"[narrator]" "Every powerful photograph, has a powerful story behind it." "Australian marine photographer Darren Jew has spent a lifetime under the surface." "He feels as at home in the sea as he does on land." "In the crystal clear waters of Tonga, he'll capture rare glimpses into the world of awe-inspiring ocean giants." "[Darren] Seeing those whales come toward you is like no other experience" "I've had in the sea." "[narrator] Darren then travels to the edge of a dangerous world that few rarely see." "[Darren] Just brings home how living in a place like this you're at the mercy of the planet." "[narrator] Finally," "Darren explores new photographic techniques in the waters of" "Papua New Guinea." "Venturing into the depths of World War II history in the ocean's darkest hours." "[uplifting music] [uplifting music] [uplifting music]" "[gentle music]" "[Darren] I'm fortunate enough to have spent the last 30 years of my life capturing and sharing the wonders of this planet." "Of all the things" "I've photographed" "I love photographing the ocean the most." "It's my love, it's my passion," "the way the light falls in the sea, the creatures within it." "For me there's no bigger challenge and there's no greater reward than capturing images in the ocean." "[gentle music]" "When I slip into the sea and my head goes beneath the surface, everything goes quiet and I'm presented with the endless canvas of the ocean." "I've always felt that this is the place that I belong." "[gentle music]" "Most of the world's oceans haven't even been explored let alone photographed." "The thin light filled layer is really just the beginning of what's out there." "[gentle music] [narrator]" "Darren has arrived at the South Pacific archipelago of Tonga." "He seeks to capture one of the most rarely witnessed ocean phenomena - giants of the ocean, racing one another to claim a mate." "[gentle music]" "[Darren] I remember the first time" "I saw a humpback from a boat and seeing some pec slapping and some tail slapping and a blow and just thinking there's so much more going on under the water that I'd like to see." "Being in the water with a 30 ton animal who's accepting of you, showing you its intelligence and its interest, is really unbeatable." "There's no other wildlife experience like that on the planet." "I've been in the water with people who are seeing whales for the first time and I think that the thing that surprises them most is the tenderness that these huge animals can display right before your very eyes." "Being respectful and only interacting when the whales want to interact means that you're gonna get better pictures, you're gonna have better experiences, you're gonna have the time of your life." "[Abe] Oh my god!" "[Darren] How was that?" "[Abe] Absolutely incredible." "[Darren] Yeah... she's an awesome mum, she's really chilled and the calf is really playful." "[gentle music] [gentle music] [gentle music]" "[Darren] When you get a really curious calf and a mum that's settled and happy for the calf to be swimming with the people." "It's a lot of fun they are new to the world, everything that they see is new and they're just like little toddlers or little puppies." "[gentle music]" "In those situations" "I'd be looking for images that capture the bond between the mother and the calf also something to really show the scale of the mum and the calf 'cause we're using wide angle lenses a lot." "Things close to the camera get big and things in the distance get small so sometimes the scale gets a little bit out of whack but if you can get the mum and the calf in the same distance from the camera" "you can really capture that immense size difference between the two animals." "[gentle music] [gentle music] [gentle music] [gentle music]" "When I'm in the water with mums and calves it's a pretty relaxed affair, sometimes I've got 15 or 20 minutes during an encounter to consider the light to consider the composition, but that's a completely" "different ball game to the challenge of getting in the water to photograph a heat run." "[upbeat music] [narrator] A heat run is the frenetic build up to humpback whales mating." "The large gathering of males vying for a female is a marine spectacle without equal." "One rarely witnessed or photographed beneath the waves." "[Darren] The excitement of getting ready to get in the water with a heat run and then seeing those whales come toward you is like no other experience" "I've had in the sea." "Often we'll be sitting on the back of the boat waiting to get in and there'll be animals coming out of the water and crashing on top of each other and it almost goes into slow motion and you see the grace and" "majesty of what's going on." "[gentle music]" "It's critical that we try and get a drop from the boat where we're going to see as many whales as possible in one frame." "A skipper does a lot of work to get us in position, he'll work out which is the female whale and he'll just keep tracking her 'cause she'll lead the other whales around on the merry chase" "and we'll go into the water as soon as he calls it and we should be presented with an ocean full of whales." "[upbeat music] [upbeat music]" "Just the idea of getting multiple bus sized animals in one picture, you're recording a remarkable event." "[upbeat music]" "We only get maybe 30 seconds of time to be in the water, to be in position and to get the shot before the animals are gone because they are moving at quite a pace." "[upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music]" "[Darren] How was that?" "[Abe] Unbelievable!" "[Darren] Yeah amazing, hey?" "[Abe] Incredible!" "[Darren] Eight whales coming straight at you." "[Abe] Just like steam trains through the ocean." "[Darren]" "The fact that the humpbacks let us swim with them here in Tonga is to me a bit of an indication about how happy they are to have us in their environment and tells me that we need to be looking" "after their environment as well." "You know without the ocean we lose one of the lungs of the planet and it's a critical aspect of the whole web of life and so I hope that the pictures that I create are the ones that will make a difference" "and can help people appreciate and respect the ocean, it's the only one we've got." "[narrator]" "Having successfully captured the magnificent heat runs in Tonga," "Darren and his crew travel to the Port town of Rabaul located on the" "Island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea." "The silent and deep waters of Rabaul harbour became a graveyard of twisted metal and hulks of wrecks during its occupation by the Japanese forces as a naval base during World War II." "These haunting wrecks have become a magnet for marine photographers from around the world." "[Darren]" "Ever since I was a boy dreaming of destinations around the world," "Rabaul was always high on my list of places to go." "One of the wrecks that really caught my imagination was a Mitsubishi" "Bi-Plane which the Allied forces code named Pete." "I just knew that I wanted to dive it for some reason, you get these things in your mind from time to time and you envisage the image you want to create." "When I came up here in 2008" "I asked about diving the Bi-Plane and there was a dispute between land owners and it was off limits." "So one of the first things I did when I got to Rabaul this time was to negotiate with the land holders." "[narrator]" "While Darren waits, hoping to gain permission to dive the Bi-Plane, he decides to use the time to explore the unusual topography of the surrounding area." "Rabaul's harbour was created by an extremely violent birth... and is in fact the remnants of a super volcano." "Around the edges of the harbour rise two active volcanoes that could erupt at any time." "[Darren] In 1994 both volcanoes exploded and that was the biggest eruption" "Rabaul had seen since 1937." "The old town was completely destroyed and had to be abandoned." "Exploring the shells of buildings and seeing the destruction first hand really makes it clear how fragile existence is when you're living on the edge of a volcano." "Walking down the main street the bitumen ends and gets replaced by a layer of volcanic ash." "That's not something you see every day." "[Steve] If you do climb it as we are today, it's done at your own risk so we're all aware." "I've had mates go up and it's been looking like that, stunning as normal and on their way down she decides to erupt so that's the main reason we don't recommend going up because flick of a switch," "she can go up." "[Darren] Climbing a volcano in the midday sun is no walk in the park, the dust is in my eyes, the humidity is so oppressive." "The smell of sulphur is burning the back of my throat, it's even getting down into my lungs." "The only thing that's keeping me going right now is the anticipation of the view from that crater rim." "[upbeat music]" "[Steve] Guys, we finally made it." "[Darren] Oh wow, oh goodness me, that's incredible." "I don't know that" "I was expecting to see, um, wasn't this." "[tense music] [tense music]" "[Darren] With the help of our drone pilot Toby," "I'm now going to fly my camera with a fish eye lens high up over the mountain." "I'm always looking for something new, and I have a picture in my mind that's going to show the living landscape in a whole new way." "[motors whirring]" "[Toby] Oh no it's out of range." "[Darren] Oh no lost it, lost it out of range." "[Toby] You got one!" "[Toby] Ok we've got a red light." "[Abe] Ok you've got to land, got to land." "[motors whirring]" "[Toby] Is that what you were hoping?" "[Darren] Yeah that's what I was thinking." "That's really worked!" "[triumphant music] [narrator] Darren's unique fisheye photograph of the Tavurvur Volcano turns it into a world of its own..." "[Darren] At any time that volcano could go up, it could've erupted while we were up there." "It's not if it's gonna happen it's when." "Just brings home how living in a place like this you're at the mercy of the planet." "[narrator]" "Only several weeks after photographing the volcano, it was captured by an Australian tourist erupting without warning... [loud explosion]" "[narrator] Word has come through that the landholders have agreed to allow access for Darren to dive the waters where the Bi-Plane wreck lies." "The next challenge was finding Pete's Bi-Plane." "Steve, our dive operator, hadn't been on the site for a number of years." "There was a bit of a question on my mind that will I actually find where the plane was." "We've come to the area where" "I recall the plane to be." "I'm going to jump in and try and get down about 10 metres and hopefully see the plane directly." "Yes!" "[Darren] Woo hoo!" "[Steve] It's here!" "Found it, fantastic!" "That's great news, what... is she still in good condition?" "Still in good shape to the looks of it." "Right, can't wait to get in there." "[gentle music] [gentle music]" "[Darren] Any dive you do is full of anticipation but to be diving on a site that you've longed to dive just heightens that excitement that much more." "[gentle music] [gentle music] [gentle music] [gentle music] [gentle music]" "[Darren] Wow." "[Abe] Oh that was bloody fantastic." "[Darren] What a beautiful sight that is, hey?" "[Abe] That's gotta be the best wreck I've ever dived." "[Darren]" "Yeah it's incredible." "[Abe] We were all absolutely blown away by how beautiful this Bi-Plane was." "After 70 years on the ocean floor, it was incredibly intact." "So when Darren expressed an interest to not only photograph" "Pete's Bi-Plane but to do it at night using a long exposure," "I was pretty excited." "[narrator] A long exposure photograph is created by opening your shutter for an extended period of time and letting in a lot of light." "It's often used in low light conditions, for landscapes or the night sky." "These types of photographs can be enhanced by bringing in an external light source." "This technique is often called "Painting with Light"." "It allows you to fill in extra elements of your subject with the external light source." "[Abe]" "So to test this method, using a long exposure and introducing torch light to effectively paint in the detail of the wreck," "Darren decided to travel to George's Wreck to do a shallower night dive before descending down to the deeper depths of the Bi-Plane." "This was a first for Darren," "Darren had never actually photographed using a tripod on the sea floor at night." "Using some dive weights on the bottom of the tripod to keep it firmly in place and triggering the bulb," "Darren left the tripod and then proceeded to swim around the wreck with his torch painting in the detail." "[upbeat music] [upbeat music]" "Just seeing these beams of light in the inky blackness of the ocean, it was eerily quiet but it was like there was a symphony going on in my mind and Darren was sort of conducting this orchestra." "It was just a very surreal experience and one I'll never forget." "[upbeat music]" "[Darren] So after last night's experience painting the George's Wreck, we learnt a lot," "I hadn't done this before and we learnt that there's a critical moment to get the picture when there was still just a glimmer of light in the sky, over the three minutes of this exposure that was able to build up" "and give us that colour and brightness." "This just really means that we will be going for something remarkable on the plane itself." "[gentle music]" "[Darren] Our first night dive on Pete's was the culmination of all the planning and negotiation and practice of painting with light on George's." "All of that work had gone into creating this one very very special moment and we had twenty minutes at 27 metres." "[gentle music]" "Gliding above the wreck looking at the details through the beam of the torch, the colour and the amount of life that had been attracted to her, it was like" "I was visualising and building the picture as I swam." "[upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music]" "[Abe] Oh!" "[Darren] Wow." "[Abe] Fantastic." "[Darren] Yeah how 'bout that." "[Abe] You're happy with it?" "[Darren] Yeah beautiful sight." "[Darren] The most challenging images are always the most satisfying and to create this picture over so many days was just the most amazing experience." "[narrator] Darren's image of Pete's Bi-plane captures an ethereal beauty that is truly unforgettable." "But it also highlights that an old machine built for death and destruction has now become home to an array of soft corals and invertebrates that continue to support life on Rabaul's sea floor." "[gentle music]" "[Darren]" "The world has taught me, and photography has taught me to capture every creature as if it's the last, to treat every moment as fleeting." "Our planet moves on, it evolves, it changes, and tomorrow is always going to bring me something new." "If my images can influence just a few more people to care for the nature of our world, then I feel like" "I've done my part." "[gentle music] [gentle music] [gentle music]" "[upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music] [upbeat music]"