‘Running with Sardines’ a piece I wrote for Rappler.com
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at April 25th, 2012
Bianca Grey of Rappler asked me for a piece on my most memorable travels around the country. Hands down, it was the Sardine Run of Pescador Island in Moalboal, Cebu.
MOALBOAL, Cebu City – From afar, it looked like we were floating into an underwater valley that vanished into the blue.
But then I remembered we were diving around a very small island with no other rock formations visible from above. It was impossible to have something this huge and this dense underwater with no manifestation from the surface. Then, as we got closer to these formations, our eyes adjusted and all of a sudden, the wall on the left didn’t look like a wall at all. Because walls don’t stay still. It was shifting, turning, and sparkling against the sunlight with parts of it breaking away for a split second and then coming back.
‘Running with Sardines’ by Jayvee Fernandez
Hands on with the Canon Powershot S95 Underwater
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 5th, 2011The stable of cameras at Casa Fernandez include a Nikon D40 with over 10 legacy lenses, a Canon 350D used exclusively for underwater shoots and a Panasonic Lumix LX3. So as you can see it’s really impractical for this geek to go out buying more cameras. When I saw Canon’s S90 release several months ago I snickered — not because this was a bad camera — in fact it was pretty good. But this was Canon playing catch up with Panasonic’s purely “viral” DMC-LX3. Many months later, Canon releases the Powershot S95 and I must say I’m floored with the results.
I took two cameras to Mobile World Congress but ended up using the S95 for everything because it was light and it fit into my pocket. It produced stunning images on Aperture priority (the default I use for attending conventions since I don’t have time to really care about settings) and like most cameras does really well in natural light. With the flash turned on, it seemed a bit sub-par compared to my Lumix flash, but hands down, this camera is a natural winner. If you want a compact camera that takes good photos and video, look no further. Just ask Winston.
All the photos taken at the Mobile World Congress were shot using the S95. All videos too.
If you’re choosing between a Canon G12 and the S95, you need only to consider two things: if you already own an external Canon flash and would like to use it with your point and shoot too, then you should settle for a G12. If not, get the S95.
So many blogs have reviewed the Canon S95 but it is rare to find a review of how the camera fares underwater. So here it is. The video above consists of snippets from depths between 15-40 feet (the more vivid videos) and 60-80 ft (the more “blue-ish” ones) because the deeper you go, color vanishes. Red is the first to vanish. I shot this using an Ikelite S95 casing which I borrowed from my instructor. Compared to my JVC Ikelite setup, I have nothing but envy for the S95 rig because it takes so much better video and excellent battery.
The only problem with the underwater setup is the casing: Ikelite has a design flaw with the knob used to rotate the dial to change settings. That’s why I don’t have photos: I couldn’t move the dial to enter photo mode!
I have to reiterate that this is one good camera. You won’t go wrong with this purchase. But please research price as you will find these to be much cheaper in Hidalgo than in your commercial establishments.
Deciding between 60mm and 100mm macro lenses for underwater photography
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 19th, 2010
A Scorpion Fish sits on the Dari Laut wreck, a once floating casino. Photo taken with a 60mm macro lens (manual focus). Apologies for the backscatter — still trying to figure out how to avoid the dust particles.
On the surface, there’s no question about it. A 100mm macro lens would have been an excellent choice for shooting macro. The closer you can get, the better. Underwater, it’s a different story.
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Where it is Humanly Possible
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 18th, 2009
The term “Humanly Possible” is a redundancy.
At 60 feet underwater, there is, what my colleague Prof. Richard Cruz calls a deep feeling in your gut sparked by sheer amazement with what you are experiencing. He describes it as something you feel when you see fireworks – it comes from the clenching of your gut and is in no way cerebral.
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