Robert's Ramblings

This mating pair of Lightning Volutes, Ericusa fulgetrum was a stunning find on our recent midnight dive under Edithburgh Jetty. We had seen a single volute earlier in the dive in the same location so probably the same guy ( or girl, does anyone know how to tell? ).

This brings me to the wonderful subject of night diving and picking your time. Most night dives take place around late dusk. This is more a factor of logistics and convenience with the added advantage of being able to prepare in some remaining daylight. But just as you will see different things at different times during the day the same applies to the night. As a youngster I remember being on holidays when some of the grownups would head out fishing after we had all gone to bed. The reason, picking the time based on the tides.

In and around Adelaide we often have low tides around midnight so if you can delay your start a few hours and don't mind a late night then try a few midnight dives. You will almost certainly see a level of activity different to a dive soon after sunset. Another good time to see different things is in early morning hours before sunrise. The combination of running tide and remaining darkness will again provide opportunities to see creatures and behaviours different again. And finally try a dive just before dawn and watch first light creeping into the underwater world.

Next time you are planning on doing a dive after sunset try and get creative with the timing. Getting in the water at midnight or getting up at 2am is not for everyone but then neither is experiencing the full scope any one location has to offer.

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

Photo: Robert Rath 5DMkII on 'L' plates. (Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.)

The Southern Pygmy Leatherjacket, Brachaluteres jacksonianus is a common sight under Edithburgh Jetty and always a very cute encounter. This little guy is trying to get some sleep considering it's well after midnight!

He was just one of many wonderful encounters on Friday evening's night dive with our good friends Iain and Susie. Actually Jennifer and Susie ran from the room when I suggested we go for a dive just about the time normal people go to bed. I think Iain only agreed because he thought I was actually joking. The dive that followed was one of our best night dives ever!

Notice something new? Yes, bigger and better photographs! I just love seeing big images and am distressed to find nothing bigger than tantalising thumbnails when I see an image I really like. So from now on I will be trying out a new image size of 900x600. Please let me know what you think and if I should keep with this size or go even bigger! Of course if you really want BIG images we can negotiate an off-site deal!

There will be more Edithburgh images from last weekend along soon. Stay tuned.

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

Photo: Robert Rath 5DMkII on 'L' plates. (Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.)

Delicate yet tough. Wild flowers grow in impossible conditions, near the abandoned Bollabollana Copper Smelter, Arkaroola-Mt Painter Wilderness Sanctuary, northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

The photos at this link are extraordinary, distressing and deeply moving giving an emmotional glimpse into the Sumatra tradgedy .

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/2009_sumatra_earthquakes.html

Yesterday's dive at Port Hughes heralded the beginning of a new world for me with my first foray into underwater DSLR photography. Over the past four years I have been using Olympus compact cameras for all of my underwater photography. For the last two years I have been planning my transition to taking a DSLR camera underwater. Finally all of my research, planning, purchasing, customising and doing came to fruition as I stood looking out over Port Hughes Jetty with new rig in hand.

I was very nervous taking 'so much' camera down with me. I double-checked all the seals. I fitted the camera and snapped shut the housing. I fired a few shots to test the strobes. Something was not right but I could not put my finger on it. Then a few more shots revealed to my annoyance that the lens was switched to manual focus mode. So off came the back, out came the camera and I switched the lens to auto focus mode before reassembling everything.

Note to self 1: check lens auto focus switch.

My walk to the dive site was like carrying my buddy's weight belt. This rig must be five times heavier than my compact! When in the water, however, the beast became gently positively buoyant and I forgot about the weight.

Note to self 2: attach a lanyard so it doesn't float away.

My first 10 minutes in the water were spent in a state of paranoia and fear of a drowned camera. I continually peered into the front of the domed port looking for any hint of leaking seawater. After about 20 minutes I had calmed down enough to actually start using the camera only to discover that when I re-assembled the housing I had misaligned the focus preview lever.

Note to self 3: check the focus preview lever when fitting the housing back cover.

Here are my first impressions.

I found the rig clumsy and awkward. Swimming with it felt like I was dragging around a sea anchor. The strobes poked out at all angles and kept bashing the bottom or the jetty pylons. The quality of my shots was all over the place. The photos ranged from being drastically overexposed to being patchily lit as I struggled with all the controls being fully manual. I was rapidly starting to wonder why I had spent all this money. I realised for the first time how reliant I had become on using automatic aperture priority with TTL. I wondered what I had let myself in for.





But now for the good part! Operation of the controls was an absolute delight. The shutter performance through the housing felt amazing, with a sensitive but positive action. I could fire off shots as quickly as I wanted (strobes permitting) without having to manage the eight seconds per frame I was used to from my Olympus in raw mode. The ultra fast low-light auto focus caught me by surprise again and again as the camera was ready to take the shot before I was! In short, every gripe I had ever had with my previous compact experience was not only put to rest but done so spectacularly.

So, even though I did not get any fantastic images from my first dive, I know this will only be a matter of time, practice, lots of diving and just getting to know my way around all the controls.

Maybe I'll never really tame the beast, but we've got off to an excellent start. I know we'll make a great team.

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

Photos: Robert Rath, 5DMkII, Port Hughes Jetty