BajaNomad

Brittle Stars

Ken Bondy - 12-28-2006 at 06:59 PM

Hope you guys like these. Brittle stars are beautiful little things and they make a magnificent background:






















[Edited on 12-29-2006 by Ken Bondy]

[Edited on 12-29-2006 by Ken Bondy]

David K - 12-28-2006 at 07:24 PM

AWESOME KEN!!!!

marv sherrill - 12-28-2006 at 07:36 PM

Fantastic shots Ken! Are these from Monterey Canyon also? Can I use one as a screen saver???

Ken Bondy - 12-28-2006 at 07:39 PM

Thank you David and marv. Marv these are all from Anacapa Island. You are welcome to use any of them, I am flattered.

++Ken++

David K - 12-28-2006 at 07:53 PM

Marv, I enjoy it when you use Nomad's photos in your Baja calendar... Ken Bondy and Jack Swords have both been featured, that I know of...

Skipjack Joe - 12-28-2006 at 07:54 PM

Good stuff Ken. I know we say that so often that it's almost expected. But this is some of your best stuff. I really think so.

It looks as though you've been experimenting with new ideas recently and there are some really great compositions here. The last one is your best, but there are several close seconds. I like the one with Navanux a lot too.

The idea (as I see it) is a bold colorful foreground with sharp edges against these fuzzy interweaving brittle stars. Works great. It's artsy. These images are the most art-like ones I think you have shown here recently.

I hope you're as excited with this batch as I am.

P.S. I don't know where you found such an abundance of these guys.

[Edited on 12-29-2006 by Skipjack Joe]

David K - 12-28-2006 at 07:59 PM

I agree with Joe... this is way above National Geographic in quality... Go Ken go!

Santiago - 12-28-2006 at 08:06 PM

WOW! Ken - I marvel at your shots but these are really some of your best. Thanks.

Natalie Ann - 12-28-2006 at 08:13 PM

This is one heck of a new year's photo display, Ken... delightful smile-bringing photos!

Tell me please, in pix #4 what is the center creature with the hangy-down eyes? And the fishie in the last one?

Ken Bondy - 12-28-2006 at 08:13 PM

Thanks Joe and David. Joe you are correct these are some of my favorite images. The brittle stars are beautiful on their own right, and they make a fantastic background. They make every subject look better, like the painted greenling and the navanax. Brittle stars show up in the northern Channel Islands every Fall, about August through October. Some prehistoric bell rings and they show up, by the millions, carpeting every surface. It is probably reproductive behavior, I doubt that it involves feeding. But the bell rings again at the end of October and they are gone. They are probably there but just hidden. Thanks for the nice comments. ++Ken++

Ken Bondy - 12-28-2006 at 08:17 PM

Mil gracias Santiago y Natalie Ann. Natalie Ann #4 is a navanax, related to nudibranchs. The guy with the hangdown eyes (great expression) in #5 is a hermit crab. The fishie in the last one is a painted greenling. ++Ken++

Diver - 12-28-2006 at 08:50 PM

Ken,

I hope you can wait for me.
When I retire, I want to follow you around to see some of the amazing sites you have shared. Like my first look at Coustea's "Ocean World", I am moved by every new batch of your photos. I've been diving over 30 years and still never seen anything like it.

Thanks again !!

.

more critiquing

Skipjack Joe - 12-28-2006 at 11:51 PM

The kids are asleep now and I'm going to have another hard look at these images. Sometimes when you look at images you start seeing things you missed before and change your mind.

The last shot is just a sure winner and will always stay that way.

The image of the large orange starfish by brittle stars is really interesting. It has wonderful earth tones. But what I like most about it is the struggle it suggests. The orange arms seem to struggling for freedom and are being overwhelmed by hordes nasty creatures. There is a lot of implied tension here. None of that is really happening but the composition suggests it.

The other one I really like a lot is what appears to be a hermit crab. But it really doesn't look like a crab at all. It's very mysterious. A black void with two eyeballs staring out of it. It just looks so alien and a bit threatening. So I like it because it draws you in in a creepy science fiction way.

And I really like your first image. Although it's a shot of gorgoniums and ophiuroids I don't think you were really trying to show what's there at that level. I see this image as an abstract, a tapestry of colors and shapes stretching vertically.

There is a such great variety of compositions here. I've photographed long enough to know you don't get a collection of shots like these by luck or accident.

Every once in a while you come across a sight the excites you so much that you just jump to another level and start seeing with a greater awareness than before. Your creative juices start flowing and you are able to see the essence of objects as never before.

Well, Ken, it looks like you had one of those days. I'm not an underwater photographer, but when you consider the fact that all of these images are made on a limited amount of time due to air constraints, that you have moving current and therefore a moving frame, no tripod. Well, it can't be easy.

I had a day like that many years ago in yosemite valley. There was a snowfall on veterans day and I was lucky to be there during the whole thing. I was so jacked up I saw images everywhere. Normally I kept a couple of shots per roll. But on this day almost the entire roll was right on.

Perhaps I'm way off base but that's how I see it.

Tomas Tierra - 12-28-2006 at 11:53 PM

I like the fringehead inside the turban snail shell:lol:it looks like he has a bonnet on........GREAT SHOTS!

brittle stars will one day rule the ocean

Always impressed

Sharksbaja - 12-29-2006 at 12:00 AM

This time , especially so!
Say Ken, how many photos and how much time is spent on such a proud display?

Cypress - 12-29-2006 at 06:44 AM

Thanks for the photos!:spingrin:

I don't even like water in my ears........but WOW and thanks

Baja Bernie - 12-29-2006 at 07:17 AM

Great Shots!

Don Alley - 12-29-2006 at 08:26 AM

Cardon - 12-29-2006 at 09:26 AM

Ken, Yes, great shots. I ran a couple thru Photoshop- hope you don't mind. I think it makes them pop a little more, at least they do on my screen. Craig



Ken Bondy - 12-29-2006 at 10:38 AM

Thanks to all, Diver, Skipjack Joe, Tomas, Sharks, Cypress, Bernie, Don Alley, Cardon. Diver I will wait as long as I can :) . Skipjack Joe that was a great critique, I appreciated every word and the time you took looking at the photos; when I was doing the contest circuits I wish my critics had been as thoughtful and as kind as you. Sharks these photos came from a total of about 6 dives all made within the same week. Except for the greenling, they were made when I was using film, so the six dives represent a total of about 220 images. At that time I would normally keep about 2-3 images from each roll of film (underwater photography is a low batting average endeavor). With this type of subject (beautiful, stationary) my batting average is higher, I probably kept one fourth of the slides from these dives, or about 50-60. For this collection I scanned about 10 of those. Hard to estimate the time involved, but reviewing and scanning probably took about 6 hours. ++Ken++

Bajagypsy - 12-29-2006 at 10:54 AM

As per usual, your pictures are absouletely amazing.

AmoPescar - 12-29-2006 at 11:12 AM

Hi Ken,

As always...really AMAZING PHOTOS! Your photos always make me want to be a better photographer.

Thanks for taking the time to post them for us to see.

Michael

Thanks Ken

fdt - 12-29-2006 at 11:20 AM

My kids are amazed at the beuty of your pictures.

Cincodemayo - 12-29-2006 at 12:14 PM

Ken....as always your pics bring back all the beauty I remember diving the Channel Islands! Have a great New Year!

Cincodemayo - 12-29-2006 at 12:21 PM

Ken....Have you ever entertained the idea of entering any of your magnificent photos in the Islands Magazine's Photo contest? I really think your chances of winning are way up there....They have awesome prizes like a fully paid vacation to Vanatu Island that Cousteau's son owns and runs. I'd certainly go for it if I were you and you can send as many images in as you want. If you win you just have to send me a large T shirt from there:yes:

Ken Bondy - 12-29-2006 at 02:22 PM

Thanks thanks thanks MANY thanks to Bajagypsy, AmoPescar, fdt, CincodeMayo. Cinco I really appreciate the encouragement about entering the Islands Magazine photo contest. I enjoy Islands Mag, but I really don't want to get involved in photo contests any more. When I started taking underwater photos 25+ years ago I did the contest circuit for awhile, and did pretty well, but it was brutal, particularly attending the judging in person :) . Right now my outlets are this forum, where I really enjoy showing my photos and the feedback from Nomads, and an underwater photography forum where I occasionally post. I don't really need anything else. Now that "semi-retirement" has kicked in, I am sorting through about 5,000 slides I made over the years, scanning the ones I really like, and showing them here. I am also (very slowly) working on a book that will weave my diving experiences with topside relationships. The feedback I get from this forum is invaluable to me, and has already influenced some of the things that will be in the book. Thanks again, ++Ken++

Ken Bondy - 12-29-2006 at 02:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
The other one I really like a lot is what appears to be a hermit crab. But it really doesn't look like a crab at all. It's very mysterious. A black void with two eyeballs staring out of it. It just looks so alien and a bit threatening. So I like it because it draws you in in a creepy science fiction way.


Jeez, Joe, great minds.....and all that. I have a few images of that hermit crab from that sequence that make it much more clear that it is, in fact, a hermit crab but I like the one I posted a lot better, for exactly the reasons you stated!!!

++Ken++

Labor of love

Sharksbaja - 12-29-2006 at 04:24 PM

Fer sure Ken. Many don't understand all theeffort that is associated with world-class photos. Thanks and thanx in advance.:yes:

Cincodemayo - 12-29-2006 at 04:56 PM

The Book? Count me in Ken and I want it autographed! I want first print too!

Skipjack Joe - 12-29-2006 at 07:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Quote:
Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
The other one I really like a lot is what appears to be a hermit crab. But it really doesn't look like a crab at all. It's very mysterious. A black void with two eyeballs staring out of it. It just looks so alien and a bit threatening. So I like it because it draws you in in a creepy science fiction way.


Jeez, Joe, great minds.....and all that. I have a few images of that hermit crab from that sequence that make it much more clear that it is, in fact, a hermit crab but I like the one I posted a lot better, for exactly the reasons you stated!!!

++Ken++


Oh I heard you loud and clear on that one, Ken. You were talking and I was listening. Only there was no spoken words. Just an exchange of images. I understood your choice.

Marie-Rose - 12-29-2006 at 07:09 PM

Wow!!
I admire your talent. Thank you!

Ken Bondy - 12-30-2006 at 08:39 AM

Joe

Here's another photo of the same hermit crab, this one more scientifically identifiable but IMHO not as interesting as the one I originally posted:

Bob H - 12-30-2006 at 10:25 AM

Wow, it just doesn't get any better than this! Somehow, you seem to outdo yourself, each and every time. The high quality shots from you are just never ending.
Bob H

Skipjack Joe - 12-30-2006 at 12:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ken Bondy
Joe

Here's another photo of the same hermit crab, this one more scientifically identifiable but IMHO not as interesting as the one I originally posted:


Yes, they're very different. The new one is something they would project on a screen in an undergraduate Natural History of invertebrates class. Although there is a hint of interpretive material in there. I see a mustachiod yosemite sam in there somewhere. A potential idea maybe.

The first image, though, was all fiction. The arms really add a lot to the fantasy. The brittle stars are unidentifiable so you have these mysterious eyes in a bed of these twisting furry stems. The wider screen gives you a better sense of the environent and the off green color gives a ghoulish feel to all of it. The image is a total creation.

Regarding photo contests. Many of your images are very interpretive. I wonder whether the judges at these contests are able or even willing to make that leap and see what you're saying. In my experience they have different categories and your images have to fit into them. They judge you by how well your image does in the specific category that it's submitted. The pictures I see in coffee table books on marine life are not interpretive. There will be an anemone with colorful clown fish which are beautiful for it's own sake but there is nothing beyond that. I am thinking that perhaps that's the sort of thing these judges are looking for.

The best critique is from someone who understands your vision and critizes it.

BTW have you considered this one? I like it a lot. It works as a pictorial, a nature photograph, and as an interpretive image. A real winner IMO.


Again, fantastic

DianaT - 12-30-2006 at 02:40 PM

I really look forward to your photos---they are so wonderful. You do need to put together a book, no doubt about it.

I know you said you don't do contests anymore, but the first thing I thought about when I saw the picture of your daughter and the seal, was boy that should be in some contest. Along with what I thought should be the poster fish for "save the ocean", the photo with your daughter is my favorite. They are not the most colorful, but they just jump out and speak to me.

The colors in your photos are, well, I think I have run out of adjectives, so I will say magnificent and all of its synonyms.

Keep on posting and put that book together.

Diane

jerry - 12-30-2006 at 10:22 PM

thank you ken for taking the effort it sure mellows me