Shortly after visiting the seashore village, we met with several Mokens on the water. This is a close up of a typical Moken boat, typically made by hand from a single tree and the supposedly last for 20-30 years. The front of the boat, with the small seat/stand and curved tip beneath is signature Moken.These 3 gentlemen from the left are all Moken. The fourth knows Thai and Moken and helped us translate.The Mokens were fascinated with our cameras, especially the housings. Every time I worked on or cleaned them they were glued to what I was doing. This picture and the one below were taken by my good friend Paul Broman.Mokens do not keep track of birthdays, so it is hard to say how old they are individually. We really wanted to get some shots of traditional Moken spear fishing, both above and below the water and they were happy to oblige. Paul and I decided to split up, the plan for the this shoot was to get Paul on one of their ships, while I started off with the 600mm + 7D combo from our boat…..Here is one of the many shots Paul got from inside the Moken boat:And here is one I grabbed from our diving boat, …I then hopped into a wetsuit (which was totally unnecessary and I stopped wearing it after the 2nd dive), grabbed my 5Dii +7D in their housings and the dive crew took me over for a different angle (from the water). Note the translator is also fascinated with the camera housing and is looking through the viewfinder….I had a full scuba diving rig on and shortly after this picture rolled over the side.One of the first shots from the water. Note how the droplets of sea water are sticking to the dome port and are screwing everything up. While this might be salvageable, I wanted to get it right in camera, so I sent Jack back to our ship to get my mask defog….…and saw immediate better results….Water shooting is much more difficult than on land shooting. Half in and half out is even harder because you have to now also check for water droplets, as well as worry about 2 different exposure segments. The water below will be at minimum 1 stop underexposed and more so as you get deeper…The younger Moken kids wanted to get involved and they jumped in with their spears. Some of them were quite young, but still extremely comfortable in the water….(Imagine I am saying this in a thick Australian voice): So….how does a Moken spear fisherman lure his prey? Simple: Sea Urchins, which are ubiquitous (everywhere). They break them up with their spears, which defeats their spiny defense. As soon as nearby fish sense this, they swarm in for a bite!….while the Moken fisherman patiently waits……and quickly scores an easy meal!His prey looks conspicuously smaller above water. Hmmm…why is this do you think?
Also, compare his head above water with his body below. Due to the denisty of water, light travels much slower and results in a refraction or bending of light, which makes objects below the water appear larger. This is one reason I stuck with the Canon 14mm 2.8 L II for underwater shots…its really closer to an 18-20mm under the water.
I was always amazed to see the very young Mokens jump in like they were in a sandbox playing around. They were completely at home on the water…Here is Jack, Paul and a young Moken girl sharing a laugh. More pictures tomorrow…
Really neat how the images make you feel like you were there. What a cool experience you must have had!
Love looking at all of these pictures Mike!
Amazing set of images! I agree, it almost feels as though I was there. It must have been like watching the discovery channel live. Thanks for sharing these M.