A winning shot in the Shaft

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  9 Responses »
Mar 182013
 
A winning shot in the Shaft

Many thanks to all those who dropped by to see me at OZTeK 2013 this weekend…I had a truly excellent time, and I hope you did too! For those who couldn’t make it, my photograph above won first prize in the cave category of the photo competition. I’ve been keeping it under wraps until the show and I’m very glad to be able to share it with you now. In my talk on Saturday morning I walked through a little of the effort that went into creating this shot. After initial attempts at a tripod based shot in the bottom of the Shaft way back in August 2011, and two separate dedicated trips in summer 2012, this January I put [read more…]

Juvenile leatherjackets under Rye Pier

 Ocean diving, Reef diving  No Responses »
Mar 112013
 
Juvenile leatherjackets under Rye Pier

About the site Rye Pier is a long sandy swim down to the end. It’s known for seahorses hanging out on the pylons, and once a year playing host to the spider crab migration. Last week I’d heard a rumour the spider crabs were out and about. It seemed a little unlikely especially given last year I dived with them in May. With the weather looking beautiful for any kind of dive, we decided to head down to Rye anyway and see what we could see. About the dive We walked down the beach and into the water, rather than walking along the top of the pier in the very hot sun. After a bit of wading, this meant swimming through [read more…]

Hero shots in Kilsby’s Sinkhole

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  1 Response »
Mar 042013
 
Hero shots in Kilsby's Sinkhole

About the site We’re very lucky to have the easily accessible and stunning Mt Gambier sinkholes so close to home. Piccaninnie Ponds, the Shaft and Kilsby’s are all huge spaces filled with crystal clear water. In all three you can hang mid-cave and see from one side to the other (unless the sun is too low or your torch isn’t big enough). From a diver’s point of view, they’ve got clear water all year round. From a photographer’s point of view, all three get silty and milky (although non camera holding visitors might not think so). By the time a bunch of divers have been through Kilsby’s on a weekend the water takes on a hazy quality. About the dive [read more…]

Two years later

 Cave diving, Other  1 Response »
Feb 272013
 
Two years later

Ag died in Tank Cave, two years ago today. It’s still not clear exactly what happened that meant she couldn’t return to the surface. I don’t know that it ever will be. More importantly, I don’t know that it matters as much as the fact that two years on, she’s still dead. Last year I felt very strongly that sometimes divers take risks for themselves without considering that their friends and family are the ones who will have to live with the consequences. This year I’m getting closer to really understanding that being dead lasts for a very long time. In the weeks and months after Ag died, I saw her on a near daily basis. A stranger walking across [read more…]

Soft foreground lighting in Tank Cave

 Cave diving, Mt Gambier  3 Responses »
Feb 252013
 
Soft foreground lighting in Tank Cave

About the site Tank Cave consists of several miles of interlinking tunnels and passages north of Mt Gambier. The cave has shallow, clear water and changes character as you swim through the different tunnels and rooms. I suspect I’m now well past 25,000 photos in there and familiarity gives me a great opportunity to experiment. About the dive With camera wrapped up and a mission in mind, Ken and I headed down the line, up the Goat Track and to the Elephant Room. We were trying a new strobe set up with an off camera strobe mounted on the top of each sidemount. This worked well through the restrictions, with Ken able to reach back and rearrange the strobes as [read more…]

Weebubbie Cave on Catalyst

 Cave diving, Nullarbor  2 Responses »
Feb 212013
 
Weebubbie Cave on Catalyst

Just a quick reminder that Weebubbie Cave will be featuring on the ABC’s Catalyst program, airing tonight at 8pm – set your reminders now! I dived with Anja from Catalyst and filmed in Weebubbie back in late December, and I can’t wait to see the footage on the small screen. Weebubbie is a beautiful cave with huge spaces, white walls and clear blue water. Anja’s written up her impressions of the cave in the Catalyst blog for another perspective. For some of the photos I took on the same trip, check out the surface lake here and the “Railway Tunnel” passage here. If you’re interested in the other Nullarbor caves (including some great “back in the day” shots from the [read more…]

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