Robert's Ramblings

Sorry disappoint any of you waiting for my next great shot. I have been busy working on my latest project, a new website for www.innovation-mentor.com.

Ok, yes this is work so it will not be everyone's favourite hangout. You might however find some interesting thoughts and ideas there so maybe visit at least once or twice.

I have created Innovation Mentor as a place to start a regular series of articles about creativity and innovation. It will be mostly business focussed but will also explore innovation in other aspects of our lives.

The site is 'Blog" based which means you can all participate so please feel free to make comments, suggestions or just say hello! If all you want are more great underwater photos, you will not have to wait to long for the next installment!


Until the next post, take care out there and keep being creative, innovative, oh and also diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Last weekend I was teaching again over in Edithburgh and as usual the camera comes along for that 'after the course' photography dive. Despite the chilly 12 degrees, this little guy just made my weekend! Oh, and the Title 'Speak To The Hand' ... need I say more!

I have not yet been able to identify this species of Anglerfish, or Frogfish but I suspect it may be a Cryptic Anglerfish Histiophryne cryptacanthus. I will post back with more info when I have learned more. For some great information on Anglerfish in South Australia please read Janine Baker's on-line reference at http://www.reefwatch.asn.au/pages/bin/view/Publications/SamsccANTENNARIIDAE

Yes the water is cold but I have to say diving in a drysuit makes an enormous difference. A good semi-dry wetsuit is still quite usable at 12 degrees but usually leaves you so chilled that one dive is all you are up for. This is our second year of teaching open water divers in drysuits. Even after 3 teaching dives I could not wait to get back in the water again for some fun with the camera.

So if you are keen to keep diving all year round here in South Australia, the investment in a drysuit may be just what's needed to keep you in the water!

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C7070 1/60s at f/4.5 ISO80 Inon UCL165AD Macro Lens and D2000 Strobe

I'm delighted to report that many people have expressed interest in seeing more of my underwater images. At last I have been able to spend some time getting my new image gallery up and running.

Introducing www.wetshutter.com

This new site is a 'Beta' standard preview. It is a 'first look' for comments and suggestions. It is also my first attempt at flash programming, so please don't be too harsh!

For testing I've uploaded only a small number of images from a recent trip to Edithburgh. Of course I will add many more when I'm happy that the site is operating without any technical issues.

Please feel free to make comments, suggestions or just say hello!

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

The Blue Ringed Octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa, is one of the deadliest creatures in the sea! Its powerful venom can easily kill a human despite its diminutive size of less than 12cm.

Although these creatures are a relatively common inhabitant here at Edithburgh, they're not often seen as they hide during the day and come out at night to hunt. This guy seemed only slightly annoyed as the bright strobe captured this image before crawling away at a leisurely pace to hide under a nearby rock.

The weekend was great with the water temperature still at 19 even though the days were a chilly 15! A good friend Paul joined us for one of the days and he made quite a find too..., but I'll leave that for another post!

Due to repeated requests I have upped the resolution of my photos but am using more compression to keep the size down. Please let me know what you think.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/60s at f/4.0 ISO100 Inon UCL165AD Macro Lens and D2000 Strobe

Edithburgh is famous as a jetty dive of unsurpassed diversity and beauty. However, all of Edithburgh's coast is just as beautiful and often overlooked. The 'Swimming Pool' is one such area.

Edithburgh's 'Swimming Pool' is a tide filled seawater pool offering a safe place for families to enjoy a lazy afternoon by the sea just a few meters short of the unknown. But slip out of the pool and into the ocean you find yourself in a snorkeller's paradise.

Dusky Morwongs, Old Wives, Leatherjackets, Cuttlefish, Stingrays, Sweep, Moonlighters, Whiting, Mulloway, Magpie Perch, Zebra Fish, Talmas, Blennys, Starfish, Urchines, Abalone, Scallops, Blue Grouper and Wrasse dance among the rocks and kelp in less than 2m of water. Many of the species seen will be juveniles as this rocky coastal area is a nursery for many of the bigger off-shore reef fish.

So next time you find yourself at Edithburgh with a potential future diver take them for a snorkel in the Swimming Pool.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/125s at f/6.7 ISO100 Inon UWL100-28AD Lens

Seahorse is the boat I seem to spend most of my time on, shore dives come second, and somewhere down the list I actually get to dive from my own boat every now and then.

This photo was taken just before descending onto the Hobart a couple of weeks ago. The conditons were so good you could snorkel over to any part of the ship for a free descent. Usually, strong currents limit access to and from the ship on lines, so this day was a rare treat.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath

Last week a lucky few of us had the chance to dive the AV Ulonga.

The AV Ulonga was a Murray River paddle steamer converted to be an ocean-going cargo vessel. She sank in 1976 in around 38m of water about 10 nautical miles off the coast of South Australian's Fleurieu Peninsula. At over 33m in length with some penetration, she makes for a fantastic dive.

Pictured above on the descent are Alexius, with camera at the ready, and Ken. Notice the extra tanks we all took down for the dive. I'll let you guess what's in them!

For more information on the history of the AV Ulonga checkout Steve Reynold's article at http://www.mlssa.asn.au/nletters/march2005.htm

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/500s at f/4 ISO200 Inon UWL100-28AD Lens

The Ex-HMAS Hobart is one of Australia's best naval wreck dives. This Adam's class guided missile destroyer was sunk here in 2002 as an eco-tourism draw card.

At over 130m long there's a lot of wreck to dive on. Much of the wreck is in the 15-25m region which gives lots of bottom time. Still plan at least 10 dives to see it properly!

This photograph was taken in one of the engine rooms at around 23m.

As my first 'fun' dive for the year and my first dive on the Hobart with my camera, it was a fantastic way to kick-start 2008.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/30s at f/6.7 ISO200 Inon UWL100-28AD Lens

We recently acquired a pre-loved Roland HP1500 digital piano at a real bargain price.

The real price in time and effort, however, proved to be another matter altogether. This piano was plagued with sticky keys. The previous owner claimed that two keys 'could be temperamental'. Once home, I could easily get eight keys to stay down permanently.

An hour later we had the piano entirely in pieces, with every single key mechanism removed.

Yes, all 88 of them.

Another hour later everything was cleaned and re-greased ('O'-ring grease worked a treat here) and I was ready to re-assemble. This is when the fun began!

Notice the grey PVC guide posts in the photograph. These are meant to be a perfect non-interference fit inside the keys. Too sloppy, and the key wobbles sideways. Too tight, and the key gets stuck. Like Baby Bear's porridge they need to be 'just right'.

As I replaced each key mechanism I tested the clearance. Even though only a few jammed, nearly a third were a little too tight and dragged the key action. Four hours of testing, filing, testing and filing every single guide post saw the job finally done.

Once again the piano felt beautiful to play.

So why did the keys become sticky? The keys may have deformed over time, but I suspect the PVC guide posts are to blame. Over time they may have swelled as a reult of absorbing solvents from the grease.

This is exactly the same reason why we use silicon-based grease for our camera housings. Having re-greased the keys using silicon 'O'-Ring grease, our piano should feel great to play for many years to come.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep making beautiful music ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Update 2008-11-10 Response To a Received Email

I had no access to the service manual so simply undertook the task with screwdriver in hand and enthusiasm. I do remember that removing each and every key mechanism took a bit of knack and practice but I don't remember it being too difficult.

To clean the contacts (see photo ContactMech), I removed the rubber contact mechanism and cleaned both the carbon inserts and PCB contacts using methylated spirits and lint free optical tissues then reassembled.



The big job was the PVC guides (se photo PVC_Guides). This required very carefully sanding the outside edges of the guides with fine grade wet and dry emery paper then carefully cleaning with lint free tissues and then checking for fit. By making small changes and regular checking I effectively crept up on the correct fit. I set it to the barest perceptible drag with no slop.



Re-greasing (see a clear looking grease on the edges of the guides in the photo). Re-greasing required removal of all the old grease and the application of a small amount of silicon based grease. I used o-ring grease normally used to lubricate the silicon o-rings using in underwater camera housings. The key is the grease must not be petroleum based to avoid it being absorbed by the PVC and expanding.

... Robert

This sculpture of these beautiful creatures, 'Whales x 2' is the work of Terrance Plowright and can be found at Cockle Bay Wharf in Sydney's popular Darling Harbour.

I have been captivated by the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae since seeing the amazing photography of Tony Wu from his recent trip to Tonga. His photography of these incredible creatures during the calving season is simply stunning. Please visit his site and be prepared to be gob-smacked!

Until the next post, take care out there, keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath EOS40D 10mm 1/40s at f/4.0 ISO3200

So why did the shark say meow? Because it was a catshark of course! I found this Varied Catshark, Parascyllium variolatum, while diving Whalebone Caves in Encounter Bay a few weeks ago.

Although found in a wide variety of Southern Australian habitats, little is know about this normally nocturnal shark. Fortunately for me this guy was up late. Unfortunately, trying to take the photos through gaps in the kelp made it hard to get a clear shot.

Whalebone Caves is another one of my favourite South Australian shore dives. Not very deep and only a stroll from the car park, this dive is like being in an aquarium. With an intricate maze of tunnels, caves and swim-throughs carved from the limestone sea-bed, this little place is fun to explore or just to hang out in at the end of a day's diving.

Until the next post, take care out there, keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/60s at f/3.5 ISO100 Lens UCL165AD Macro, Inon D2000 Strobe

This stunning looking creature is also the prize of many great seafood chefs. The King Scallop, Pecten fumatus is highly prized by the commercial fishery industry in Southern Australia.

Also known as the Southern Scallop, the Tasmanian Scallop or the Commercial Scallop, they can grow to over 14 cm across and live for just as many years. Scallops are filter feeders, living on plankton and other organic debris and are common to all our coastal waters.

This photo was taken on a night dive during my last Open Water course over in Edithburgh. It's fun to leave the students on the jetty, then come back to them with photos of what they'll soon be experiencing for themselves.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath C5060 1/30s at f/8 ISO200 30mm, Lens UWL100-28AD, Inon D2000 Strobe

This weekend's get-away took us to the Flinders Ranges in South Australia's mid-north.

How lovely it was to sit by an open camp fire, stare into the heavens and not have to worry about getting into a cold, damp wetsuit.

In all of the beauty this place has to offer, there is nothing like the feelings invoked by a starry night in the outback.

I hope this image gives a sense of the sky we never get to see in our suburban world.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep staring into the heavens ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath EOS40D 160s at f/8 ISO1600 10mm

I just love this sleepy little town with its world-famous jetty. Many times though, I find myself teaching a group of new divers when that magic photo opportunity literally swims on by...

It was near the end of their fourth open water dive. I was leading the way back under the jetty while Alexius took care of the rear. In the distance, just out of vision there appeared a very large shadow which was not in a place I expected one to be. I realised it was moving and it was very, very large. A moment of fear, then a moment of excitement as the shadow turned back towards us.

Out of the gloom swam the most magnificent, majestic and certainly the largest stingray I have seen in nearly 18 years of diving. At around 2m in span and over 4m in length this Smooth Stingray, Dasyatis brevicaudata, glided through the pylons with both precision and grace. I turned and swam alongside for a few moments before leaving it to glide out into the sunlit water and disappear into the distance.

This was a magical experience that I may not have appreciated as much if I had been staring into the viewfinder of my camera. After the dive, it was wonderful to share the experience with my students, some of whom much to their chagrin had been looking elsewhere for the entire encounter.

Today was a wonderful reminder of why we go to all that effort to put ourselves under the waves: to bring back treasured memories like these.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep diving ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath EOS40D 1/250s at f/11 ISO400 10mm

August 28, 2007 and we were treated to a most wonderful evening show. For around 45 minutes, the moon became red as it passed through the Earth's shadow.

This photograph was taken from my back lawn in competition with Adelaide's night sky.

Total lunar eclipses come in groups; usually we can observe two or three during a period of a year or so followed by a few years without any.

Lunar eclipses are visible from the entire night-time hemisphere of our planet. Because of this they are more frequently observed and seem to be numerous. They are, however, three to five times less frequent than their spectacular solar eclipse counterpart.

Until the next post, take care out there and keep staring into the heavens ( if that's what you do! ) ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath EOS300D 1.6s at f/5.6 ISO1600 300mm