One week dive safari on the safari boat Heaven Harmony of Divers Heaven Fleet, starting at Port Ghalib close to Marsa Alam and then heading Brothers Islands, Daedalus Reef and Elphinstone Reef. Interestint dive sites where one can see hammerhaead sharks, but unfortunately we were not alone. Sometimes there was a dozen safari boats at the same spot, each with 20-30 divers, mostly russian. Sometimes one could not see the reef due to too many bubbles in the water. The zodiacs on the water surface made a big noise under water. If there were big fish, they had all gone during this circus. Once I sa w a hammerhead shark slowly passing by underneath my at a wall. Shortly after it swam rapidly in the opposite direction, hunted by a pack russian divers. Unfortunately I also had a slight cold and in the middle of the week my underwater case of the camera leaked. Luckily only the TTL electronics got damaged. Here's my article in Taucher Revue (german only).
Fig. 1: This grouper was just swimming away when I took this picture. That's the disadvantage of a wideangle lens. One has to get very close to the animals to fit them into the frame large enough. Some don't like this. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Little Brother Island, Red Sea, Egypt, 12 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/125 s; f=24 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-12 13:57:16
Fig. 2: These fish are called surgeonfish because they have a sharp scalpel on both sides right before the backfin. They use it for defense. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Little Brother Island, Red Sea, Egypt, 12 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/125 s; f=24 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-11-12 14:02:34
Fig. 3: Many orange and purple antias are swimming around the coral reef. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Little Brother Island, Red Sea, Egypt, 12 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/125 s; f=18 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-11-12 14:04:16
Fig. 4: The wreck of the SS Numidia which sank in 1901. What you don't see on that picture: Here on that corner the current was extremly strong. The bubbles did not go up, but stayed in a whirl in position. I had trouble swimming to the current shadow and almost threw away my big bulky camera. Also not good with a slight cold and decompression problems in my forehead. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 10.5 Fisheye, Little Brother Island, Red Sea, Egypt, 13 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=10.5 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-11-13 9:50:04
Fig. 5: The broken bow of the SS Aida which sank in 1957 is surrounded by many orange anthias. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 10.5 Fisheye, Little Brother Island, Red Sea, Egypt, 13 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=10.5 mm; f/13.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-13 10:07:00
Fig. 6: Dive buddy with bottle riding Kermit the frog. His slave strobes are obviously working. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, Egypt, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=20 mm; f/5.0; ISO 400; 2011-11-14 9:39:56
Fig. 7: This moray eel gets cleaned by a cleaning wrasse. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, Egypt, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=24 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 10:03:41
Fig. 8: A group of cornetfish (Fistularia commersonii) zog vorbei. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, Egypt, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=24 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 10:10:16
Fig. 9: Many orange anthias are swimming around the coral reef. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, Egypt, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=24 mm; f/16.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 10:19:26
Fig. 10: These soft corals are sitting on a prominent exposed place for fishing plancton. They sit on the end of a whip coral. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S DX 12-24mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, Egypt, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=24 mm; f/9.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 10:21:27
Fig. 11: This coral hind (Cephalopholis miata) is hiding itself under a soft coral. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, Egypt, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:12:35
Fig. 12: This is a Red Sea sailfin tang (Zebrasoma desjardinii). It belongs to the surgeon fish. If you look closely, you'll see the scalpel on his tail fin. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:16:16
Fig. 13: A red soldier fish which didn't like being photographed from the front. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:18:47
Fig. 14: A lion fish with bubbles. When there are many safari boats with many divers diving on the same wall, then there are many bubbles. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:25:17
Fig. 15: An anemone fish in its anemone. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/11.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:28:47
Fig. 16: An anemone fish in its anemone. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/11.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:29:20
Fig. 17: A giant blue shell. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/11.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:47:18
Fig. 18: A wonderful coloured butterfly fish in front of a coral. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 14:53:09
Fig. 19: This fish looks sceptical into the camera. — Nikon D200, Nikkor AF-S Micro 105mm, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 14 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=105 mm; f/8.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-14 15:03:55
Fig. 20: Can you see the water drops on this picture. That was the last one before the flash started getting crazy and I noticed water in the camera case. At the end of the dive there was about a mug full of water inside. Luckily I had the dome port and fisheye lens, so there was enough space around the camera. Only the TTL converter electronics got damaged. Camera and lens were dry and survived. In the meantime I have removed the TTL converter entirely and used only the tree pins (trigger, ready, ground) from the flash. TTL never worked reliably because neither on the camera nor on the strobe the +/- intensity could be adjusted. — Nikon D200, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 15 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/250 s; f=15 mm; f/6.3; ISO 200; 2011-11-15 10:15:38
Fig. 21: A city full of anemones on the daedalus reef. The following pictures have been made without flash and the fisheye lens because the TTL converter electronics for the flash got damaged due to a leaking case. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 15 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/80 s; f=10.5 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 2011-11-15 14:44:14
Fig. 22: Anemones with anemone fishes shot from below towards the water surface. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 15 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/100 s; f=10.5 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-15 14:48:06
Fig. 23: This picture has been photoshopped. I masked the foreground with the anemone and fishes and processed foreground and background separatly with white balance and contrast. The result looks somewhat like a picture with mixture light. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 15 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/80 s; f=10.5 mm; f/4.5; ISO 200; 2011-11-15 14:48:15
Fig. 24: Divers diving along the wall on the daedalus reef. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 15 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/60 s; f=10.5 mm; f/4.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-15 14:59:55
Fig. 25: At the end of a dive one has to get away from the wall to get picked up by the zodiac. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 15 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/60 s; f=10.5 mm; f/4.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-15 15:07:07
Fig. 26: The reef is full of divers, forming a curtain of bubbles. At some dives there were a lot more than on this picture but then I had the macro lens with me or was so perplex that I forgot making a picture of that theatre. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Daedalus Reef, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/60 s; f=10.5 mm; f/4.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 5:57:43
Fig. 27: Finally I encounter a big swarm of barracudas that stays compact while approaching and then I don't have a strobe wigh me. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Elphinstone reef, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/100 s; f=10.5 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 6:47:06
Fig. 28: Finally I encounter a big swarm of barracudas that stays compact while approaching and then I don't have a strobe wigh me. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Elphinstone reef, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/125 s; f=10.5 mm; f/5.6; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 6:47:44
Fig. 29: This picture would habe been nice with some light from the strobe to get the colour of the barracudas. But blue in blue looks also nice. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Elphinstone reef, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/100 s; f=10.5 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 6:48:32
Fig. 30: The zodiacs of the many safari boats are passing by over the heads of the divers and make awful noise. A wonder that there are any fish left here. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Elphinstone reef, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/160 s; f=10.5 mm; f/6.3; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 6:53:29
Fig. 31: Split-view image of divers and safari boat. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Marsa Mubarak, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/350 s; f=10.5 mm; f/9.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 10:30:46
Fig. 32: A blue spotted stingray (Taeniura lymma) on sandy bottom with many cones formed by worms. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Marsa Mubarak, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/180 s; f=10.5 mm; f/7.1; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 10:33:14
Fig. 33: The silhouette of a diver against the sun. With a strobe this would have been better. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Marsa Mubarak, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/350 s; f=10.5 mm; f/10.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 10:38:07
Fig. 34: The silhouette of a diver against the sun. One year later I could make again a picture, this time with strobe. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Marsa Mubarak, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/400 s; f=10.5 mm; f/10.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 10:38:56
Fig. 35: A group of red sea bannerfish (Heniochus intermedius). This would have been a nice picture If I had a working flash. They let me come very close. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Marsa Mubarak, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/80 s; f=10.5 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 11:02:58
Fig. 36: A stingray is swimming over an area full of sand and with many cones formed by worms. The surface looks like from an alien planet in a old 50es science fiction movie. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Marsa Mubarak, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/91 s; f=10.5 mm; f/5.0; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 11:13:07
Fig. 37: Divers hanging below the boat during the safety stop. — Nikon D200, Nikkor DX 10.5mm Fisheye, Marsa Mubarak, Red Sea, 16 November 2011 — EXIF: Nikon D200; Δt=1/160 s; f=10.5 mm; f/6.3; ISO 200; 2011-11-16 11:32:23
Fig. 38: I tracked the ship's course with GPS. We started at Port Ghalib, then headed to Brother Islands and Daedalus Reef.
