Choosing the rEvo

 rEvo, Wrecks  2 Responses »
Nov 042013
 
Choosing the rEvo

When I bought my current dSLR, I knew I was choosing an underwater camera rig over a rebreather. I could barely afford one expensive toy let alone two. At the time it was absolutely the right choice. The camera has lasted me four years so far, and I hope to get at least another two out of it. Despite the release of a new model I’m still more than happy with the shots I can get out of it. Since investing in my camera set-up, I’ve had a huge amount of fun taking photos, learning and improving my skills. This didn’t mean I forgot about the rebreather though… For me the rebreather advantage is significantly in the ability to use [read more…]

Trip packing again

 Ocean diving, Other, Reef diving, rEvo  No Responses »
Sep 132013
 
Trip packing again

The eagle-eyed will have noticed that I missed my regular Monday posting this week, which must mean life is busy. I’ve spent this week packing before leaving for Bali tonight, to join Marc Crane at Orca Dive Club Bali for six days of rEvo instruction. I’m doing my MOD1 course to begin bubble-free diving. I’m excited about the photographic possibilities…being able to sneak up on critters that don’t like bubbles, and doing ~30m dives on helium so I’m not composing under the influence of (as much) nitrogen. Of course, there’s a learning curve that comes with all that. The move to closed circuit will mean a complete relearn of buoyancy skills with the end of small adjustments by breathing in [read more…]

The top of the pylons at Flinders Pier

 Macro, Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Sep 022013
 
The top of the pylons at Flinders Pier

About the site I was intending to dive at Mornington Pier yesterday, a quick trip out from home. When I got there I discovered the 1m+ swell was breaking under the pier and the car park was empty of divers. With the wind coming in from the bay it was time to move to the other side and I drove over to Flinders Pier instead. Yesterday was also the first day of the Underwater Festival photo competition. Photos have to be taken in September this year to qualify so I have the next 29 days to take the winning shot. It was great to get started early. About the dive Due to the unexpected redirection I got to Flinders about [read more…]

Critters on Richelieu Rock

 Macro, Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Jul 222013
 
Critters on Richelieu Rock

About the site After realising last week that I hadn’t talked about diving Richelieu Rock aboard the MV Giamani, I shared a couple of my favourite wide angle shots from the dive with you. And the view across the dive site was pretty spectacular. Beyond the view in great vis I really enjoyed was the two dives I did with my macro lens, because every crevice I looked into, a critter was looking back out at me. Richelieu is covered in critters from lionfish to clownfish, dancing shrimp to decorator crabs, with spotfaced, honeycomb and white-eyed moray eels jostling for position. About the dive The abundance of photogenic critters presented a bit of a dilemma. Instead of being able to focus on getting [read more…]

Richelieu Rock, Thailand

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  1 Response »
Jul 082013
 
Richelieu Rock, Thailand

About the dive site I had a very relaxed two days last weekend, and decided to go for a late afternoon Sunday dive down at Mornington Pier. This turned out to be a terrible idea as I  filled the housing with seawater in my first ever camera flood. After getting assessments done for repairs and replacements, the whole lot is now with my insurance company. I’m very hopeful of being back in the water with camera in hand in another week or two, but it means I didn’t take any underwater shots over the weekend. So I was having a look back through my archive and discovered despite talking about the macro shots and the wreck shots from my Thailand [read more…]

Weedy seadragon portrait under Flinders Pier

 Macro, Ocean diving  5 Responses »
Jun 242013
 
Weedy seadragon portrait under Flinders Pier

About the site Flinders Pier is known for weedy seadragons and it would be rare to dive there and not see one. It can be a very shallow dive – I’ve spent an hour underwater at low tide and not been deep enough to turn my dive computer on. The pier is a great dive when the wind is blowing from the west as it’s on the other side of the Mornington Peninsula and sheltered when Mornington and Rye Piers are exposed. About the dive I dived at Flinders on the long weekend Monday. The conditions were dead flat up top. Underwater the vis was milky but there wasn’t much floating sand, and the water temperature was finally down to [read more…]

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