Des Paroz

Landscape and astro photography enthusiast from Canberra, Australia

Photography

Calm Before the Party

This is the third of a set of images I made at Clovelly Beach in Sydney at Sunset on New Years Eve 2012. I love the beautiful light at sunset, and the HDR effect assists in brining out the colours. See this photo on * Des Paroz’ 500px Photo Gallery * BlueBeyond

HDR

Eve of Grey

Clovelly New Years Eve Sunset. This is a monochrome version of a HDR image created from three exposures on New Years Eve, at Sydney’s Clovelly Beach. I love the look that monochrome images can provide. I feel that in this case the extra tonal range provided by HDR adds

Japan

Shuri Castle

Shuri Castle is a reconstruction of the original castle of the king of the Ryukyu Kingdom – an independent country (that paid tribute to both China and Japan) until 1879. This image was made on our trip to Japan in 2005. Although I had lived in Japan for almost two years

HDR

New Years Eve at Clovelly

Its been way to long since I last published a Photo of the Day. I am going to try to get back on the wagon, and get some regular images up here. I made this image at Sunset on New Years Eve, capturing the beautiful sunset across Clovelly Bay, with

Adventures in Japan - 21 Years Ago Today

Yesterday marked the 21st anniversary of the day that I left Australia as a recent university graduate, and embarked on a 2 year adventure in Japan. Arriving late in the evening to the hustle and bustle of the metropolis that is Tokyo, I checked into the Sunshine City Prince Hotel

Landscape Photography

Across the Bridge

Bare Island, La Perouse is a beautiful spot for photographs, particularly for a 6.58am sunrise with the beautiful greens and greys of the islands contrasting with the colourful sky. I chose this perspective to try to make the island inviting. You’re drawn across the bridge to the inviting

Papua New Guinea

Spinecheek Anemonefish

The spinecheek anemone fish is one of several anemone fish found in tropical Indo-Pacific waters. This one is so named due to the spiney growth protruding from the side of the fish’s face that you can see quite clearly in the photo, just under the eye and extending over

Papua New Guinea

Cuddling Nudis

Its been waaayyyy too long since I posted a Photo of the Day, but will intend to get that going regularly again. These two Chromodoris kuniei were spotted on a dive in 2006 in PNG’s Milne Bay area. The nudibranch on the right is facing us, while the one

Australia

Moon Over Vicki-Marie

On a recent trip to Coffs Harbour, I spent a sunset down by the harbour at Coffs Jetty, and captured some images of a working harbour at dusk. This is an HDR image made from a single RAW file. Although I took multiple bracketed exposures, the movement of the boats

Travel

Chromodoris lochi and Passenger

This image was made at North Log, one of the brilliant dive sites near Uepi in the Solomon Islands. The nudibranch is Chromodoris lochi, a reasonably common nudibranch in tropical Indo Pacific waters. I liked the side on profile of this individual, and the blurred background really sharpens the nudibranch.

Australia

Mudgee Clock Tower

Mudgee is a town about 4 hours west of Sydney. A picturesque country town, Mudgee is a great escape with many great restaurants, vineyards, cheese places, etc. Its also very photogenic, with several old churches and buildings. This image was made on a cool winters morning just before sunrise, and

Sydney

Smooth Harbour Waters

View from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair in Sydney, overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House at Dusk. Sydney is an incredibly stunning city, particularly at dusk, and I personally feel that the harbour is a large part of its magnificence. The harbour is the home of the CBD, and

Papua New Guinea

Photo of the Day: Chromodoris Annae Nudibranch

This beautiful little nudibranch was a spectacular find during a dive near Tawali in PNG’s Milne Bay Province. I love the saturated colours and the spotted design of the nudibranch’s back. Finding small stuff like nudibranchs, many smaller than your little finger-nail, is one of the pleasures of

Solomon Islands

The Seghe P38 and Dive Boat Silhouette

Just off the end of the runway of the Seghe airstrip in Marovo Lagoon (near Uepi) there is a P38 lying in about 10m of water. Following a day trip to dive Penguin Reef and the Babata Sinkhole, we made a short stop at Seghe to dive the wreck. Although

Sydney

St Marys at Night

St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney is quite striking, especially with the water features in front of it. This is an HDR image with the saturation turned down a long way to give just the yellow and blue colours. Quite a nice effect

photo mindset

The PLACEBO Principle for UW Photography

One of the leading shore dives in Australia is known as Halifax Park, in Nelson Bay just north of Sydney. A  spectacular dive renowned for nudibranchs and other small marine life, Halifax Park is a macro photographers dream. During one memorable dive there, I was using my trusty Nikonos V,

Solomon Islands

The Elbow of the Wall

The wall dropoff at Elbow Point (near Uepi in the Solomon Islands) is a magical spot with rich coral growth, anemones, colourful fish and clear blue water. Pelagics are often seen here, but what captured my attention was the colours contrasting with the blue water

Beppu Hot Springs

The wonderful city of Beppu on Japan’s southern main island of Kyushu is home to a wierd and wonderful assortment of hot springs and bath houses. Located right on the sea, Beppu is a terrific place to enjoy a relaxed Japan, with spectacular countryside and a wide variety of

Solomon Islands

Who Me?

This little fish was found at the Uepi dive site called North Log. He doesn’t seem to pleased to see me! I like the left to right composition of this image, as well as the colours and the use of the rule of thirds. PS. Sorry about the interruptions

Papua New Guinea

Schooling Fish at Luaudi

Luaudi (Dinahs Beach) is the dive site in PNG’s Milne Bay where the term muck diving was coined. I went there setup for macro with a 60mm lens, and was really pleased with the small stuff. Incredible variety of wierd and wonderful things I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Sydney

Variable Aphelodoris on a Collision Course

Last weekend Bela and I had an easy dive at Clifton Gardens, in Mosman, Sydney. This shallow, inner harbour site features a wide array of small marine life – octopus, cuttlefish, juvenile fish and nudibranchs. In particular, there were plenty of the species Aphelodoris varia. They were present in large numbers,

Sydney

Fisheye Blue

One of the more common fish seen at many Sydney divesites is the Eastern Blue Wrasse (commonly called a blue groper). At Oak Park, near Cronulla, these fish are so friendly that they will swim right up to divers. This one was actually getting in the way of my photos,

Solomon Islands

Forlorn Crocodile Fish

I stumbled across this rather forlorn looking crocodile fish at a divesite called Binusa, near Uepi in the Solomon Islands. With my 60mm macro setup, I used the opportunity to focus in on the fish’s eyes and mouth, composing left-to-right, and using a diagonal composition.

UW Photography

Kurukuru Wall at Uepi

Kurukuru is one of the amazing wall dives at Uepi. With the wall dropping from the surface to over 2000m, it is covered in fantastic corals, such as the picturesque sea whips. The blue waters are generally very, very clear, and as can be seen, are full of small anf

Solomon Islands

Uepi Shark Feed

Shark Feeds, like this one at Uepi in the Solomon Islands, are an interesting affair. In the blue waters of the channel leading from the ocean into Marovo Lagoon, the Uepi people conduct occasional feeds. This is an efficient way to get rid of some waste, as well as an