Any tips for shooting in Jardine de la Reina?

[M DeM]

I’m off to the Jardine de la Reina on Saturday, and just wondering if anyone had great tips whose been there.

I’m using:

• A 7D (M1)
• Strobes & focus lights
• Tonkina 10-17 (w mini dome)
• 60mm macro

I’ll bring a GoPro too. Not guessing there’ll be a lot of macro.

Anyway, just thought I’d ask!

 

[davehicks]

I just returned from Jardine de la Reina last week! Great trip, and great diving. Very sharky, more than any other Reef ecosystem I've seen. There are lots of opportunities for wide angle shots of sharks and goliath groupers, often excited by Lionfish snacks. But there is also lots of great macro subjects if you care to do that.

I mostly used a Sigma 15FE on a D800 full frame camera. Nikon 105mm for macro shots.

Album: Jardine de la Reina
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Alr8qi46H3EcgP69FL2Gqe4Y3s65yMQ

 

[Hoag]

I just returned from Jardine de la Reina last week! Great trip, and great diving. Very sharky, more than any other Reef ecosystem I've seen. There are lots of opportunities for wide angle shots of sharks and goliath groupers, often excited by Lionfish snacks. But there is also lots of great macro subjects if you care to do that.

I mostly used a Sigma 15FE on a D800 full frame camera. Nikon 105mm for macro shots.

Album: Jardine de la Reina
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Alr8qi46H3EcgP69FL2Gqe4Y3s65yMQ

View attachment 501945

Great pics Dave! Funny the emotional (gut level) reaction I had to some of them. Great shark picks (especially the first one of it eating the Lionfish), but when I saw the close up of the crocs, a little voice inside me screamed "Oh Hell no!"

 

[M DeM]

I just returned from Jardine de la Reina last week! Great trip, and great diving. Very sharky, more than any other Reef ecosystem I've seen. There are lots of opportunities for wide angle shots of sharks and goliath groupers, often excited by Lionfish snacks. But there is also lots of great macro subjects if you care to do that.

I mostly used a Sigma 15FE on a D800 full frame camera. Nikon 105mm for macro shots.

Album: Jardine de la Reina
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Alr8qi46H3EcgP69FL2Gqe4Y3s65yMQ

View attachment 501945

THESE ARE AMAZING!

It looks like there’s a lot of shallow diving or is it just amazing viz? And were you using strobes mostly with the sharks?

 

[davehicks]

The vis is really good, but getting real close helps with clarity. The shallows with the crocs are kind of silty and less clear. Yes, I used a pair of Inon 330 strobes with a D800 camera & Sigma 15mm fisheye lens. (my camera and hosing are for Sale on the classified forum! Upgrade time...) There are so many sharks you'll have no problem getting within 2 feet of them.

It's not real deep, aside from a couple of deep walls where we spent time at 90 feet. Most dives are 50-70 max with some snorkeling and diving in the Mangroves with Crocs.

 

[sea_ledford]

I dove the north side of Cuba a few years ago with the 10-17 exclusively and was happy with it. The interesting part of that area was there were several fish species that are regularly deep to very deep in shallow water, so keep an eye out for unusual species. The two that come to mind are Indigo hamlets (normally deeper than 100' in my experience) were at 20' and Sargassum Triggers (normally 150'+) were in 50-60'.

 

[Schwob]

I just returned from Jardine de la Reina last week! Great trip, and great diving. Very sharky, more than any other Reef ecosystem I've seen. There are lots of opportunities for wide angle shots of sharks and goliath groupers, often excited by Lionfish snacks. But there is also lots of great macro subjects if you care to do that.

I mostly used a Sigma 15FE on a D800 full frame camera. Nikon 105mm for macro shots.

Album: Jardine de la Reina
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Alr8qi46H3EcgP69FL2Gqe4Y3s65yMQ

View attachment 501945

WOW!

 

[Aqua-Andy]

Album: Jardine de la Reina
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Alr8qi46H3EcgP69FL2Gqe4Y3s65yMQ

Those are some incredible photos, thanks for sharing.

 

[M DeM]

I just returned from Jardine de la Reina last week! Great trip, and great diving. Very sharky, more than any other Reef ecosystem I've seen. There are lots of opportunities for wide angle shots of sharks and goliath groupers, often excited by Lionfish snacks. But there is also lots of great macro subjects if you care to do that.

I mostly used a Sigma 15FE on a D800 full frame camera. Nikon 105mm for macro shots.

Album: Jardine de la Reina
https://1drv.ms/f/s!Alr8qi46H3EcgP69FL2Gqe4Y3s65yMQ

View attachment 501945

The crocs.... they aren't bothered by the divers? I mean MAN are you close!

 

[davehicks]

The crocs only seem to respond to chicken. I bumped my dome port into a few croc noses!

The sharks took a few nips and bumps on my strobes when they were getting excited about Lionfish treats.

It was a pretty sporty dive trip! Highly recommend it, it is like a splash back into the past of how the Caribbean used to be.