blee
October 6th, 2008, 02:56 PM
Although I had some misgivings hauling myself out of bed before dawn (cold overnight temperatures and the feeling of a possible oncoming cold Saturday night), yesterday's dives turned out really nicely. There was at least a bit of sun to make it seem less cold, although I think all of us wet suit divers were all thoroughly jealous of those with dry suits by the end.
Water temps were a relatively balmy low 60s, although the air temp ranged from 6ish when the boat was loading to 13ish when unloading. Vis was adequate although not great (20-30') with a lot of particulates, which matters more to us budding UW photographers. Current was significant on the Vickery (i.e. normal or maybe even slightly below normal) and maybe slightly higher than normal on the Kinghorn (i.e. normally pretty low). At least I seemed to be swimming a bit to keep still, although maybe the puffing was more from trying to keep generating enough heat.
I'm still learning this underwater photography thing. It definitely increases your task loading, and maintaining situation awareness takes conscious effort. Low light levels and low vis can be challenging for a photographer, particularly if you don't have any stable surfaces to help stabilise the camera and keep it from shaking. All the particulates in the water meant that flashes or dive lights didn't work well, at least with my little P&S.
The current also presented an added challenge, since subjects drifted by so quickly. I find UW photography already challenging and a lot like taking candids of people on the surface, in that the windows of opportunity for good shots are often very short (a couple of seconds at best), and the current just sped things up, especially if you were trying to practice good heritage-preserving non-contact diving and not holding on to the wreck. Also, with the depth (darker and greener) and gas limits (time), I'm regretting that I didn't get a chance to recalibrate the white balance to make everything less green.
The boat (riverdiver) was pleasant and the split level cabin cruiser arrangement provided a decent amount of room for 8 divers, although more people might have started to be a bit cramped, given that we were all huddling in the cabin between dives for warmth, and not spreading making as much use of the dive deck. Captain Rick's briefings and local history were quite welcome.
Thanks to John for being a good dive buddy, and putting up with my camera-happy ways.
And for your entertainment, here are a few highlights. For those who are more interested, a more complete collection of photos can be found in my flickr collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/sets/72157607787281008/ Anyone have any better captions for any of these?
The Vickery, appearing out of the murk.
(Like I said, vis wasn't great.)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2919068462_0b4901fbfc_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2919068462/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Dive Buddy John
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2918212311_3a93e6aac7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918212311/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Anyone remember where on the Vickery this is? Might be the stern.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2918249017_207313244b_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918249017/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Philip and Guy on the up line from the Vickery
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/2918270359_e094d6b927_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918270359/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
These two posed like this back in August.
Except without bathing suits.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2919021876_080fcbdc21.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2919021876/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
The Kinghorn
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/2918317453_61885a144e_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918317453/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
The Kinghorn's Anchor and Ju Ju
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3036/2919193764_507e13532e_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2919193764/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Not quite sure what this is, on the Kinghorn
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2918320721_9d554848df_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918320721/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Julie, and Bill taking a picture of being taken a picture of
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2918382593_64e43a8283.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918382593/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Water temps were a relatively balmy low 60s, although the air temp ranged from 6ish when the boat was loading to 13ish when unloading. Vis was adequate although not great (20-30') with a lot of particulates, which matters more to us budding UW photographers. Current was significant on the Vickery (i.e. normal or maybe even slightly below normal) and maybe slightly higher than normal on the Kinghorn (i.e. normally pretty low). At least I seemed to be swimming a bit to keep still, although maybe the puffing was more from trying to keep generating enough heat.
I'm still learning this underwater photography thing. It definitely increases your task loading, and maintaining situation awareness takes conscious effort. Low light levels and low vis can be challenging for a photographer, particularly if you don't have any stable surfaces to help stabilise the camera and keep it from shaking. All the particulates in the water meant that flashes or dive lights didn't work well, at least with my little P&S.
The current also presented an added challenge, since subjects drifted by so quickly. I find UW photography already challenging and a lot like taking candids of people on the surface, in that the windows of opportunity for good shots are often very short (a couple of seconds at best), and the current just sped things up, especially if you were trying to practice good heritage-preserving non-contact diving and not holding on to the wreck. Also, with the depth (darker and greener) and gas limits (time), I'm regretting that I didn't get a chance to recalibrate the white balance to make everything less green.
The boat (riverdiver) was pleasant and the split level cabin cruiser arrangement provided a decent amount of room for 8 divers, although more people might have started to be a bit cramped, given that we were all huddling in the cabin between dives for warmth, and not spreading making as much use of the dive deck. Captain Rick's briefings and local history were quite welcome.
Thanks to John for being a good dive buddy, and putting up with my camera-happy ways.
And for your entertainment, here are a few highlights. For those who are more interested, a more complete collection of photos can be found in my flickr collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/sets/72157607787281008/ Anyone have any better captions for any of these?
The Vickery, appearing out of the murk.
(Like I said, vis wasn't great.)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3060/2919068462_0b4901fbfc_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2919068462/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Dive Buddy John
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2918212311_3a93e6aac7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918212311/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Anyone remember where on the Vickery this is? Might be the stern.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3040/2918249017_207313244b_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918249017/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Philip and Guy on the up line from the Vickery
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/2918270359_e094d6b927_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918270359/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
These two posed like this back in August.
Except without bathing suits.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2919021876_080fcbdc21.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2919021876/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
The Kinghorn
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/2918317453_61885a144e_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918317453/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
The Kinghorn's Anchor and Ju Ju
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3036/2919193764_507e13532e_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2919193764/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Not quite sure what this is, on the Kinghorn
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/2918320721_9d554848df_d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918320721/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)
Julie, and Bill taking a picture of being taken a picture of
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2918382593_64e43a8283.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bleeb/2918382593/sizes/m/in/set-72157607787281008/)