This is the second article on our recent Bali trip which I wrote for the U3A Photography Group newsletter in June 2022.

Bali Photography, Menjangan snorkelling, a poem excerpt and some pics plus links.

To recap on camera gear for the trip to Bali, I decided to travel light and took my Fuji XT30 with the XF18-55 and XC55-230 lenses, both providing excellent images. Also my Oppo phone has taken many a fine shot. For the snorkelling trip our daughter Cara lent me her Olympus ToughTG6 which proved to be very effective.

The interior of Bali is quite mountainous and with persistent rain it slows up a journey. So we had to stop for lunch at a fine sheltered restaurant somewhere on the side of a mountain - delicious barbecued whole fish for each of us with accompanying spicy aromatic side dishes; a welcome break. The cost was AUD40 all up (3 fish, rice, side dishes and two beers, two coffees).

Our daughter had organised a snorkelling trip and resort accommodation on the NW Bali Coast, close to Java. All went well until we arrived at the resort. The booking couldn't be found. What?? And the place was chokkers, Ocker with o/s tourists. But... 'perhaps the spare accommodation might be available?' suggested The Manager to his minions. And thankfully it was and it turned out to be an upgrade, three houses plus swimming pool and gazebo inside a walled garden. 'Stick with me...' Cara said.

The resort had its own beach, and offshore was what looked like a hut on a raft. The area in front and around the raft is adorned with underwater sculptures, temples, Buddhas, bicycles etc. as part of a successful coral reef regeneration project. It's ideal for snorkelling over, so Cara informed us. Great, we'll do that in a couple of days. Bad decision. Once a year a large swell stirs the sand...

The boat trip to Menjangan Island and its reefs from Pemuteran took about 45 minutes, The west coast of Java with its primitive, mysterious volcanos loomed closer. We were fortunate, the coral had rejuvenated because tourism had dropped off since Covid asserted itself.

The Olympus TG6 is a 'tough' camera, well suited to rugged use, inclement weather and underwater shots. There are a number of settings which provide photographic control. The daughter said to use the fish symbol, which I did. As a wise person once noted, the 'P' in PASM stands for Professional. This is my 12 year old grand daughter Eloise in yoga lotus position alongside the cliff face drop to the depths.

                                                 Snorkelling on the reef of Menjangan Island,

40 minutes off shore. Java is close

with its primitive mysterious mist

shrouded volcanos. Fish and reef, the absolute

splendour of this other universe.

The variety of shape and colour,

the shift of motion. You are astounded

as you float with the current over reef

gardens then out over the shelf with its

vertical cliff and cold flow from below.

You drift into a shoal of electric

blue sparks and suddenly they are spooked

into a comet trail. You wish you could

speak fish and understand the murmurings

and coughing of coral.

Our guide dives down and assumes a yoga

position then blows a perfect circle

of bubbles which rises, widening.

On the return journey we visit Penestanan outside Ubud, an artistic area where our son in law has built an eco village. All houses are now sold both here and in the second eco village at Sibang, but anyone interested in seeing what has been achieved can click here:

https://www.desaalamindah.com/

Covid has hit tourism heavily in Bali which is now gradually returning to some semblance of normal. Artistic Penestanan villagers used their time well in this quiet period by carving the rock face in a ravine behind the village. The amazing thing is that the atmosphere has created moss covered sculptures which now look as though they've been there for hundreds of years.

Daughter Cara was interviewed for an online Bali magazine. It's interesting for her family's experience and insights. There are photos here too.

https://ouryearinbali.com/australian-family-building-an-inspiring-eco-village-in-ubud/

Bali, Photography and Equipment

 

This is an article written for the Canberra U3A Photography Group newsletter in June 2022.

I've published it here to add an appropriate number of photos. 

                                            Bali, Photography and Equipment

In early May we visited our family in Bali, our daughter Cara, her husband Greg and our two gorgeous grand daughters Safia and Eloise. Greg has built/managed two eco villages and is now in the process of building individual houses. This was our fifth visit, Cara and Greg have resided in Ubud, an artistic town in the higher midlands close to Greg's work and now his work has taken them to the coast in Canggu, about 1.5 hours from Denpassar Airport.

The holiday was varied and rich in experience, locals and airport staff welcomed us back with typically friendly smiling faces. It was lovely to be there and experiencing again the soul of a place we have loved for many years. Overseas trips are great for photographic pursuits in fact I travel for that, and our cultural/ epicurean adventures. So, what equipment to take?

I decided to travel light, while recognising that landscape, portrait, sports and macro needed to be covered. I have previously taken Canon, but I find that my D80 and lenses are too bulky now.

I mulled over taking the Olympus EM5 mk 2 with the excellent 12-40 pro and the very capable 75-300, plus the mighty Oly 60mm macro, or the Fuji XT30.

This time I chose the Fuji which I bought in December 2020. The XT30 uses the same 26mp sensor as the more expensive XT3 and XT4 and is far more wallet friendly, as is the XC50-230 mk11 zoom (75-345 equiv.) with OIS which provides 3.5 stops and can produce good macro images. I also took the XF18-55 OIS for general purpose shots, and the Oppo phone which has a pretty good camera. Our daughter Cara had booked a boat to take us 40 minutes off the North West coast to Menjangan Island, adjacent to the mysterious imposing volcanos of Java, to snorkle the reefs. Did she have an underwater camera? Yes the renowned Olympus TG6, and I could borrow it. Perfect!

First morning an early Bali coffee at Echo Beach with the daughter to view surfboard riders.

Bali attracts many skilled surfers from around the world and locals are also getting into this sport.

I noticed at least six photographers, many with serious looking equipment, tripods and big bazooka lenses but I thought that a combination of OIS and a fast speed should suffice, it was a sunny day.

The surf was running at about 2-3 metres breaking around 150/200 metres off shore. So, my XC50-230 zoom should do it. I've been encouraged by bird shots, the SOOC 'straight out of the camera' JPEGS large/fine have been very good. So, snap a couple, magnify them in the LCD, looking good. I set the speed at 1000, and let the camera determine ISO and the aperture. Checking the data later, the aperture varied between 6.4 and 6.7, and the ISO between 160 and 320, but around 200 for most. My focal length was between 120 and the max 230 (350 equivalent), most were close to the maximum due to the distance.

I prefer to take single shots using a small focus point. The Fuji has three convenient dials on top, retro style, one of which provides rapid burst continuous at two speeds as well as various other functions including video, the other dials are shutter speed and exposure compensation. I remember meeting an American couple in the ANBG and he'd spied a Tawny Frogmouth sitting stationary in a tree hole up above. He blasted it with machine gun fire from his camera, quite loud, and he was obviously proud of it. I drily commented 'well, there'd have to be a good one somewhere in that lot...' We left on amiable terms, my irony flew up in the tree and the Frogmouth had a chuckle.

Continuous shooting can be advantageous, particularly in sports' photography but I didn't use it with the surfing. However I did come away with almost all successful images, so it was an excellent result. On a previous trip I'd used my Olympus with the 75-300 (150-600mm equivalent) and also had many successful images but the Fuji was better – I'd had to denoise a couple of the RAW Oly images, not so the Fuji JPEGs. Also, Fuji's 26MP allows you to drill in and maintain excellent definition, as can be seen above. There's no imperative to use RAW files for standard goals, although the camera provides both. I did tweak images slightly in post processing. I use ON1, check the effect separately of each of the two 'auto' buttons and adjust if needed, back to manual adjustment perhaps, plus add a bit of 'structure' and 'haze' which are ON1's equivalent of Adobe's 'Clarity and 'Vibrance'.

This is the first of a two part article. Next month we check out the colourful reefs and fish at Menjangan Island, the trip over the mountains, the Covid project of the Penestanan villagers,

and son-in-law Greg's village creations.

Curse of the Ukrainian Woman

This is the Ukrainian National Choir. They start singing just prior to the 25th minute. These people are us,

they are you. It is heartbreaking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAUhxD4eQLs

Curse of the Ukrainian Woman

I shall rain curses on all of Russia

mothers, fathers, sons and daughters

on babies forming in womb and crib

on its lands, its skies, its crops and rivers

never to be raised until the debt

to Ukraine is paid, in full.

I shriek and I shriek the sacred

maledictions to the impassive eye.

I will wake You. I will wake You.

You shall listen.

My people are no less than Russians.

Would you inflict these horrors upon yourselves?

Your humanity dangles in this web

of affliction, silver with bloody dew

it drips and sinks into our sweet land.

Our song will swell in tides of blood

our harmonies will surge and flow

alive, alive - one mute can hum melody,

and the song shall survive.

Putin, damn him, is the neighbourhood

bully. He slits your lover's throat

and now jackboots this dying body.

Have you forgotten the Nazi assault

just yesterday? The tragic slaughter?

You do the same to us.

In Mariupol a wife reaches for her man.

In Kiev a mother searches for her child.

Putin, you putrid black Deceiver

this is no religious war

there is no such speck in the eye

of Eternity. Where is compassion

empathy, love and forgiveness?

There shall be no forgiveness for you.

You shall die by your own hand

the relentless whispers of the dead

in your head, following you.

God hides not in buildings

nor in missile warheads

delivering hate, fear, death

and destruction and the billowing

black smoke of dismay.

I shriek and I shriek the sacred

maledictions to the impassive eye

I will wake You. I will wake You.

You shall listen.

On Putin's religious affiliation/affliction check Tim Costello's article in The Guardian. Quite fascinating.

Link below.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/06/vladimir-putin-a-miracle-defender-of-christianity-or-the-most-evil-man