Lembeh Photo Workshops 2022 dates. We’re getting a few enquiries about our photo workshops in Lembeh going forward (pending being able to get a visa). Here is a list of the talented photographer led workshops that we’re hosting at NAD-Lembeh in the coming year. Please contact us or the Workshop Read more…
One of the most common questions I get asked when it comes to underwater macro photography is how to achieve black backgrounds. The popping colors of the subject on black creates great contrasts in an image.
Generally speaking, a black or dark background is achieved by a small aperture. You would want to let as little light as possible through your camera lens. However, it’s not just that easy since a big F-stop/ small aperture automatically means greater depth of field!
Day 3 with the Diopters and it’s starting to feel like groundhog day.
Today I had the 45degree viewfinder on, so at least my neck doesnt hurt as I write this. Today I took down the Noodilab Moby and the SMC2, on the Nikon D500. I’m really enjoying using the crop sensor D500 over my 1Dx, somehow the Nikon colour space just feels much nicer out of the camera on macro photos, and of course the crop is great until you meet up with a hairy frogfish or flamboyant cuttlefish and end up shooting them from over a meter away. Maybe I should bring one of our rental compacts such as the Sony RX100V or Olympus TG4 next time.
Today I headed out for 2 dives in the morning, armed with the Nauticam D500, 105mm lens, double flip holder and the SMC1 and SMC2.
I didn’t want to take too many diopters as it would have meant juggling them around underwater, and frankly they are too expensive to risk scratching.
These days it is pretty hard to choose from all the diopters available – you probably have at least one old school one in your kit bag. The Inon UCL 165 and 330 were the first mass produced diopters specifically for underwater use, before those we had to use slide on single element diopters (woodys diopter), or put a higher quality dual element diopter directly on your lens before you got in the water (Nikon 6T).
It sounds contradictory at first because of course the waters are black and it’s dark during night dives, but it will make total sense to you in a minute. Black Water Night Dives are something everyone should try at least once even if you’re usually not a big fan of night dives.
The majority of our guests are not only divers but also photographers. Therefore, it is a big plus if you can provide dive guides with a photography background. We have several camera setups for rental, available for our guides whenever they want to go fun diving. In order to give them an incentive to improve their photo skills, we organized a little dive guide photo competition with some great prices!
The life cycle of fishes and other marine organisms is extremely complex and one blog entry is surely not enough to elaborate this topic. But regardless of the season and dive sites, we can usually see several marine species and their eggs whilst diving in Lembeh. Normally, marine organisms produce large amounts of small eggs that hatch quickly. This produces large populations and therefore a greater chance for species survival.
Although most people come to Lembeh for the tiny critters and muck diving on black sand – I can’t stay away from shooting wide angle every now and again. Especially right now that the visibility is suitable for it and perfect subjects like Wonderpus, Mimic Octopus or big Hairy Frogfish keep turning up on a regular basis.
Some of our dive guides and I took advantage of a free afternoon to go on a photographic mission on our house reef and wreck. Although all of our guides are pretty good in handling cameras and taking pictures already, there is always room for improvement.