My Portfolio
by Alex Tattersall
|
I'm a newbie to UW photography by all accounts so I'm thrilled to be up there with some of the outstanding people in the field whose work I've long admired from afar. I've been living in Taiwan for the last year so have had the opportunity to go to some amazing diving destinations right on the doorstep and have started taking a serious interest in UW photography (much to the detriment of my bank account). As a land photographer, I would say that I am completely incompetent.. I only just recently learnt what an f-stop is (I thought it was something you did while driving on the motorway with a new girlfriend), but underwater the combined effect of the etherealness on the senses and the nitrogen bubbling around in the blood allows me to reach a state of completeness of concentration (meditation if you like) that I am unable to achieve onland. I find this extemely relaxing and this is the primary reason why I love underwater photography. But enough of the hippy stuff...
Although I've been using basic point and shoot for about 3 years, before a trip to Indonesia earlier this month with Dr Bob Whorton (who I'd sincerely like to thank for sharing his wisdom with me), my local, very reasonably priced UW shop here in Taiwan (www.DiverVision.com)offered to lend me a dSLR (Canon 400D) in return for some shameless publicity such as this:). All the macro shots in this portfolio are taken with that camera, the WA shots taken with a Fuji E900 and an INON FishEye wetmate lens. All but the last of these shots were taken on that Indonesia trip this month.
You are welcome to come and see more shots from that trip at www.flickr.com/photos/alextattersall.
|
 |
Picture 1 - Squat lobster..
This was the first time I'd seen a squat lobster although seeing others' photos it was a subject I'd been keen to photography. This was taken on a Mandarinfish dusk dive in Wori Bay... I'd decided to forget the frustration of shooting mandarinsfish with ten other people, leave the herd who were gathered clumsily around a staghorn outcrop in the midst of a particulate soup and go in search of other subjects. Very glad I did because this pretty little guy was just sitting happily in the middle of an open, unmoving crinoid. I didn't realise how lucky I'd been until I tried to photo more camera shy ones later in the trip with crinoid arms waving about all over the place. |
 |
Picture 2 - Loving Eyes Puffers
Taken in Lembeh, I saw these two puffers chasing each other and followed them around for a few minutes watching their movements. About three seconds after I took this shot, the one below bit a chunk out of the one above's tail. Sadly, I missed that shot.. but what I originally thought was flirting and playing between lovers quickly turned into anger and pain. But hey, that's love for you, right? :) |
 |
Picture 3 - Hippocampus pontohi (Is that the spelling?)
About 7mm tall, this little guy was jumping around in the seagrass on a small, very surgey, outcrop in the middle of Raja Ampat at about 12m... 'why won't it stay still?' I kept bubbling to myself as I struggled to find it in the viewfinder... |
 |
Picture 4 - Dugout on Mayu Island
When we arrived on our shiny new liveaboard at the very remote and very stunning Indonesia island of Mayu in the middle of the Sulawesi Sea, the locals folk were quite clearly excited to see another load of puffy, overfed, sunburnt Westerners flapping about on their gorgeous fringing reef. The children were particularly excited and came out in droves passing one pair of goggles between what seemed like several hundred so they could observe with boundless enthusiasm and fascination twenty or more UW photographers going about their peculiar business. I imagine they are used to this by now but one can only wonder what this must have looked like to them the first time. Anyway, this group of children were on a dugout catamaran, the water, as you can see, was crystal clear and the subject, very photogenic. Taken about 2 meters from the surface with the INON FishEye lens and FUJI E900 compact. |
 |
Picture 5 - Nemos
Just another nemo shot, right position, right time.... you know how it is.... |
 |
No 6 Turtle in Sipadan
Beautiful clear day and turtles everywhere.... Memories of Sipadan island. |
|
