It’s video time! I have spent some time using the video function of the Sony NEX5n’s video capabilities. The results have been quite amazing to me. I have used both the 16mm and 18-55mm lenses with superb results. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I am in Borneo with fantastic subjects. Here are some examples.
Clownfish in Anemone
Frogfish on Sponge
Ghost Pipefish
Pygmy Seahorse on Fan Coral
Green Morey Eel
Man, the diving just keeps getting better! I started doing some macro photography. Unfortunately, I was not able to secure a macro lens for the Sony, so I must rely on my trusty D300 with the 60mm micro lens. We did several reef and wall dives over these two days and I was able to fill in the great wide angle images with images of the very diverse life living among the spectacular corals. The abundance of subjects is almost overwhelming, and the challenge is to focus and work a subject rather than shoot an run. Focus, that is the key to getting great macs images underwater. Lots of light and patience are the foundations to success. Here are some of the macro shots I got during days 6 and 7.
Really getting into the swing of things! The diving has been all I hoped it would be, and then some. The water has been really clear with 100+ visibility most everywhere we go. The reefs look healthy with lots of marine life everywhere you look. Today I focused on shooting video with the Lost Girls for their Travel Channel Show, Lost in Borneo.
I also shot some stills for fill in shots for the show. It’s been interesting shooting all this with one camera, and a bit hard on the nerves, but the results have been very good. The girls are quite pleased with what we’ve been getting, so that makes me happy.
Shooting without my trusty DSLR and big boy strobes is certainly made easier by the fact that the Sony package is so compact and super easy to use. The menus are clear and logical and the start-up time for the NEX5n is pretty quick. I picked up the operation of the camera very quickly and never had to look at the manual. Good thing, cause I don’t have one!
In reviewing the daily video takes, I am quite impressed with the color and quality of the clips. I really look forward to seeing the final production of this Lost Girls episode on the Travel Channel.
Tomorrow, more video and macro pictures. Where to begin….?
The PADI Diving Society guests began arriving and all of them are excited, tired, but excited. Soon they would discover what fantastic diving awaits them. Theresa Kaplan, the Director of the PADI Diving Society has a great plan for them. Organized diving, and plenty of it, barbecues, traditional dancing, games and more. They will be busy. Borneo Divers Resort Mabul has done a great job welcoming all the guests and are at their beckon call. The trip is off to a grand start!
Of course, its the diving that we all came for. During this time period we dove around Mabul and back to Sipadan. I have been working with Holly, Amanda and Jennifer, aka the Lost Girls to capture topside and underwater images and video. All with the Sony NEX5n. So far, my experiment has been a success. This small package has proven to produce high quality results, both on the still and video end of things. I am quite impressed.
Diving the drop offs at Sipadan has got to be some of the best dives of my nearly 40 years of diving. It is breathtaking to see the quantity of marine life clinging to and hovering near the walls. I truly feel like I am space-walking when I dive in these places. There are so many whitetip reef sharks, turtles, schooling jacks, barracudas, even clouds of moorish idols. The invertebrate life on the reefs and walls is endless and the clouds of colorful reef fish cannot be believed. Truly a magical place.
Looking forward to more!!!!
We finally arrived! It’s really a trek getting to Mabul, but it is already worth the effort. Our first full day found us headed to the coral island of Sipadan. I haven’t been here in nearly 10 years and wondered if it would be the world class diving it had been in the 80s and 90s. Well, I was not disappointed. We dove four sites, including Barracuda Point, South Point, Turtle Patch and Coral Garden. All four sites were spectacular, with superb visibility, bountiful marine life and wonderful drop-offs. 
The highlight of the dives was the huge school of jacks that just engulfed us and spent half the dive with us.
Of course, it was great to see all of the big sea turtles that Sipadan is so well known for. Just think, these guys were here when I was last here. Still as comfortable around divers as ever!
This would be the first test of the Sony NEX5n with fisheye lens in the ResSea housing. I was not able to secure flash units for the kit, so I attached my Sola 1200 Light and Motion led unit for some foreground lighting. As you can see, the results are terrific! Scott at Blue Water Photo told me I would be happy, and I am. I think I will go the whole trip with this kit.
Looking forward to a great 10 days of diving and shooting… Looking forward to checking out the full HD video capability. Thats for tomorrow.
As I head for the natural riches of Borneo, and the island of Mabul, I am reminded of how difficult, and expensive it can be to travel with camera gear, especially gear designed to shoot underwater. There is always the struggle between trying to travel light and bringing the equipment you need to get the job done. I am very hopeful that I can demonstrate that, with the advancements in small, mirror-less cameras, and the image quality they are producing, I can travel light AND produce the images needed to get the job done. Right now, my back is aching, my sponsor’s wallet is lighter due to excess baggage fees, and I am tired.
So here’s the plan. Document an adventure with the Lost Girls, to include topside shenanigans and diving the spectacular reefs in the area, for The Travel Channel website and Sport Diver Magazine. I plan to shoot video and still for web and print production with a Sony NEX5n, with 16 and 18-55mm lenses along with Sony’s external microphone and flash unit. Shoot the same camera underwater using a RecSea housing with the 16mm lens and fisheye adaptor behind a dome port. For lighting I will use a Light and Motion Sola 1200 LED light and/or Sea and Sea YS110 flash units. All very small and very portable. I will use my iPad to download images and edit using the PhotoGene app, and, perhaps the great new Photoshop Touch app. If the WiFi in the resort is working I may even send some samples to the Travel Channel segment producer back in New York to get feedback. We’ll just have to see on this one.
Will this kit replace my DSLR kit with its array of lenses, housing, powerful lighting equipment? Probably not. But for situational shooting like this trip, with it’s travel and weight challenges, I think it might. I guess we’re going to find out soon enough. For now, I just want to be there! But we have a long way to go…
I haven’t posted in a while because I have been preparing for a two week adventure to the island of Mabul off the coast of Borneo, Malaysia. I have traveled to this remote area of the world in the past and have experienced the great wonders of the area, both above and below the water. It has been over 10 years since I have visited what, I consider to be, the best diving there is. (A qualifier, I have not dove all the sites on the planet, but I am working on it….)
I will be joining a group of divers traveling with the PADI Diving Society, as well as the Lost Girls, Holly, Amanda and Jenn. We will be hosted by a wonderful operation, Borneo Divers, owned and operated by Clement Lee, one of the finest people in the diving industry. While on this trip, I plan to test a theory, that a pro photographer can, indeed, travel to a remote area like this and bring along a mirror less compact camera kit and nothing else, and return with pro quality images (and video) suitable for publication.
Manta Ray Glides Past Group of Divers
Chris Robinson, at Outdoor Photographer Magazine thinks I might be right. He is supporting this test and has, through Sony, provided me with the Sony NEX5n kit to help me . Scott Gietler at Blue Water Photo has generously lent me the RecSea housing kit with lighting for the project.
A special shout out to Sockwa for providing the team with their terrific walking socks! Truly, the most comfortable footwear I have EVER had on my feet. Gonna be great for that looooooong plane ride!
Scott Bourne over at PhotoFocus has an interesting post about the fascinating new camera, the Lytro. I have just two questions. 
Can we, as photographers ever get our head wrapped around this concept of focusing in post? And, when are we going to get a housing to take it underwater? What fun will that be?
Sometimes you plan a photo project and the execution of that plan is flawless. Everything goes just as planned and you get great images. Other times, you have to adapt to ever-changing elements of you plan, make the most of the conditions you are presented with and move on. Then, there are those extremely rare times when nothing goes according to plan, and you are so grateful, wonderful things happen that you could not possibly foresee. I had such a project in Tahiti/Bora Bora.
Upon arrival in French Polynesia details immediately began to fall apart, beginning with cockroach infested hotel rooms ( I mean…..infested), to transportation problems, and more. But patience and great leadership are two great assets in times like these. Fortunately, I had both on this trip. Theresa Kaplan, Director of the PADI Diving Society, my host for the project, got on the phone, changed plans, pulled strings and pulled off one of the greatest comebacks I had seen since the 49ers came back to beat the Cowboys in the 1981 NFC championship. I still refer to this trip as, “the Catch”. Not only did we end up in the most beautiful resort, it was convenient for transporting gear, had a 5 star restaurant and a fantastic host!
It is my experience that ones frame of mind has a lot to do with the quality of the work they produce, certainly in producing images. The environment I ended up working in included great accommodations, wonderful friends and dive partners, new and old, and chamber-of-commerce weather and shooting conditions. Some of the best underwater images in my archive were made on this trip.
What I learned from this experience is, that while it is important to have a solid plan, you need to be flexible and follow the flow, sometimes, change the flow with tenacity and persistence. In the end,what you expected, may not be what you get. Sometimes the results are the most memorable moments in your career.
My camera often takes me to very unique places. Jellyfish Lake on the island of Palau in Micronesia is one of the most unique places it has taken me to. Millions of years ago these jellyfish were trapped and isolated in a mountain lake. Evolution has seen their tentacles loose their potency, to the point were they are harmless to humans. It is an other-worldly experience to swim in this most unusual habitat. As I floated in the space-like atmosphere, I couldn’t help but think of the song, “Mad World” as these jellies fluttered about, seeming to go nowhere in a hurry. So, I set one of my clips to Adam Lambert’s outstanding version of the song.
Notice in the clip the tiny little jellies flitting about trying to keep up with the big guys. Enjoy the video!
