Infront and Behind the camera

Its not often that i am infront of the camera but when i was at the Crystal River one of my friends stayed on the boat one day and used her Nikon D700 to get some shots from above the water, I thought that this would give you some idea of what it looks like above and below at the same time
After swimming in open water for about 1.5 hours we returned to the boat and there were 2 manatees chewing on the anchor rope which is very common and a way for them to clean their gums etc, I decided to get some last shots

From above


From below
Yes thats my hand holding onto the boast to try and stabilise myself, I could crop it out but left it in for the blog

From Above

From Below

Not a great image by any accounts but what do expect when you are being bumped by something 5 times your size and they are just inches from the camera, You actually see my friend taking the image on the boat

A few images of me by my friend Judy:
Getting up close and personal


1.5 hours in the water and its job done and time to get out and grab a coffee, You can clearly see the EWA marine bag with the D3s in it

It nay be warm outside but once you have been in the water it feels very cold so wrap up quick in warm clothes and a funky hat and get some coffee and donuts
I was very glad to have somebody to get some shots of me doing what i enjoy the most, I have said before that swimming with the manatees is like nothing else in wildlife photography, Interaction between them is always an honor and an awesome experience, I just need to find a way of getting down their in March for some clear water and lack of people

All images out of the water copyright Judy Campbell

Dave

On my way

As you read this i will be driving down to Florida, Its a fair trek from my house to Crystal River where the manatees are, It will take around 12 hours including a couple of stops, So an early start and then early to bed as we have to be at Birds Underwater for 6.15am to get ready and be the first out on the water, My friends from the UK have never been and i am sure that they will be as aprehensive as i was the first time i got into the water and one of these leviathans of the deep swam out of the mirk straight at me, Once you have done it once its addictive and i would love to be able to spend 3 or 4 weeks totally concentrating on these amazing creatures, The forecast looks pretty good so fingers crossed and i hope to be able to post some decent images next time

Dave

Florida diaries 6

Like all good things holidays come to an end, Whilst you will be reading this i will be making my way back to North Carolina. Its been a great 2 weeks shooting the Manatees being the highlight i guess and i cant wait for the winter to return and shoot these magnificent giants again, I got some great images of birds that i have long wanted to shoot like the Skimmer and Laughing Gull and have thousands of images to down load and sort through, This week in Orlando i have still managed to shoot some wildlife at the Gatorland rookery and even in the theme parks i have been surprised at how close you can get to wildlife, In the Animal Kingdom i came across a pair of nesting Spoonbills with chicks, I had written these off of my list as i had visited 3 other places for these images and non had any chicks,I was lucky that the nest was near the path and could easily shoot them with a 70-200 which was the longest lens i had on me, I went to Busch Gardens and Typhoon Lagoon and had birds come close as i was eating and i am not talking about sparrows, I was amazed to see white Ibis and Cattle Egrets begging for food and walking around your feet looking for some crumbs, Last night i made my way to the Magic Kingdom to photograph the firework display, The weather was perfect and the world and his wife decided to join us, I set up hoping to get the fireworks over the castle and managed to get quite a few half reasonable images using a tripod/release and Bulb, On the way to the Magic Kingdom we spotted two armadillos on the grass, I only had a 24-70 with me and even after some careful stalking where i got a good view of this strange animal i spooked it and it was gone, This is now one of my 'wants' as its a great looking animal and you rarely see any images of them, So thats it, A great holiday/photographic experience and one that i intend to return to time and time again, One thing i will say is that the camera gear has been faultless, Its been out in hot sun all day and has not missed a beat, I mainly used the D3 and hardly used the D300 at all as alot of the shooting was in lowish light i.e ISO 400 and over, I took the D3 and a wide lens into the parks and tried it on some of the captive animals-see the cuttlefish, This was taken at ISO 5000 and yet still gives a usable image, The flecks in the water are not grain just water particles, I must say i was impressed when i downloaded it

Along with the Manatees its been an interesting trip, Both above and underneath the water, Birds in flight and on the nest as well as some scenics

Dave