Islands of Fire

PJ Kotzé · Issue 103, Jul/Aug 2018 · pp. 58–62

Products mentioned: Canon 5D Mark 3, Sigma 15mm F2.8 Fisheye Lens, Canon L-Series F2.8 100mm Macro Lens, Ikelite Housing, Ikelite DS 161 Strobes, Ikelite DS 51 Strobes

I broke the surface in a daze of shock and disbelief and removed a plastic bag that had gotten tangled in my regulator… The sun was setting as I wove my way through the plastic and trash floating around me in the calm water and as a Muezzin’s call to prayer filled the air, a woman knee-deep in the water a few meters away disposed of her vegetable scraps in the sea. This was me coming to terms with my first muck dive in the bay of Ambon, Indonesia. I was overwhelmed, confused and blown away - maybe it was the four back to back flights and 27 hours of traveling? Perhaps it was the incredible amount of life I had just photographed in the most bizarre spot I had ever visited that got to me. Probably both. The only thing I was certain of at this stage was that I had never seen such diverse macro life in such an odd setting before. I was in Indonesia with Leon, my sailing, diving and general a…