Ocean Cleanup

This past weekend I covered the cleanup on Manila Bay here in the Philippines, part of an around the world ocean cleanup day organized by Ocean Conservancy.

The Cleanup began in 1986 in Texas and in 1989 the Cleanup went global with the addition of Mexico and Canada. Since then, the International Coastal Cleanup has grown to become the largest volunteer effort of its kind for the ocean. Last year alone, nearly 400,000 volunteers in more than 100 countries removed up 6.8 million pounds of trash at 6,485 sites along beaches, rivers, lakes and streams as well as below the water’s surface.

It was amazing to see the effort put into the day by so many people. Sadly the results, as good as they were, seemed hopeless as I watched another line of trash move in on an incoming tide just as the cleanup was finishing up.

Before the cleanup began you can see the amount of trash on the shoreline.

Just a fraction of the people helping Saturday.

The Philippine Coast Guard was on hand to help.

A new line of trash can be seen close to the horizon as it moves in with the incoming tide just as the cleanup is finished.

Marine debris (ocean trash) is more than an eyesore; it is a potential threat to our food supply, to tourism and economic activity, to marine wildlife and ecosystems, and to our own personal health and safety. It even relates to the ocean’s resilience and ability to adapt to the onset of climate change.

Testing in the Rain

Okay so I am sick of the rain. It just seems to rain and rain and rain here lately. Last night I was going a bit stir crazy and decided to walk down the street with two 580 EXIIs and the Canon 5D and play around. I knew a spot where I could hopefully light and shoot and keep everything dry.

This is what you call a dirty kitchen (the outside kitchen) in the Philippines and the vehicle to the right is called oner here in the Philippines, kind of a jeep.

I used a 16-35 zoom at about 24 or somewhere close. It was too dark to worry about recording that at the time.

This first shot is without any strobes...f11@ 20 seconds, ISO 100.

For this shot I used one strobe just off camera right zoomed out as wide as possible -2/3 stop, same aperture and speed. I actually discovered that by slightly pulling out the bounce I could zoom it out to 14mm. Not sure if it is fact but it says so on the display and I thought I saw a difference between that and 24mm. The second strobe was about 15 feet to my right zoomed to 70mm and again -2/3 stop, angled right at the oner.