Finally I've picked my self birthday present:
UN UNCU-02 x6 Close-up Lens for 67mm Thread on F. I. T M67 Mount Base DC28 for Canon WP-DC28 for my Canon G10.
Equipped with my 2 Sea & Sea YS27 DX external strobes, on March 16th 2011 my partner Kaye and I joined a longtail boat heading to the Thai Muang wreck (a.k.a. "Dodreco 103" or "Premchai 103") 30minutes ride off Khao Lak coast.
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| UnderWater Paparazzi and his tuned up camera |
This wreck is an old tin dredger, one of the several (now disused and sunk) scatter around west the coast line of Thailand. There is one I know of in Bang Tao Bay (Phuket), a very famous one the "Boonsung" off the coast of Bang Sak beach (North of Khao Lak) and the "Premchai 103" off the coast of Thab Lamu (south of Khao Lak)
here's the GPS coordinates (linking to google map) and a 3D map realized by one of the DMT of the dive center hiring the longtail boat.
8.546732,
98.196788
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| Thai Munag Wreck 3D Map |
Local diving offers an amazing variety of marine life.
Accordingly, the choice between wide angle and macro is sometimes very hard.
Schools of Trevalleys and Yellowtail snapper obstract the view of the wreck at times.
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| snapper galore on Thai Muang Wreck |
But before getting up close and personal with the wreck, on the sandy bottom (19-20m) NW off the dredger there is an enormous anemone with few fearless territorial Clarks Anemone Fish... and where there is this duo, there's almost always anothe subject making it a trio: Porcelain Anemone Crab.
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| UnderWater Paparazzi testing his new wet MACRO lens |
The
UN UNCU-02 x6 Close-up Lens has an impressive magnification power, yet the drawback is that it "kills" the auto focus option of my G10; accordingly, I had to manual (as is moving my
hand back and forth) focus on my subject. The following picture shows how close I had to get...
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| UN UNCU-02 x6 Close-up Lens on Porcelain Anemone Crabs |
Lots of patience and lots of hard work! But check out the results:
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| Porcelain Anemone Crabs BOKKEH |
How about this close-up???
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| Porcelain Anemone Crab SUPER CLOSE UP |
want more? Just follow us around it...
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| detail of "Premchai 103" or Thai Muang wreck |
on one of the edges I came across a Banded Boxer Shrimp, I went for full "fire power" and got him a super close mug shot!
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| Banded Boxer Shrimp SUPER CLOSE UP |
not enough? keep following us around the "Dodreco 103" or "Premchai 103" or the "Thai Muang Wreck! On the 45 degres sloping side of it we found a nice nudi "Chromodoris Anulata", it was facing up and therefore I had to modify my buoyancy and angle of shoot
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| Upside Down UnderWater Paparazzi Balancing on his pointer, things you do for a picture...!!! |
as mentioned, it was an anulata and I had to go "manual focus" on it...
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| UN UNCU-02 x6 Close-up Lens on Chromodoris Annulata |
and here's the result:
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| Chromodoris Annulata with wet MACRO Lens on Canon G10 and dual Sea & Sea YS27DX Strobe set |
This tin dredger is still in very good conditions after it was sunk, years of corrosion, tides and the rest did not affect it that much, you can still admire lots of etail of the structure. The CLAW is one of them
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| The Claw of the tin dredger, the Thai Muang Wreck |
let us guide you to some more interesting details of this rusty platform...
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| another detail of the Thai Muang Wreck |
anyway, going back from wide to macro, that's what was lying on the sand right next to it: a Chromodoris Kunei which was screaming for a close up portrait by the one and only UnderWater Paparazzi... ;-)
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| Chromodoris Kunei on Thai Muang Wreck |
Pin Cushion Star Fish are common in South East Asia, and 9 out of 10 there is always a "guest": a tiny 3mm long Partner Shrimp, usually blending in with his dark red color matching that of the host
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| Partner Shrimp on Pin Cushion Star Fifh |
WOW! That was a perfect site to test my MACRO lens, I can say I'm really happy of the purchase and of the local dive site too! Time for a safety stop and back on land to check the pictures and post this blog entry...
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| a very happy UnderWater Paparazzi with his "pimped" G10 |
next time?
Review of the Boonsung Wreck perhaps? most likely... ;-)
with love
Adriano
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