Bonaire's Northwest coastline and the Caribbean Sea
As I mentioned in my previous post, I really only had 1 morning on our diving ‘day off’ to do some landscape photography around the island. There are a couple difficulties in doing topside plus underwater photography in the same morning. For one, the only SLR I brought with me was usually stuck in the housing in preparation for diving. I try avoid removing this out of the housing in the field as much as possible to reduce risks of contamination of the o-ring seals. I could have used my little Canon G10 or another SLR, but that would have meant leaving those in the car while diving, along with my tripod and other equipment, which is not recommended due to potential breakins to vehicles. You basically take everything valuable with you underwater.
So this is Bonaire’s Northwestern coastline, quite a bit different from the flat regions shown in the images from the prior post. For such a small island, it does undergo some rather dramatic changes as you move into the more volcanic northern areas. The landscape is quite different here, filled with cactus and other thorny plants on a very rugged, rocky terrain. Wild goats wander about in the brush and there is much less development here. Much of the northern part of the island is an ecological preserve and part of Washington-Slagbaai National park.
Diving this part of the island involves some different challenges for shore entry. A few dive sites are outfitted with ladders fastened to the sides of the cliff. Many are designated as accessible by boat only. One popular site is called “1000 steps” that has a rock stairway down to a coral beach. While the actual number of steps is around 72 (depending on what you count as a step!), it certainly feels like 1000 when trying to lug your gear back to the car after a long dive.
I had a decision to make this morning for where I wanted to be at twilight. Do I choose the south or the north? Obviously both offer great scenery. I chose the south because I thought I would have more to work with as far as the light in the early morning. This site could have been just as magical with a twilight glow. Ultimately I ended up getting in some time with both, spending time in the north later in the morning. The cloud cover was great for creating soft lighting to help with shoreline detail, and creating some drama for the sky.
The ledge here is about as narrow as it looks. The road is off to the left up the cliff a bit. One step to the right and I would have found out just how seaworthy my D700 is outside of its housing, as well as my tolerance for landing on rocky corals 15 feet (3 meters) down. I needed to get to this spot because I wanted to get enough separation on those two small seastacks from the shoreline. (note to my wife: it wasn’t THAT risky! 🙂 I would have washed up around the hotel eventually! )
Wow. Love the shade of green! Just happened to stumble across your site…so glad I did.
J – thank you for stopping by. I am glad you enjoyed your visit.
I love the comp and color you captured in this Mark…wife’s have a habit of telling you “you take it too far sometimes don’t they” 😉
Thanks a lot Bernie!
This is a great composition, Mark. There is a line in the foreground that takes you back to the horizon. Very nice.
Thank you Ken – yes, one of the reasons I went out to the ledge…
What a beautiful coastline with such amazing shades of green and blue. I love the calm turquoise of the water in comparison to the fabulous textures of the rocks and plants. That really must have been a stunning place to spend your holiday.
I also find the colors here relaxing, thanks Martina.
@Richard – thanks, yes it was.
@Monte – I don’t think I want to ask. Trust me, I usually very carefully evaluate any position before attempting to make an image. It would have taken me doing something very careless to fall off that ledge.
First a quick question: Was the wife worried about you or the D700?
Sometimes we step out on the edge to get an image we feel compelled to take. I think we all have done that and at times have taken the falls or stepped in things we shouldn’t have. Your images show how beautiful this place is and does gently call out to us for a visit. I just love the colors in this image and those clouds are awesome.
Love that emerald color scheme going on in this shot. Must have been fun to shoot with that type of clarity in the water.
Amazingly beautiful….look at the color of that water! I hope you are going to post some more of your underwater shots as well.
Thanks Howard, all in good time bud…
Mark, what a wonderful rugged coastline with a complimentary partly cloudy sky. Places like this make you feel you’ve escaped civilization, at least in some small part. Now it would be hard for me viewing/photographing this scene and watching my step at the same time — glad you did.
Thank you Earl. Yeah, I was quite disconnected from the normal news cycle in the US. I could have tuned in I suppose, but wasn’t willing to pay $19.95/MB on my phone.
Trust me, you would be careful – the consequences of not doing so is a great motivator. 😉