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This sphere image was taken with my GoPro Hero3, stuck on the handle of my walking stick. I just rotated the walking stick while using the wireless remote to trigger the Hero3. I did an up and down shot and presto - done. The whole "rig" fits into a tiny pouch, is totally waterproof, weighs next to nothing and the images need practically no fiddling with before stitching. I am really impressed with this tiny camera. It gets nice blue skies when shooting towards the sun and good texture in the clouds, too. Very few compact cameras can do that, the sunward skies usually being overexposed and clouds blown out. This little beauty can even get blue skies when shooting up through tree branches in a forest - something even my big Canons can't do.
Plus the resolution of the fisheye lens is amazing with almost zero flare or vignetting. This is the first camera I've ever had that does a nice job of a direct image of the sun (something most sphere images have to contend with). Not only that but when shooting against a bright sky or clouds even tiny little branches on trees are clear and sharp - where other cameras have the twigs vanish against the clouds.
Now, about this image.
This is on the famous New Caledonia NC-GR1 walking trail not far upstream from the magnificent Carenage waterfalls. The sign on the GR1 says "Source" but as you can see from the map view the river actually goes a long way beyond this point.
I wanted to show the break between the calm clear pool and the rapids on the outflow from the pool. Plus I liked the big rock which, to my mind, looked like a crustaceans claw. I knelt in the cool water concentrating on the difficult task of rotating my walking stick just right and simultaneously clicking the WiFi remote.
Half way through the sequence I was attacked by a vicious - or at least a hungry - crayfish! I nearly lept out of my skin (which was the only thing I was wearing) when he nipped my knee. Admittedly he didn't nip very hard and turned out to be just a little over 50mm in total length, but he was very determined and continued to worry away at my leg hairs while I captured this sphere image of his home.
It turns out the pool is home to a lot of the little monsters and while Freddy and I ate lunch under the trees I tossed crumbs into the pool and watched the crayfish fight over them. Crayfish are, of course, munchable themselves and people do fish for them in many of New Caledonia's rivers. But this spot is a long hike from anywhere and nobody has bothered these little guys.
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新喀里多尼亚是离澳大利亚和新西兰最近的南太平洋岛屿。该岛是法国领地且官方语言是法语,尽管如此,其文化却丰富多彩,揉合了美拉尼西亚、欧洲、波利尼西亚、越南、中国、印尼等国的风情。这里有一个多山的大岛,称为大地岛 (Grande Terre),和6个较小的岛屿——洛亚蒂三岛 (Loyalty Islands)、贝莱普群岛 (Belep) 和松树岛 (Isle of Pines)。 整个群岛人口极为稀少,有大片的荒野。这里有数百公里长的徒步小径、随处可见的露营营地、超过42个公园和保护区、清澈透明的河流和莹莹闪光的瀑布。约三分之一的人口居住在首府努美阿。镍的开采是该国最主要的工业,也是维持其高标准生活的主要经济来源。大地岛四周环绕着世界第二大珊瑚礁,此珊瑚礁形成的泻湖是世界上最大的,也是受保护的泻湖。该泻湖于2008年被列为世界遗产,面积达24000平方公里,是品种丰富的鱼类和无脊椎动物栖息之地。 对于刚上岛的游客而言,最引人注目的是这里鲜艳夺目的色彩。努美阿以其完备的酒店、度假酒店、餐馆设施和丰富多彩的活动欢迎游客的到来。