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Raja Ampat - The Real Thing !

14/10/2016

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A fantastic group of friends shared our Raja Ampat Underwater Cruise in September.
Jeff compiled this video and Dawn kept swimming into the frames.
Shot with Olympus OMD EM5 MkII and PEN E-PL6 camera's.
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A look at the Panasonic 30mm Macro Lens Underwater

1/7/2016

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Saron Shrimp - Tulamben Bali - Copyright Jeff Mullins 2016Saron Shrimp - taken with an Olympus E-PL6 and Panasonic Lumix 30mm F2.8 ASPH MEGA O.I.S. Macro Lens
The  Panasonic LUMIX G MACRO 30mm f/2.8 ASPH. MEGA O.I.S. Lens is designed for the micro four thirds range of camera's. So it fits directly to the complete range of Olympus PEN and OMD digital camera's, plus Panasonic Lumix camera's.
The lens was released in May 2015 without any fan-fare, it just quietly slipped into the market.
I often find myself in need of a lens for underwater use that allows me to take in a wider view than the other macro lenses available for the micro four thirds format, as I want to reduce the amount of water between the camera and the subject. The 30mm Panasonic Macro Lens has a much wider field of view (40 degrees) than either the Olympus 60mm Macro Lens (20 degrees) or the Leica 45mm Macro Lens (27 degrees), so I can photograph larger subjects without being too far back from the critters. But if I see something smaller that I want to photograph, I can get as close as 50mm from the lens to the subject, and get 1:1 reproduction ratio. Now that's a handy lens!
Then with the addition of a strong wet lens in front of the 30mm macro lens, I can also photograph really tiny subjects. Even adding more versatility during the same dive, if I then decide I'd like to shoot some video, the 30mm macro lens really shines, as I can hand hold the camera without any shake and have enough room in the frame for the critters to play, plus not have particles showing in the frames, as I am really close to the subject.
The 30mm Panasonic Macro Lens is sharp and focuses very fast, I'm super happy with my purchase. This lens also won't break the bank, I bought mine when it was on special for less than $300. I use it with the same short port that I utilise with my Leica 45mm Macro Lens, made by Zen for the Olympus Pen Housings, as the 30mm macro lens is the same length (within a couple of millmeters) as the 45mm Leica Macro Lens and fits perfectly in this port. Some Photos and a short video taken with my Olympus E-PL6 and the Panasonic 30mm Macro Lens are below.

Dragon Nudibranch - Tulamben Bali  - Copyright Jeff Mullins 2016
Dragon Nudibranch - taken with an Olympus E-PL6 and Panasonic Lumix 30mm F2.8 ASPH MEGA O.I.S. Macro Lens
Tozuma Shrimp - Tulamben Bali - Copyright Jeff Mullins 2016
Tozuma Shrimp - taken with an Olympus E-PL6 and Panasonic Lumix 30mm F2.8 ASPH MEGA O.I.S. Macro Lens
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Fish Eye Photography - Another Angle!

15/5/2016

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Liberty Shipwreck Panorama - Assembled with Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE)
Microsoft ICE (Image Composite Editor) is a great tool for creating panoramas from fish eye images. The software is free and does a great job of merging photos into a panorama without needing to learn any fancy techniques or complicated software. Download here: http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/ice/
The above Panorama was compiled by the Microsoft ICE 2.0 software, from 36 fish eye images I took on the USAT Liberty Wreck in Tulamben, Bali. I used an Olympus PEN EPL6 in a PT-EP10 housing with a Panasonic 8mm fish eye lens and Athena Dome Port. The camera was hand held and with no strobes. Shot in Manual (so the exposures were consistent across all images).
I shot the images by moving the camera in a semi circular pan at two levels (see the thumbnail images in the following slide show to see what I mean).
I then imported them into the ICE Software and let the program do its magic. The slide show below shows the steps I took. (click on the numbers to view each Screen Shot)
There are also two websites that can display files output from ICE in 3D or high definition zoomable panoramas (PhotoSynth & DeepZoom).... But that's for another day!
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Diving with the Worlds Biggest Fish.

24/8/2015

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We have just returned from Cenderawasih Bay in West Papua having extraordinary experiences diving with Whale Sharks. Also diving some great WWII shipwrecks, aeroplane wreck and beautiful reefs.
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Pictured above is Joanne Watson deciding which of four whale sharks to take a photo of !
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Nicole Howard descends on a WWII wreck in Manokwari Harbour
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Divers Dream Villa For Sale in Tulamben

18/7/2015

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tulamben-bali-villa-for-sale.weebly.com
Check out our friend's  Villa for sale in Tulamben. This is a divers dream home. This sea-front property  is on a 1,240sq meter elevated block. Its own dive site in the front yard. Just 500 meters from the USAT Liberty Wreck dive site.
Three bedroom, two bathroom, kitchen, and open air dining, plunge pool, car port & laundry & store room.
A quality built home  selling for only AUD$300,000 with freehold land ownership (not leased).
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Extension Tubes for Micro Four Thirds Underwater Photography

2/7/2015

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Always in search of unique underwater photography methods (2015 marks my 40th year taking underwater photos, so I need some stimulation). A few months ago, I began experimenting with adding extension tubes on my Olympus PEN camera's.  I already owned two prime macro lenses for the PEN camera's:
  • Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 60mm F2.8 Macro 
  • Panasonic Leica DG Macro-Elmarit 45mm F2.8 ASPH OIS
So with the addition of a set of inexpensive extension tubes I experimented with what could be achieved without any great outlay and achieve more than 1:1 macro underwater photography AND produce high quality images.
Extension tubes are just that, a tube that connects to the camera body and then the lens attaches to the extension tube. There is no glass to add distortion, all the extension tube does is move the lens further from the camera's sensor (which without getting to technical, adds additional magnification and closer focusing ability to the camera's prime lens).
The extension tubes I used were very cheap, from memory around USD$30 for a set of two (see below for details). The important part is that these have electronic contacts, so the camera can talk to the lens. Some very cheap extension tubes available for the Micro Four Thirds Mounts do not have this. There are also more expensive extension tubes available, that look to be made from heavier material, but offer no photographic advantage.
I tried various combinations of the prime lenses. One of each extension tube and even with two extension tubes stacked to get more magnification. The results were impressive with some combinations easier to use than others, but all combinations presented with photographically good results.
I needed an extension ring for the housing port for some combinations, others worked with the standard port. See the chart below for more details. Click on the photos below to see the results:

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Photos taken with an Olympus PEN with 45mm Panasonic/Leica Macro Lens and Extension Tubes.
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Photos taken with an Olympus PEN with 60mm Olympus Macro Lens and Extension Tubes

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Olympus camera's fitted with 60mm Macro lens (left) without extension tube. The 45mm Panasonic Macro lens with a 16mm Extension Tube (right). These two combinations are very similar in total length, so the 45mm lens with a 16mm Extension Tube can be used in a standard 60mm port on most housings.
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Olympus Pen Housing fitted with Zen 45mm Macro Port and Zen Extension Ring. This Extension Ring can also be used with the standard port fitted to most Olympus PEN housings (up to the PT-EP10) to then use Extension Tubes on the Olympus 60mm Macro Lens.
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A guide to the Lens, Port and Port Extension combinations required to use Extension Tubes in Olympus Pen Housings.
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The Extension Tube Set that I used to perfom these tests
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A Nudibranch Story

19/12/2014

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Back in 2004 our friend the late Neville Coleman wrote us a letter telling us of his latest find:
"A strange Melibe Nudibranch that is almost transparent.... almost unrecognisable as a nudibranch",
that he had found in Malayasian Borneo (just one single specimen). Along with the letter was a fridge magnet photo of this, the strangest nudibranch we had ever seen (which is still on our fridge).
There were more photos published in his last book on Nudibranchs:

The Nudibranch Encyclopedia
He told us "I'm sure you will find them in Indonesia, as the habit is quite uniqe, but does exist there"
Ten years later, in November this year. We were diving the waters west of Flores in the Komodo National Park and we find Neville's elusive melibe nudibranch. It's a night dive and we descend onto the sandy bottom with Briarium soft corals dotted all around. Our enthusiastic dive guide finds two of these rare and interesting nudibranchs just as we begin the dive.
I spent the entire dive in a very small area, looking and straining my eyes to try and find more of these creatures, and did find two more individuals in different colours. The rest of my dive I just watched them and thought about Neville. Our eccentric old friend who would often spent his entire dive in a six meter by six meter area. A man with no formal training in marine science, but he also discovered more than many scientists. Just because he loved the sea and its creatures, and dived with enthusiasm and an open mind. Neville passed away quietly in May 2012, just a few weeks before this strangest of Nudibranch's was officially named after him:
Melibe colemani joined the list of other Coleman species, all discovered by a man with nothing more than a passion for his interest -  RIP Neville
  • Click here for our tribute to Neville Coleman
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The islands of the "Four Kings" call us

30/11/2014

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Arborek Island in Dampier Strait
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A group of Sweetlips in Dampier Strait
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A Pontohi Pygmy Seahorse (1 cm tall)
The Raja Ampat Islands beckoned us to return again this year, so during September we accompanied a group of underwater photographers to dive and photograph the world's richest reefs. Our group was made up of people from various backgrounds, we had a marine scientist, an insurance assesor, a finance advisor, a nurse, a water project consultant, a medical case manager, a marine artist, a dive instructor, a retired builder and a marine sculptor.
Together we explored the reefs and islands straddling the equator off the coast of West Papua. We photographed walking sharks, solar powered nudibranchs, dense shools of sweetlips, tiny 1cm tall pygmy seahorses, watched a moray eel fight a giant napolaen wrasse,
descended on sheer walls coated with sea fans, watched in awe as a pack of sharks hunted for food and drifted through a river-like channel loaded with marine life.
Talk to us now if you'd like to join a trip in 2016, as our next trip in October 2015 is already full.
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The World's Richest Reefs
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This school of fusiliers were hiding near the jetty at Arborek Island
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Under Arborek Island Jetty
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 A Secret Dive Location

17/11/2014

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Gilimanuk Bay on the western tip of Bali is a great muck diving site that was given the name Secret Bay by our late friend Takamasa Tonozuka, a long time Bali resident & underwater photographer who shared his secret with us back in the early 90's. "Tono" even opened a dive centre there which is now shut down. But there are dive wash down facilities and toilets.
We recently visited for the first time in a few years and enjoyed the dive site with only 4 other divers, they had come to see sea horses, which we found three of in the first five minutes.
We also came to see if the Pom-Pom Frogfish that we had seen on our visits over the last 20 years were still around (we'd heard rumours that there was an oil spill earlier this year and the bay was polluted badly by the oil).
Well the good news is the bay is not polluted by oil, and the marine life was more abundant than our last visits. Plus we found two Pom-Pom Frogfish quite close to the entry point. These Frogfish are almost unique to the waters of Gilimanuk Bay, and are normally well camouflaged among algae.
Sea Slug - Photo Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
Beautiful colored slugs are found throughout Secret Bay.
Pom-Pom Frogfish - Photo Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
Pom Pom Frogfish are named after the large pom pom shaped fishing lure attached to their upper lip.
Striped Catfish - Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
Schools of large Striped Catfish are abundant within the bay, living around man-made reef structures
Pom Pom Frogfish - Scret Bay Bali Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
A pair of Pom-Pom Frogfish lying together at Secret Bay
Seahorse - Secret Bay Bali - Photo Copyright Jeff Mullins 2014
There are large brightly colored sea horses throughout Gilimanuk Bay.
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Genetically Modified Nudibranch !

8/11/2014

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We knew it wouldn't be long before GM animals would make there way from aquaculture farms to the natural reefs. So now we have them right here in Tulamben, Genetically Modified Nudibranchs (GMN's), this one has been resident on the sponge covered slope at Seraya Secrets for a month now. Easily identified by it's split left-hand rhinophore, this nudibranch is a real loner, none of the 'normal' nudibranchs want to be seen crawling around with him/her (they are all
hermaphrodites).
How long before it mates and we start getting nudi's with four rhinofours ?
Split Rhinophore Nudibranch

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    Jeff & Dawn Mullins run this Blog to give an insight into our underwater discoveries in Indonesia and any news about what we are currently doing .

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