Coral reef fish New Caledonia
Coral Reef Fish New Caledonia in Noumea
Oh the things we do out of frustration. Yellow snappers, Lutjanus fulviflamma, bunch together in tight schools over particular lagoon coral reefs in New Caledonia – each school has its own favorite reef and one particular spot on that reef that they seem to like. At night, school lets out and the fish race off into the turtle grass beds to go foraging for shrimps, small crabs, and the occasional fish that they find sleeping in the grass. If you already know the whereabouts of of these reef-schools you can actually see the school as a bright yellow haze from the surface. This particular reef is about 200 metres off the Escapade Island Resortwharf at Ilot Maitre. The reef corals are, as you can see, in beautiful condition and there are lots of fish because Ilot Maitre is a protected marine reserve and the fish are safe.
When I first found this school, I had an irresistible urge to take a sphere image of it. I tried again and again to get close enough with my camera, but as soon as I'd dive down, the whole school would move away. The best I could do, back then, was this image. Individual snappers sometimes split off from the school and I have often been able to get very close to them for photos, but the school is a lot more timid than the individual fish. In fact, the school is as timid as the most jumpy one in the bunch. When they are packed solid, if one fish panics when you dive down, the whole school panics and all you get is a photo of little yellow caudal fins swimming away as fast as they can. Freddy and I would team up. I'd be real quiet, take a deep breath, and just drift down next to a big coral head and not move while Freddy would swim around behind the school and try to herd them towards me. Forget it. Individual fish might fall for it but the school wouldn't. Oh I'd get a few snap-shots now and then but they were not all that interesting and what I really, truly wanted was to take was a sphere image with the fish all around the camera.
So, out of frustration, I made an underwater robot camera, waited for a day with nice clear water, then put it down in the middle of where the school liked to hang out. As I set up the robo-camera and was fiddling with the various strings, float, weights and such, Freddy said a Giant Trevally, Caranx ignobilis, more a meter long was overcome with curiosity and came close enough to see what I was doing that she thought I'd kick it. She took a photo which I've included above. We see Giant Trevally all the time on these reefs and they often follow me around when I am taking photos. If I turn the camera towards them to try to take a photo, they are gone. It's a game GT play and I've been frustrated again and again trying to get a really nice photo of them, too. After my robot was clicking away on the reef Freddy and I got back in the dinghy and left the camera to do it's thing and the fish to do their thing.
I was one happy, grinning guy as I scrolled through the photos looking at the inside view of a big yellow fish sphere with groupers and Giant Trevally like exclamation points in their midst. Yes! Frustration turned to satisfaction is really the cat's meow.
Filed under Collection of the best panoramas by on Sep 24th, 2011. Comment. 
Cappadocia in Turkey
Cappadocia was known as Hatti in the late Bronze Age, and was the homeland of the Hittite power centred at Hattusa. After the fall of the Hittite Empire, with the decline of the Syro-Cappadocians (Mushki) after their defeat by the Lydian king Croesus in the 6th century, Cappadocia was ruled by a sort of feudal aristocracy, dwelling in strong castles and keeping the peasants in a servile condition, which later made them apt for foreign slavery. It was included in the third Persian satrapy in the division established by Darius, but continued to be governed by rulers of its own, none apparently supreme over the whole country and all more or less tributaries of the Great King.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia
Filed under 360 virtual tours, Collection of the best panoramas by on Sep 23rd, 2011. Comment.
Tribute to Escher in Barcelona
Virtual tour of Escher work
this is an exception – a full CG generated panorama – don't expect to find it anywhere!
I made it to give special recognition to M.C.Escher's work, a very talented artist widely known. This impossible world was inspired by Escher's litograph "Relativity". Be careful not to get sick wandering around!
Filed under Collection of the best panoramas by on Jun 19th, 2011. Comment.
pacific island new caledonia stunning virtual tour
Summer Calm in the New Caledonia Lagoon in New Caledonia
The crying sounds of puffins nesting on Ilot Mato wake up on the 23rd of March at 05:30. They cry like a moaning baby – a very erie sound. Then it dawns on me that there is absolute quiet – except for the birds ashore. Not a sound. No wind, no waves, not a peep from the sea birds that typically start work at dawn. I get up and go on deck to look around. It is so calm the sea is a mirror reflecting the cloudy sky. And there is no horizon at all. Now most sensible people would smile and go back to bed – but I quickly go below to grab my camera and then – on tip toe so I don't make even a slight wave on the sea – I take a sphere image of this amazing morning. It is perfect for the theme of World Wide Panorama's current global snapshot of our planet – "limits." I will call it "Zero Limit Dawn Horizon" A horizon without limits extending around our planet in every direction. For me it is the dawn of a very active day because when it is really calm like this we can motor slowly over the reefs with the dinghy and see the coral reefs and fish as if there was no water at all.
Also, when it is calm like this the surface of the sea is like a mirror when you look up at it from underwater. I will take some underwater sphere images with the mirrored surface reflecting the reefs. If, that is, the dawn calm lasts long enough. Actually I have three likely spots picked out already. There is a coral reef nursery area that we explored yesterday, and a colony of clown fish, a lovely thicket of bright blue staghorn coral out by the pass. They would all be fantastic with a mirror above them. We'll head off for a day of fun in the sun right after breakfast.
Filed under Collection of the best panoramas by on May 16th, 2011. Comment.
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