Ok - so admittedly, I intentionally have not posted in a while, but that was so that I could post my 600th post on the six year anniversary of starting my blog. A lot has happened over six years, and I've taken a ton of photographs (I honestly don't even know how many!). I have done some bigger posts for other anniversaries, so I wanted to do something similar again... but how to do it.

Then it hit me, why not take a look back at my top six favorite styles of photography. Some have been a strong interest since the start (like macro photography of spiders and bugs), while some are pretty new (videography - ok, I know it isn't technically photography, but it still requires a camera!), and some I only enjoy sometimes (landscape), though others I'd do every day if I could (underwater), and some I work hard to get (wildlife), and others that I don't work for but allow it to come to me as the subject warrants (black & white). Of course sometime I am doing multiple styles of photography all at once. But let's take a quick stroll through some examples of each style with some photos that may have gotten over-shadowed or missed for whatever reason throughout the years...

MACRO Definitely my favorite form of photography, macro gives me the chance to show things that most people overlook or never even see. Of course, a lot of the time, those things are the "creepy crawlies" and spiders that most people don't want to see anyway... but I find those things fascinating. Particularly jumping spiders - my absolute favorite macro subject. But macro can be very versatile - spiders, bugs, flowers, abstracts, underwater, fungi, just about anything. And when other forms of photography just aren't feasible because of bad light conditions or such, there are always macro subjects to be found.

BLACK & WHITE This is a style of photography that I have to admit I don't work at at all. I let this one come to me. If the scene or subject screams to me to be shot in black & white, I might see it while I'm taking the photo or sometimes not until I'm home and processing the photos on the computer and sometimes still not until months or years later looking back at the photo. The great thing about B&W photography is it can be merged with any type of photography, and as you'll see, I've tried it on just about every style of photography I do. Actually, that makes me realize that I have yet to ever convert a macro spider photo to black & white... I guess that will be an upcoming project! While I was tempted to process some new photos for this little set, I decided to just dig through the archives to find ones I'd processed previously and get them some due screen time...

WILDLIFE Wildlife photography spans a number of areas for me... birds, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, truly wild, and zoo kept animals. All of it is a huge draw to me. Luckily, Anya and I have moved to a place where we get exposed to so much more wildlife than we did before. As such, I was able to pick this entire assortment from photos I've taken right here on our property or close by (technically the owl and the snake were from the local park where we go to walk the dogs). This is definitely what I probably consider one of my most difficult forms of photography. The amount of patience and luck required are simply staggering at times, and the time investment is one I wish I could devote more effort to. But as I said, luckily all of this is right outside our door, so the convenience factor certainly is helping me to improve and get better shots all the time!

UNDERWATER Well - what can I say about underwater photography other than I wish I could get to do it more often! It is a very challenging form of photography, and quite often by the time I'm getting into a groove and starting to feel like I'm able to get more creative with my shots, that's exactly when the trip is over and it will be another year before I get to try again. Honestly, if I could go diving every day, or even every weekend to hone my underwater photography skills, I would. For now though, I'll just have to be happy with the once a year that I do get to go experience and record such amazing things!

So there you have it... six styles of photography, six years worth of trips, experiences, passion, sights... all recorded and shared here in 600 posts. Amusingly enough, at three years, I made the claim that I looked forward to three more years but figured a site redesign was in order before then and I'm still using the exact same site. I do think that needs to change, but part of my reluctance is the fantastic compendium that this site has become for me. I quite often refer back to old posts to share things again or even just a reference for myself. So hopefully I can figure out the challenge of upgrading this site while maintaining the integrity of all of the history that I've built here. For now though, I'll focus on continuing to capture and share photos like these!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

PS: If you are interested in exploring further into some of these examples, the section headers and the "button" below are links to the history of posts that have been tagged with that label, so if you want to see more of any specific style of photography, just click and explorer!

OK - I alluded to posting this twice now (once during the "Shrimp Platter" post and again in the Gaudy Clown Crab post), so it is high time I shared this shot of a Two Claw Shrimp (Brachycarpus biunguiculatus) that I took on our last dive. This little guy was inside the same sponge that the second Gaudy Clown Crab was, and initially he was hiding all the way at the bottom, but with some patience, I was able to get him to come into a better spot for a photo.

Original	Simple Crop	Tighter Crop and Rotate

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/25. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Photoshop CS5.

- Bill

Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas with an assortment of Christmas Tree Worms (Spirobranchus giganteus) from several different dive trips...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Photoshop CS5.

Have a safe and happy holiday!

- Bill

So back in 2012 when we were first on the Turks and Caicos Explorer II, we were lucky enough to find a Gaudy Clown Crab (Platypodiella spectabilis). In fact, on that trip we did another dive at the same site to try and find it again for the boat captain.

Then last year on our trip to the Bahamas, we saw one but with my wide-angle lens, I wasn't able to get a good photo of it.

Fast forward some more to this year, and on our second day of diving, Anya spotted yet another one. Unfortunately, that one was tucked in a hole and I barely could get a photo of it. I took one (and actually kept it) just to show how difficult they were to photograph. I was going to share it here, but figured why waste the space.

On our very last dive, Anya found one that was actually sitting out on top of a sponge. Unfortunately, as I approached with the camera, it ran for cover....

I thought to myself that I blew it and I ruined an opportunity for a great photo subject... I took what photos I could, but really it was a lost cause.

Reluctantly, we swam off in search of other subjects.

On our return the boat, Anya spotted the same sponge, and noticed that the crab was in a better position again.

Thankfully, the little guy was probably the boldest Gaudy Clown Crab and decided to ignore me and proceed with his meal, moving along the sponge (though still somewhat concealed) eating. But he wasn't running for cover like they normally do...

Then... Anya found a second one on a different sponge!

This one was also pretty bold and at least didn't run away. I took a couple shots, but then found yet another cool subject inside the same sponge (and I'll share that tomorrow).

- Bill

What would a dive trip be without at least a couple nudibranch shots. Sadly, we didn't get a ton of nudis this trip, but we did get some.

This first of the week came in the form of two insanely tiny nudibranchs that were hidden at the base of what was either a small two-leafed plant or algae. I honestly don't even know how our dive guide, Andi, found them, but he made a point to show them to me since he knew I wanted to find some nudibranchs. Because of their location and the fact that they were hiding between those leaves, the photographs were very difficult to get, but I managed to get a couple that I could at least identify that they were indeed nudibranchs... (honestly, in the water, it was pretty hard to even tell what I was looking at!). I believe these are Ercolania coerulea, but because they are so tiny (probably about 1/4"), my ID may be off.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

The next species of nudibranchs I believe are Berolina Aglaja (Chelidonura berolina). We've seen these little guys before and they are indeed tiny - also in the 1/4" range. They are always found out on the open sand, and from any kind of distance, they look just like black spots on the sand. It isn't until you get close that you notice some shape to them and that they are moving... The last one here, I'm not 100% is the same species, but I'm not sure what else it might be, so...

Then we saw a Trapania dalva - another small (about 1/2" this time) nudibranch we've seen on multiple trips in the past.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Photoshop CS5.

Finally, on our last night dive, Anya found a sponge with about 8 or 10 (I should have made a point to count exactly how many there were) Longhorn Nudibranchs (Austraeolis catina). These guys are a bit bigger at about 1" in length. I spent about five minutes taking photos of these guys (though I should have taken a bit longer because some of the shots could have been better).

I'm still really looking forward to another Indo-Pacific dive trip so that we can see many more species of nudibranchs, and during the day so I can hopefully get some true gems of photos to come back with. Till now, any nudibranchs we get to see in Caribbean waters are always a treat because of their general rarity.

- Bill

A small goby (Elacatinus spp.) in a tube sponge (Agelas tubulata)...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

- Bill

Sorry - I've been neglecting posting photos recently, and even this is just a quick one to tide you over for now (I need to get working on a new video to be honest)...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

- Bill

So when we went to Wakatobi, mantis shrimp were definitely on my list of things to look for. When we're in the Caribbean, they're not something I expect to see, so when we managed to find three separate ones on this trip, it was pretty impressive. I don't know if this is just luck, or if Anya is getting better at spotting them (she located all three).

The first one I didn't even get to take any photos of. The last one I only managed to get a shot of it once it had retreated back to its burrow and would only stick its head out (I might have been able to wait it out a bit longer to see if it would come out, but there was a ton of other stuff to photograph on that dive). But this one... this was the cream of the crop! Anya spotted this one in the bottom of a small barrel sponge.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/16. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

It is a Dark Mantis (Neogonodactylus curacaoensis) and they grow to about 2 inches in length, which is about how big this guy was. They're pretty quick and I had to move and think just as quick to try and get the photos I did. I didn't want my camera to go into an auto-focus hunt mode, so I was trying to make minor adjustments with the manual adjustment knob and use the AF button as little as possible, which explains both why there aren't quite as sharp as they could be and that some of them are a bit too close - I wish I had backed up a little and gotten the whole mantis in the shot.

But all things considered (especially that it was only out of its burrow for a minute), I am pretty happy with the results.

This really was one of the highlights of the trip.

- Bill

Ok - another entry in my Patterns of the Reef semi-abstract series. This one brings yet another Peppermint Goby (Coryphopterus lipernes), but this time sitting on some sort of brain coral (I couldn't get a species ID).

Because I couldn't pick which one I liked better, you get two shots this time...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/32. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/32. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

- Bill

Ok - sorry, but every time I look at this photo, that's what pops into my head...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/20. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

This strange looking kung fu fighter is a Neck Crab (Podochela spp.) - a type of decorator crab, these odd little guys like to attach things like hydroids (example below), pieces of sponge, and whatever else they can find to their exoskeleton. There are theories that this is for camouflage, and some that the hydroids and any other stinging celled decorations are used to help with food collection. The second theory is supported by the fact that these guys often wave those long front legs out above them like this individual is here. Either way, it makes them definitely a cryptic and weird critter on the reef.

See what I mean - it is a challenge to even figure out what parts are what, but if you look closely, you will see a pair of eyes that stick out a bit to the sides of the head that sticks up like a post in the middle of the crab (kind of like an arrow crab). I find them fascinating!

- Bill