Underwater Photography with Cris Zampicinini

Last month, you may have seen some amazing photography on our Facebook and Instagram pages! These beautiful capturing of the life found around Lembongan and Pendia were taken by Cris Zampicinini.

Cris and Roby had been to Indonesia many times for diving holidays, but this was their first time in Lembongan. Cris and his wife Roby dived with Twin Island Dive for one week. Cris is a very confident underwater photographer and over 12 divers, Cris was able to take some beautiful diving photography.

Cris is a big fan of macro photography. Although Nusa Pendia / Lembongan does have some macro life (Photo Gallery), Cris was here for photographing the coral, manta rays and the mola. Unfortunately Cris did not get the chance to see / photograph a mola, but he did get some amazing photography of the of underwater life.

Colourful Coral

Set with his wide angle lens, Cris was able to capture some amazing photos of the coral landscapes found on the north coast of Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Penida.

Manta Rays

The manta rays that we find around the south coast of Penida, were one of the creatures that Cris really wanted to photograph.

Upon our first trip to manta bay, we did get some manta rays, but they were all shallow. With the manta rays shallow and Cris below, shooting up towards the sun, getting that perfect photo proved difficult.

The next trip to the manta site did not fair too well with the manta rays on the dive. After a good hour of search, we sadly didn’t find any.

After the dive, we slowly drive the boat around the coastline, to see if we could spot any mantas feeding on the surface. This decision resulted in us spotting 2 manta rays. Cris was then able to jump in with his camera and take some great close encounter photos, while snorkeling.

Macro Creatures

Sadly Cris didn’t get the chance to see or photo the molas (Sun Fish). But Cris was able to capture some of the other creatures that can be found while diving around the Penida area.

For most of their dives, Cris took his wide angle, but on one day, for the two dives, Cris tried his macro lens. Now the focus would be on finding the crazy small creatures that are hidden among the reef.

Nudibranchs, crabs and shrimps are all common macro life that we do get here. Once you know where to look and if the current is not too strong, finding these creatures can be easier then you think.

Other Underwater Creatures

It wasn’t only about the macro creatures. Cris was also able to photograph some of the other friendly creatures that we often find.

Many turtles were spotted while Cris and Roby were diving with us. One of these dives, 4 different turtles were spotted. Seeing all these turtles, gave Cris the great chance to get some great photos.

Another creature that is spotted often here are the clown fish. There are 7 different types found around Lembongan and Penida. One of the 7 types is the false clown fish (Nemo). Cris was able to take his time and snap some great photos of these dancing fish.