to Sorong today. When that happens, the trip back to paradise always feels that much closer. This trip, I will be armed with my new Nikon D800 and my new Ikelite housing. The trip is still another month away, but I get so excited before a dive trip. I tried to put together my housing this past weekend so that I could practice in my pool learning the new knobs and controls, but I was confused with the directions on installing the dome port...so, I am waiting for better instructions from the guy I bought the housing from before jumping in the pool. The last thing I want to do is flood my housing the first time in the water.

I don't think I have posted this photo from Raja Ampat before....If I have, I apologize in advance.

The Metal Workers

One of the amazing things about this huge sprawling city (Jakarta) is that there are these zones where you can find a million different metal workers on one street, or a million different wood workers, or lines and lines of shops that sell anchors, chains, or motorcycle parts...you need your jeans fixed? Well, there is a street somewhere that has lines and lines of people with sewing machines that can fix your jeans.

This shot is from a street that had many of these guys working on metal parts from "something"....maybe boat parts?

Man In The Window

I have a hard time naming my posts...I am sure there is a better title for this one other than "Man In The Window"...it is hard to be creative when it comes to the title...I guess writing was never one of my strong suits.

In any case, I took this shot from the canoe as we glided past the back of one of the Bugis Schooners...He was looking inside the boat, so I yelled up to him, "Hey Bapak!!", he then turned to look, and I shot the photo catching a nice smile...

The Indonesian Squat

Have you ever tried to sit like this? Indonesians do it all the time...and they can sit like that for hours. I tried to do it, but got tired after a couple of minutes, and it was tough to keep my feet flat on the deck.

By the way, what's up with the helmet?

Reflections

Man, I can't get enough of those old wood boats...they are awesome! The colors, the textures, the character. Not many places in the world where you can see these big Bugis Schooners...it's like walking back in time.

Boat Captain

After we walked around the big Bugis Schooners at Sundah Kelapa, we boarded small canoes, and our captain would take us around the backside of the boats, and then to the kampung (village). This guy was our boat captain...

Black n White Tornado

I have posted the color version of this photo before, but was playing around with Nik's Silver Efex Pro 2, and came up with this version...I think it looks really cool.

I received my Nikon D800 today, but I don't have a memory card(s) for it yet, so can't use it....gotta get on that!!

Living On The Tracks

It has been a while since I played with some textures. This is my newest creation. It looks somewhat like a collage of photos, but believe it or not, those people live literally next (within inches) to the tracks.They casually sit while big trains go whipping by them every 10 minutes or so.

I used four different textures in this photo....masked some areas, and played with the order of the layers and the opacity of each layer...isn't digital photography fun??

Different Version of The Boat Guy

A few days ago, I posted a portrait of the boat guy I have seen most every time I go up to Sunda Kelapa. I posted the photo on Google+ . Another photographer that I admire on Google+ is Mike Shaw. He really does some fine post work in Photoshop, and I have always admired what he does with his portraits. He chimed in on my post, and after a couple of emails back n forth, he took the challenge to work his magic on my portrait. Below is his version of my portrait. I like it...

I am off to Singapore for a couple of days....I won't be making any posts during that time....see you on Thursday!!

Hard Living

Most people in Jakarta don't live in the multi-million dollar mansions or the high rise apartments you see downtown. Most live below the poverty level in these slums. The thing that always amazes me, however, is how happy and welcoming the people are in these areas. I guess they just adopt the attitude, "it is what it is", and live with it. Never do I hear a person complain...kids run around being kids, and the adults do what it takes to put food on the table and a roof over their heads.

Same Guy, New Photo

I took a photo of this same boat guy at Sundah Kelapa this past August. He is still there doing his thing with the boats. I told him I already had a good photo of him (one of my all time favorite shots), and asked him if I could get another. He happily posed again...hard to beat the lines on his face...the stories he could tell...

Bat Fish Under A Ledge

I can't remember if I had posted this photo or not, but maybe it is worth posting again if I had already...A group of Batfish hiding from the raging current under a ledge...a tricky shot to get with the current and movement from the waves above...

An Artist's House?

This was the side of a house in Papua. Any normal person walking by would think it was a mess, but I love the side of the house and the way it is painted...looks like an artist had his way with the painting...sure beats just a solid color of paint, don't ya think?

Happy Birthday JIS

The school I work at, and the school where my kids attend, just celebrated its 60th Birthday...

a very fun day!!

Mike's Point

I was going through some of my older underwater photographs...most of my older shots (and a bunch of my new stuff) were lost when my Drobo failed. This one, for some reason, I had an extra copy of....and I am glad I did. I have always liked this shot. This was taken at Mike's Point in Raja Ampat....named after my buddy, Max's son. I have dived this spot countless times. Usually, the current is raging....and I mean really raging. During WWII, the Americans bombed this little rock thinking it was a ship moving through the water...in reality it was just the current passing around the rock...that's how strong it usually is. However, on this day, the current was slack, so I was able to compose my shots of the reef much easier. With the morning sun coming down through the water, it lit just a small portion of the reef which I lit further with my strobes...Not many others really like this shot, but it is special to me...

The Nikon D800 Vs. Canon 5D Mark III

This review cracked me up (link below), but I think it sums up the two cameras quite nicely...In case you are wondering, I still have my Leica M9, and have no plans on changing cameras anytime soon. However, I DO need a new underwater camera (and housing), and I am considering the D800 for the job...there are even housings already on the market...amazing how that happens, heh?

If I do end up getting the D800 for my underwater camera, I will then be able to do my own review of the D800 vs the Leica M9...that would be fun!!

CLICK HERE FOR THE REVIEW

SOME SALTY DUDES

I originally processed this photo in color, but ended up liking the black n white better. These guys have been working down at the pier for a long time...salty dudes!!

Twins

Oops....missed a day yesterday....just too busy to find the time to make a post. I try to post a new photo every week day, but it is not always easy to do.

I took this photo a couple of years ago. I was on a night dive when I heard someone clanking on their tank...at first, I couldn't see what the diver was looking at, and then I saw there were two Ghost Pipe Fish...getting a photo of the two of them was tricky as one of them would always turn in a different direction, but I was finally able to catch them turning in the same direction...

Like An Aquarium

Well, of course, the real ocean is going to look like an aquarium, but not everywhere...but head to Raja Ampat, and it looks like an aquarium on steroids most everywhere you go...