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Smaller is Better in Anilao— Shooting Macro in the Philippines Text and photos by Kate Jonker 36 X-RAY MAG : 85 : 2018 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Anilao Pygmy seahorse, no more than 5mm long, at Sunview dive site My dive guide finned quickly down the sandy slope and I kicked hard to keep up with him, my heavy camera and strobes creat- ing quite a drag, slowing me down. By the time I reached the sea fan, in front of which he had stopped, I felt a thrill of excitement. I knew what he had found! Peering through my viewfinder and trying to stay calm, I followed his pointer downwards, and right there, at its tip, was my first ever pygmy seahorse. It was tiny—much smaller than I had expected—but this was Anilao, and I was starting to real- ise that “smaller is better” in this marine-diverse diving destination. I had reached a stage in my under- photography. I did my research and water photography journey in which was hooked. Within a month, I was on I wanted to do more than just take my way, accompanied by my husband photos—I wanted to create works of and two diving friends who were non- art! I had chatted to friends who recom- photographers. mended a photo academy in Anilao in the Philippines that would revolutionise Getting there Tryon’s hypselodoris nudibranchs, somewhat Huge yellow soft corals adorn the steep walls at Ligpo Island. PREVIOUS PAGE: the way I thought about underwater After a 23-hour flight from Cape Town, larger than many of the other nudibranchs I A hairy squat lobster rests in the folds of a pink barrel sponge at Koala. came across—these were 5cm in length. 37 X-RAY MAG : 85 : 2018 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Anilao Colourful local homes line the water’s edge (above); The most common type of dive boat in Anilao is the bangka (above). we arrived in Manila—capital city of orange, to red to purple. We were in I need not have worried at all, as the Philippines—and were soon head- paradise! our cameras were treated like royal ing down the highway to Anilao. I babies. They were carried carefully to was amazed at how busy and con- Diving the boat by the staff, who then put gested the roads were. Everyone Early the following morning, we excit- them on a special rubberised mat in seemed to be driving something, edly boarded our boat for a day the most stable and shaded part of Explore Gordon’s Bay whether it be a car, a motor bike, a of diving. In the Philippines, diving is the boat and then covered with tow- motorbike-come-taxi or a jeepney, done from bangkas. These are long, els for protection. Cape Town - South Africa which is the Philippines version of a narrow wooden vessels with two sup- Once on board, we posed for the bus that the Filipinos seem to love port floats made from thick bamboo obligatory “selfies” before whisking decorating—the more flamboyant, poles on either side of the main hull. across the mirror flat, indigo water the better. They are usually motored by recondi- to our first dive spot. We hugged the We eventually arrived at our des- tioned truck engines. coastline, passing vibrantly-painted tination. Anilao Photo Academy (or Our gear had already been put yellow, purple, red and green homes APA, as it is fondly known), is the safely on board, along with enough and large resorts, interspersed by brainchild of renowned underwater cylinders for three dives and our steeply sloping, lush, tree-covered photographer Tim Ho. Run by a team food and drink for the day. To climb hills that reached right down to the of incredibly talented underwater on board, you simply walked a few waters’ edge. photographers and dive guides, APA metres across the beach and up a is widely recognised as the place to gangplank. For those (like myself) Koala. Our first dive was at Koala, go to for underwater photography, with a poor sense of balance, there is named after an Australian who and caters for photographers of all always a helping hand to make sure had had a house on the shoreline Dive Charters, Guided Dives, Gear Rental levels and camera types. you climb aboard safely. nearby. The bangka crew dropped Scuba & Photography Courses Once unpacked, we set up our Before the trip, I had been con- anchor, and we kitted up and rolled cameras and watched as the sun cerned about how I was going to backwards into the clear, warm www.indigoscuba.com [email protected] set over the ocean, changing from protect my camera on the boat. blue ocean. The crew then gently Colourful reef at Ligpo Island 38 X-RAY MAG : 85 : 2018 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO travel Coleman shrimps on fire urchin at Basura (top left); Red hairy shrimp, about 2mm in length, at Secret Bay (above) Most dive sites in Anilao how tiny the critters were. At home were minuscule and I was very comprise shallow coral gar- in Cape Town, our nudibranchs glad I had purchased a +12.5 dens with sandy slopes inter- average 3cm to 5cm. Here, the magnifying dioptre for my cam- spersed with coral outcrops, dive guides were constantly era before the trip, as this helped rubble-covered slopes, or searching for smaller and smaller to photograph even the tiniest of gently sloping sandy bot- critters for us to photograph. Most creatures. toms. The bangkas anchor shallow and close to the shore and after entering the water, we would usually swim down to the deep- est part of the dive site and then slowly make our way shallower. I followed Ivan down the reef, and before long, he was beckoning me over passed our cameras down to us. to a small green plant, where he There were just the four of us on pointed to something so tiny it the bangka, accompanied by was not visible to the naked eye. two dive guides: Ivan, who is an Peering through my camera’s accomplished underwater pho- viewfinder, I saw a tiny creature tographer and amazing spotter that looked like a two-millimetre- (and soon became my buddy on long praying mantis and realised it the trip); and Doods, who was also was a skeleton shrimp! an eagle-eyed spotter. Before long, I began to realise This tiny pink eyed goby was 5mm in length (above); Flabellina nudibranch at Sunview dive site (left) 39 X-RAY MAG : 85 : 2018 EDITORIAL FEATURES TRAVEL NEWS WRECKS EQUIPMENT BOOKS SCIENCE & ECOLOGY TECH EDUCATION PROFILES PHOTO & VIDEO PORTFOLIO Red hairy shrimp, about 3mm in length at Gazer Mike Ball Dive (left); Anemonefish travel at Twin Rocks (far EXPEDITIONS COD HOLE • CORAL SEA • GREAT BARRIER REEF • AUSTRALIA left) Expeditions On the Wild Side loved it and I The Best Diving on the was hooked! Coral Sea & Great Barrier Reef! Sadly, all too Dive with giant potato cod, explore deep walls, soon, we had witness shark action at Osprey Reef. to return to the boat. It was lunch time, and we had the most delicious hot lunch awaiting us. Rice, veg- etables, beef was doing this, saw that the nudibranch was in spicy sauce and more fruit. After eating lifting its mantle up and down. Every time it heartily, chatting eagerly about our amazing did this, Ivan would say “click” loudly and I muck dive and laughing some more about would press the shutter. With much laughter, “Marilyn Monroe,” we rested impatiently we soon got into the swing of things and I before our third and final dive of the day. got one of my favourite photos ever. I call it the Marilyn Monroe nudibranch. After that, Basura. Our third dive was at Basura, a the critters just kept on coming. I was abso- sloping sandy site littered with coral bom- lutely blown away—this was the famous mies and rubble. We were getting into the After our first dive, we surfaced at the muck diving I had heard so much about. I swing of things now. Our dive guides would boat, handed cameras and fins up to the Minke Whale Season! June-July crew and climbed up a sturdy wooden lad- Unique Opportunity on the Great Barrier Reef. der back on to the boat. Once on board, www.mikeball.com/minke we were offered fruit and crackers, water, coffee, tea and ginger tea. We then relaxed in the sun and chatted excitedly about what we had seen. New Special Expeditions! Check out our website for details. Dakeda. After staring longingly into the clear blue water at the shallow reef below us, our surface interval was finally over and we moved on to Dakeda. Here, we were met with completely different underwater topog- raphy—a rubble slope. There were just dark brown boulders everywhere. No coral, no reef, no sand. No life! Had the recent earth- quake covered everything up, I wondered Simon Mitchell © to myself. Just then, Ivan called me over and scribbled some instructions on his underwa- ter note pad, and I quickly reset my camera and turned off my strobes, wondering what was going to happen next. He pulled out a narrow beamed torch and pointed it at one of the most beautiful Phone: +61 7 4053 0500 nudibranchs I had ever seen, its yellows and www.mikeball.com purples in stark contrast to its dark brown Email: [email protected] Fax: +61 7 4031 5470 The "Marilyn Monroe" nudibranch, rubble surroundings.

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