fred wobus . com

I am off to Lembeh Strait in Indonesia to see some black sand and murky water. Mark Webster is holding the 2007 Underwater Photo workshop at Lembeh Resort.

These are some of favourites from my last visit:

Harlequin ghost pipefish

Robust ghost pipefish

Robust ghost pipefish

Hypselodoris infucata

Phyllodesmium longicirrum

Ceratosoma trilobatum

Thorny seahorse

Pygmy seahorse

Thorny seahorse

I’ll be back in April with new photos from the macro capital of the world.

The practice of shark finning (where sharks have their fins cut off while still alive and are thrown back in the water to die) is brutal, wasteful, and often, illegal. A web search for shark finning will show you in mere minutes how terrible the practice is.

Please show your support for the world’s dwindling shark populations by signing this petition against Alibaba.com, one of largest online traders of shark fins. Signing the petition takes less than a minute and requires only your name, e-mail address, and geographic location. You can also protect your privacy by showing yourself as “anonymous,” if you wish. [via wetpixel.com]

Castle Grafenegg (sunny)

They say photography is all about light, and they (whoever they are) couldn’t be more right. They will also tell you there is good and bad light and that you need to get up at 3am for the former of the two, but that is a different story.

Castle Grafenegg

I have uploaded a short album of photos that come in pairs taken in completely different light. Some were taken only minutes between them. In most cases it was overcast and I took a shot just for my memories. Then suddenly the sun burst through the clouds and I ran back to re-take the shot with a sprinkle of light.

The last two (River Mürz sunny and overcast) were particularly frustrating, because it happened the other way round. I had just set up the camera on the tripod, the sun was shining and I took a test shot (the sunny one). A couple of seconds later the sun went behind the clouds, never to appear again for the entire day.

See all photos in the Same place different light album:

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Eclipse at 23:11 CET

Last night provided a brilliant opportunity for much of the world (except Australia) to witness a spectacular total lunar eclipse. Unlike most other astronomic events is even happened at some reasonable hour – around midnight (Central European Time).

So I decided to stay up late and try my best to capture a few moments of the lunar eclipse which was announced to be “the best in years”. First my gear was installed by the window, then I installed myself in front of the TV. Some late night films and a drink were to be excellent company to pass the time during the eclipse.

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