BajaNomad

More Underwater Photos...

Ken Bondy - 7-15-2006 at 09:47 AM

They're not from Baja (although the nudibranch species are found there) but I thought you guys might be interested in these, taken last Monday and Tuesday in Morro Bay:
















Ken

Baja Bernie - 7-15-2006 at 10:22 AM

Beyond beautiful! Thank you.

jerry - 7-15-2006 at 10:27 AM

thanks ken for sharing

Sharksbaja - 7-15-2006 at 11:16 AM

Outstanding A-1 photography. Waiting for the book.:yes:

[Edited on 7-15-2006 by Sharksbaja]

Natalie Ann - 7-15-2006 at 11:25 AM

What incredible little creatures! I especially like the guy with the big eyes and 'horns'. Thanks, Ken, for taking me places and showing me things my eyes would not ordinarily see.

bajamigo - 7-15-2006 at 12:31 PM

Great photos! What equipment did you use to take them?

Bob H - 7-15-2006 at 01:03 PM

Ken, Stunning photos. Love the colors too! Thanks, Bob H

bajajudy - 7-15-2006 at 01:05 PM

WOW
I am overwhelmed by these photos. I, too, like the big eyed guy. It seems that he is saying...oh boy another photographer, ho hum.
Thanks
Muchisimas gracias

longlegsinlapaz - 7-15-2006 at 01:06 PM

Ken, AWESOME photographs!!! If you don't moonlight for National Geographics, you ought to!!

Ken Bondy - 7-15-2006 at 02:56 PM

Thanks everyone. You folks are very flattering. Bajamigo these were taken with a Fuji S2 Pro digital SLR, raw mode, 60 mm Nikkor lens, in a Subal S2 housing with two Sea and Sea YS-90DX strobes. I like the blenny too, common name is "one-spot fringehead blenny". Great subject with all the woogers on his (her) head and eyes going in every direction. Kind of like an underwater Marty Feldman, if anybody remembers him.

Eli - 7-15-2006 at 07:27 PM

Way Wonderful, thanks for again sharing the magic Ken Bondy! Yep, I remember Marty Feldman, and he was as funny as this little guy. All of them, I can just imagine your delight in the encounter, you just had to be chuckling inside while you clicked, there is an over all good humor manifested in the pictures.

Sallysouth - 7-15-2006 at 07:38 PM

Once again, more awesome pics by Ken! You just lightened my day and made me go "out" of my problems!! Thank you Ken.

Al G - 7-15-2006 at 08:20 PM

Thanks Ken and this is a great reason I'm a Nomad. You may find pictures, but to put pictures with people and places and their sport, mean a great deal more. Is there a place I can go to match pictures and learn more about each creature?

Skipjack Joe - 7-15-2006 at 08:40 PM

Wonderful pictures of nudibranchs, Ken. They do make wonderful subjects, don't they? My teacher would simply place them in petri dishes in the lab and shoot with that wonderful Nikon macro lens and get great results.

My favorite shots recently however have been your marine 'personality' shots. You know. The menacing sea iguana that resembled godzilla. And now this grumpy fish with horns that isn't the least bit amused with the attention he's getting. It's great, I think, when you can convey a message other than the picture itself.

Ken Bondy - 7-15-2006 at 08:42 PM

Thanks so much Eli, Sally and Al G. I am overwhelmed with the kind words. Al, the fish with the Marty Feldman eyes is a "one-spot fringehead", google it and you will get more than you ever wanted to know about him. Also, google "nudibranch" and you will get tons of reference material on them. The orange one with the white spots is Triopha maculata, pretty rare, I have only seen them twice in 30 years. The one with the bluish body and the yellow stripe is Hermissenda crassicornis, very common. I'm not sure I've seen the other one (the first picture), I need to root around in the nudibranch ID books and see if I can find him. The anemones are a species of Metridium (plumose anemones), very common in cold waters in Central and Northern CA, also extraordinarily beautiful IMHO. Thanks again for the nice words, you have all made my day ;D

++Ken++

Ken Bondy - 7-15-2006 at 08:44 PM

Skipjack I wasn't ignoring you I missed your message while I was writing my last one. I appreciate your comments. I agree, there are lots of beautiful underwater subjects, but the best photos convey some kind of behavior. Thanks,

++Ken++

capt. mike - 7-16-2006 at 06:02 AM

wow, who says aliens are from other planets?

Mike Humfreville - 7-17-2006 at 09:22 AM

When I look at other living things, many in lifeforms I ponder; plant or animal, and question if there is a difference, your images capture that thought. Life is amazing in its varieties. While it sounds trite, a picture IS worth a thousand words. This is especially true when taken by a master. Thank you, Ken. Keep those images coming.

Ken Bondy - 7-17-2006 at 06:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Mike Humfreville
When I look at other living things, many in lifeforms I ponder; plant or animal, and question if there is a difference, ......


Thanks Mike you are too kind. Your point is very perceptive, the plumose anemones in the last two photos look so much like topside flowers/plants but they are really animals.

++Ken++

bajamigo - 7-17-2006 at 07:41 PM

Ken, I'd love to see you do a website or even a blog with your great pictures and comments. After viewing these few photos several times over, I wished there were many more I could have seen. I think a website would also do more justice to the quality of your photos.

Ken Bondy - 7-17-2006 at 08:40 PM

bajamigo thanks

I have lots of photos at

http://www.kenbondy.com/photo.htm

Regards,

++Ken++

[Edited on 7-18-2006 by Ken Bondy]

bajamigo - 7-17-2006 at 08:45 PM

See, Ken, I told you it was a good idea.

Heeeere's Marty

El Camote - 7-18-2006 at 09:43 AM

Ken, those are fantastic shots. Obviously, the strobe makes all the difference for the accurate color rendition. Is it the circular type which goes around the lens?

I hope you had an opportunity, while in Immoral Bay, to take a short jog around the estuary to Baywood for the best pizza on the planet! :yes:

Ken Bondy - 7-18-2006 at 09:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by El Camote
Ken, those are fantastic shots. Obviously, the strobe makes all the difference for the accurate color rendition. Is it the circular type which goes around the lens?

I hope you had an opportunity, while in Immoral Bay, to take a short jog around the estuary to Baywood for the best pizza on the planet! :yes:


El Camote

Two individual strobes on arms mounted on each side of the housing. Please provide more detail on the Baywood pizza place, sounds like something I will need for the next Morro Bay trip ;D

El Camote - 7-18-2006 at 06:31 PM

Ken, it's called Planet Pizza on the main drag down by the water, next to the little grassy park. The owners appear to be Baja travelers. :bounce: Maybe they'll chime in here with a well deserved plug. Never had a bad meal there.

Ken Bondy - 7-18-2006 at 07:38 PM

This was written by the world's best underwater photographer, Chris Newbert, my friend and long-time mentor, on the preface page of his great coffee-table book, "In a Sea of Dreams". I wish I had written it, it expresses eloquently what I feel about what I see underwater:

"As I once became part of them, all these creatures of the sea are now a part of me, in my mind, in my soul, in my dreams."

I get chills every time I read that.

++Ken++

Cincodemayo - 7-19-2006 at 09:15 AM

Here are some fantastic shots in the Phillippines from a shell collector and conchology expert Phillipe Poppe...just click on the location then on the link for photos. I know it's not Baja but what the heck!



http://www.poppe-images.com/expedition/locality.php