Field Notes 2010
Field Notes From Malapascua Island in the Philippines September 2010
The Malapascua Island trip with Thresher Shark Divers was very enjoyable, with some very good diving and photographic opportunities, though it was curtailed somewhat by an ear problem later into the visit. By far the most difficult subject was trying to capture the Thresher Sharks at Monad Shoals, as the “prime time” is at 05.00 – 06.00 am, so there’s virtually no light. These impressive sharks are also quite wary and skittish, and don’t often come close enough for good photography.
There’s also some very good wider underwater and topside photographic potential here, with some very good macro dives and good dive guiding to help find the subjects. Wide angle/fish eye photographers will find spectacular underwater scenery at Gato Island. Overall, a really good destination, with plenty of variety.- JC
<Read about this trip here>
Field Notes From Australia & Hong Kong, July/August 2010
As this trip was mostly in the context of our family holiday, the only real “concentration” on getting images was during the diving trips which will be included in several upcoming features. In terms of the diving, my feeling is that we captured decent magazine article images (which is fine), but the less than perfect conditions and single visits to certain dive sites meant we couldn’t always “maximise” each location.
During some of the other areas we visited such as the Daintree Rainforest, Cooktown and the Undara National Park, I could only imagine what you could capture if you had the time to concentrate, rather than do it at the pace of a 7 year old boy, enjoyable though it was. – JC
<Read about this trip here>
Field Notes from Portland and Jersey, June 2010
In the early part of the summer, I visited Portland Harbour to dive and photograph the Countess of Erne, plus the Landing Craft and Bombardon Unit.
The visibility (by Portland Harbour standards) was very good, but it still needed lots of care and attention with strobe placement. The resulting pictures weren’t “mind blowing” but were certainly suitable for my planned feature on diving in the harbour.
In mid June, my visit Bouley Bay in Jersey proved really productive. The friendly and helpful Bouley Bay Dive Centre paired me up with massively enthusiastic local underwater photographer Kirk Truscott who was the perfect dive buddy and guide. His “dive count” in Bouley Bay alone numbered more the 500! Local knowledge is everything and Kirk guided me to some of the best spots! We dived the bay over two days and found great photographic potential, and plenty of material for a magazine feature. – JC
<Read about this trip here>
Field Notes from the Lankayan Island, Borneo January/February 2010
Our visit to Lankayan was very enjoyable and productive in a photographic sense.
Whilst the conditions for diving were difficult thanks to a period of very poor visibility, we were able to get some pleasing images, especially of the mating and egg-laying cuttlefish, which were the highlight of the trip.
It gave me the opportunity to work on fish eye photography techniques in low/poor visibility, slow shutter speed and rear curtain sync, and for both us, some forays in the narrow depth of field “bokeh” effect with macro lenses.
Also, at the beginning and end of the trip, we visited the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre at Sepilok, which gave us a chance for some different kinds of photography. – JC
<Read about this trip here>