Some shots from my recent GBR and Coral Sea trip

[ATJ]

I recently got back from a dive trip on Undersea Explorer from Port Douglas to the Great Barrier Reef, out to Osprey Reef and back to the GBR and Port Douglas.

Here's a map of the route taken with my GPS logger:


(click on the image for a larger version)

Unfortunately, I came down with the 'flu a few days before the trip and so was unwell for the whole trip. I missed the first day of diving as well as a number of dives on other days. I probably shouldn't have been diving at all but ended up doing 13 out of 21 possible dives.

I'm somewhat disappointed with my images. I guess I can blame the 'flu as I was somewhat distracted but I still think I could have done a better job - especially with the shark photos.

Dive at Admiralty Anchor, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea on 18/08/2008
Dive at North Horn, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea on 18/08/2008
Dive at Admiralty Anchor, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea on 18/08/2008

Dive at Raging Horn, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea on 19/08/2008
Dive at North Horn, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea on 19/08/2008
Dive at North Horn, Osprey Reef, Coral Sea on 19/08/2008

[sirhc55]

Having looked at all of your pics Andrew I’m in awe of your talent. You may well believe that you could have done better but in my untalented opinion these pics are just superb

[Pa]

i have to agree with Chris.....absolutely amazing

[sheepie]

Hi Andrew - you've gotta stop beating yourself up over your photos, they're all a hundred time better than most of us would even dream of getting!

I do see what you're talking about in the earlier sets though. The second group seem to have your normal quality, but the first lot seem a little oversharpened (maybe just in the conversion for web?).

Especially like these two shots - looks like a great trip, pity you were crook

http://atj.net.au/Tim_Raging08.jpg
http://atj.net.au/C_amblyrhynchos_NorthHorn08.jpg

[Killakoala]

In my humble opinion, they are all superb. Not just the fish but the amazing corals too. You have captured a fantastic diversity that keeps me captivated. I enjoy looking at your photos from a world I never see.

It's also nice to see the track you took to get out of the reef north of Cooktown is an area I surveyed while I was on HMAS Benalla, a Navy survey/hydrographic motor launch, quite a few years ago. Good to see someone has made use of my 3 months of hard work.

[stetner]

To bad about the flu ATJ.

Nice Silvertip!

The purple firefish are an amazing color! Looks like you have some nice sharp anemonefish there too. I find it almost impossible to swim by these without taking a shot or two, always hoping to get one a little better than my last one!

Doug

[ATJ]

Thanks for the comments.

I wasn't saying the shots were bad <i>per se</i> but rather they were not as good as I wanted. I should have done better. It was my first blue water trip with the D300 and I hoped that I would do better than with the D70. Not that I think the camera makes all the difference, but rather that I would gain some advantages from the improvements in the D300, like greater dynamic range, larger viewfinder and more focus points. I actually think the larger viewfinder is a slight disadvantage because Ikelite (in their wisdom) appear to be using the same viewfinder port as on the D70 housing and so the larger D300 viewfinder means less is visible through the port. It is something I hope to get used to, but I guess the 13 times I used it before the trip weren't enough.

The shark photos I guess was more to do with my expectations of the sharks themselves. I was using a Tokina 12-24mm bought specifically for shark photos with the idea being getting closer reduces the amount of water through which the light has to pass, resulting in sharper images with better colour. Unfortunately, the sharks were not in on the idea and didn't get close enough even at 24mm let alone 12mm. I'll just have to be content with grey nurse sharks around Sydney which let you get very close.

Anyway, it appears the later dives are somewhat better, especially the 2 dives with the macro - still to be processed. I'll post links when they are done.

[ATJ]

Here are two more dives:

Dive at The Cod Hole, Ribbon Reef #10, GBR on 20/08/2008
Dive at Lighthouse Bommie, Ribbon Reef #10, GBR on 20/08/2008

[Willy wombat]

Looking forward to checking these out at work tomorrow ATJ! I missed out on getting to Osprey on my recent trip to the reef (too windy)

[Willy wombat]

Just checked em all out. - Some very nice selections. My fav was the long nosed hawkfish.

[Glen]

Andrew, sorry to hear you were sick for a trip like that. The images are quite amazing and I must say all the other information you log is very interesting as well

[ATJ]

Here are some more. Only one dive left to process.

Dive at Clam Gardens, Ribbon Reef #5, GBR on 21/08/2008
Dive at Pavona Clavus, Ribbon Reef #5, GBR on 21/08/2008
Dive at Steve's Bommie, Ribbon Reef #3, GBR on 21/08/2008
Dive at Steve's Bommie, Ribbon Reef #3, GBR on 21/08/2008

I am particularly happy with the last one, a night dive with my Micro 60mm in a flat port.

[ATJ]

And the last dive: Dive at Nobody's, Agincourt Reef, GBR on 22/08/2008

[Willy wombat]

Just checked out the last few sets you have loaded. Some very sharp macros in there! Lovely sun corals. Looking very nice - congratulations.