Entries by Robert

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Vibration'. 1/320 sec at 200mm f/3.5, ISO 1000

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Gorgeous Jennifer'. 1/30 sec at 200mm f/2.8, ISO 1600

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Birthday Orchids'. 1/30 sec at 105mm f/4.0, ISO 1600

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Qantas'. 1/200 sec at 105mm f/6.3, ISO 1600

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Tin Tin'. 1/100 sec at 200mm f/2.8, ISO 1000

Photo: Robert Rath, 'Waxing Moon'. 1/40 sec at 500mm(Mirror) f/8.0, ISO 400

Not far from where we live a transformation is taking place as anonymous street graffiti artists bring colour to what had been a bleak industrial landscape.


          Scary Plant

Not sure if I'd be game to open that door. Maybe it's a warning?


          Parking

Signage becomes art becomes signage. I parked in front


          Perspective

I love the way the lines of the brickwork intersect with strong vertical images.


          Purples

What's worse than having 'The Blues'? I think it might be 'The Purples'!


          Purple & White

It seems that the aftermath of a good time leaves behind 'empties'. In this case, lots of them!

Until the next post, keep enjoying your local anonymous artists (unless it's your house! ) ...Robert

All Photos: Robert Rath, November 2011. Please ask if you want to know more about my images.

          Beautiful Pink Roses

Last week we spent the afternoon in my parents garden and took the time to admire the colours of Spring.


          Bird of Paradise

Complete with resident ants!


          Orange Blossom

The orange tree has not blossomed for years. The recent rain as done wonders.


          Purple Iris

The garden was full of Irises of all colours. The purple ones were my favourite.


          Purple & White

Note sure what these are but interesting to see both white and purple blooms on the same flower.


          More Colour

Another flower I could not put a name to but was most accommodating for the camera, waiting patiently for me to take this image.


          Catherine Wheel

OK, now I am just making up names but at least this one reminded me of Catherine wheels back in the days when we were allowed fireworks. I don't remember any purple Catherine wheels back then!


          Sunny

Until the next post, keep enjoying the blooms of Spring (unless you suffer from hay fever! ) ...Robert

All Photos: Robert Rath, October 2011. Please ask if you want to know more about my images.

          Sydney Harbour Bridge

Last Saturday we headed over to Sydney for a little fun, catch up with friends and even a bit of work. Of course the camera tagged along!


          Syndey Opera House

Familiar Opera House sails in the distance with the Ken Done gallery in the foreground.


          Ken Done Gallery

Beautiful glass art in the Ken Done galley. Note the 'no photographs' sign to the right. I took this image from the street through an open door so I reckon the sign does not apply!


          The Rocks Market

Ghostly images mark the passage of many through 'The Rocks' market.


          Circular Quay

A beautiful sunny day at Circular Quay. ( I am told it was miserable in Adelaide! )


          Jennifer

The piano bar at 'The Menzies' with featured pianist tinkling the ivories!


          Skyward

Lying on the ground staring into the heavens and the stars Sydney style.


          Syndey Opera House

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

All Photos: Robert Rath, Sydney, July 2011. Please ask if you want to know more about my images.

          Four beautiful little short-headed seahorses, Hippocampus breviceps, on yellow algae.

On Saturday we headed over to Edithburgh for a lazy diving getaway. No students, no teaching, no courses, no pressure and no expectations. Just Jennifer, myself and my camera gear. We also planned to meet up with fellow 'fish paparazzi' friend Fred but with no expectations on when we would actually get in the water. I had not used my camera underwater for a few months so the time spent in inspecting and preparing every seal and 'o'-ring of my housing and equipment was both meditative and an important part of the day.


          Sand Flathead, Platycephalus bassensis, waiting for a passing morsel.

I dropped below the surface of the chilly lapping water just after 8:30pm. A stark contrast to the cosy surrounds and hearty meal at the Edithburgh Hotel just a short time earlier, this cold and dark underwater world beneath the jetty immediately comforted me with familiar sounds, sights and the animals I just love to watch, photograph and wonder about. As always Edithburgh Jetty was alive with the the critters of the night out hunting, being hunted, being photographed or just hanging around.


          Lightning volute, Ericusa fulgetrum, on the hunt for other molluscs.

In my hour underwater I saw volutes searching for prey, sand snails laying eggs and flatheads waiting camouflaged in the sand ready to gulp in a passing morsel. I found short-head seahorses snapping at passing plankton, helmet crabs scouring the the sandy rubble and baby sea-urchins feeding in the sea grass.


          Unusually unadorned decorator crab, Naxia tumida

One of the most important things you can do on a night dive whether you are taking photographs or not is to spend a little time just resting still. Hover if you can or drop gently to some insensitive bottom and just wait for 5-10 minutes. It is amazing how you become aware of animals around you which were always there but you simply would never notice at a cursory look. Also after a while, animals which you may have originally scared away come back and you get to see what your little spot in the ocean is really like.


          Being eyballed by a beautiful giant cuttlefish, Sepia apama.

When it was time to return to the surface I took one last look around just in case any new creatures had wandered into the sandy clearing below the jetty steps.


          Sea urchine, Amblypneustes pallidus, feeding in the sea grass.

I wanted to linger longer, to take more photographs and to just be part of the scene around me, but time, diminishing air and the cold soon won out as they always do.



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

All Photos: Robert Rath, Edithburgh, May 2011. Please ask if you want to know more about my images.

Tonight I spotted a this curious pair on the breakfast bar when just moments before Jennifer was complaining about some pesky fly. Strangely enough the pesky fly just vanished she said!

My immediate reaction when ever I spot a spider in the house is to catch it and let is go but it soon became obvious that this guy was not going anywhere until he had finished his meal giving me ample time to take a few photos. He actually took a few hours but when he was done there was only a husk of the fly remaining and his abdomen had swollen to twice its original size.



Because I did not want to disturb him with the bright flash of a strobe I was limited to wide apertures, natural light and slow exposures. I like these conditions anyway as natural lighting is almost always, well, more natural


Until the next post, remember to catch and let go, catch and let go. Even spiders! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: And The Spider Had The Fly For Dinner

Last night I spotted a photo competition on the Canon 1Wall website with the theme 'weightless'. As a diver and avid photographer this caught my eye so I looked at some of the entries and started imagining some new photo ideas around this theme. That's when I noticed the competition closed the next day so a change of tack saw me getting creative in the kitchen again in my quest to photograph 'weightless'.

I experimented with quite a few ideas before this final image came together with nothing more than a glass of water and a drop of soy sauce. Unfortunately when I went to submit my entry the competition had closed. Oh well, next time I'll go looking for an image I've already taken but at least I had fun and have a great image to show for my efforts.


Until the next post, get weightless and wet as often as you can! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Weightless

Last month a few of us travelled to Edithburgh for an underwater photography course. The weather was clear, the water cold and the diving gentle and relaxing. As usual the life under and around the jetty was teaming and we all took some great photos even though the visibility was not stunning. It was here I saw my first leafy seadragon some twenty years earlier.

Edithburgh has never been a great place to find leafy seadragons. There are other places in South Australia more reliable but Edithburgh is such a wonderful place to dive that finding a leafy seadragon or two is such a wonderful bonus to an incredible site.

So where are the Edithburgh leafys? Well in twenty years I have only ever seen a dragon under the jetty three times and this is not surprising really as this is not their natural habitat without the heavy seaweed cover they normally inhabit. To find leafys at Edithburgh you need to leave the jetty and look for large groups of brown algae seaweed. I have found them in every direction from the jetty. To the south, the west and the north. Be prepared to swim a little and make sure you are using a good pair of fins, especially if there is a little current. When you find a large grouping of brown algae seaweed don't just scan the area as you swim past. Leafy seadragons are easily missed due to their wonderful camouflage. Settle somewhere in the middle, be still , watch wait and study. Even if you do not fond a dragon you will notice things that you would never see just swimming by. My experience is that you don't just look and see leafy seadragons. They come into view as you are staring at the seaweed. Almost like magic a dragon will appear exactly where you are staring even though you have stared at the same spot for a while. So be patient and then move on and good luck!

I took this photo of a young adult last month during our Edithburgh course. The little critter was not particularly co-operative preferring to stay hidden in the weed. I'm just happy to say you can still find leafy seadragons at Edithburgh.


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


Photo: Robert Rath, Leafy Seadragon, Edithburgh. Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

Have a close look at this image and you will clearly see a reflection of myself in the shiny surface of the 'thing' I have photographed but what are you looking at a photograph of? Believe it or not, that reflection is coming from the ball of an ordinary ball point pen. Welcome to the world of macro photography!

I love the way macro brings a world to life around us that we are normally oblivious to as we go about our lives. Just a few minutes in the kitchen will reveal an infinite variety of amazing perspectives if we can get small enough to perceive them or make them large enough to have an impact. The second of these two strategies via macro photography is clearly the easier task unless you are in possession of a shrinking ray gun.

So how macro is macro?

The standard definition of a macro image comes from film camera days where an image 10mm high translated directly to an image 10mm high on a 35mm negative or slide. This 1:1 image ratio or smaller was deemed to be 'macro' while larger than this was simply 'close-up'. Today we use the term a little more loosely as many camera manufacturers proclaim their cameras are macro capable but very few achieve true 1:1 macro. This is further complicated as image sensors in nearly all cameras (with a few exceptions) have a much smaller image sensor than the original 35mm slide or negative.

So what are your options if you want to bring the very small into focus (pun intended :-)?

A. Purchase a compact digital camera with a very good macro mode.

Many compact cameras are able to focus very close to a subject when placed in 'macro' mode. Even if true 1:1 macro is not possible the results in good light can be excellent. The key with these cameras is their ability to get very close to the object they are taking a photograph of. This is fine when there is lots of natural light but often this is not the case. Often the image is so close to the lens of the camera that light from the flash will be shadowed by the lens and it will not be possible to sufficiently light the subject. Some cameras, notably the Olympus 5060 and 7070, disable the flash in macro mode for this very reason. In most cases however good results can be obtained by using the camera with a tripod and timer and allowing the camera to do a long time exposure in order to get sufficient light.

B. Purchase a DSLR camera with a dedicated macro lens.

This is the best solution if you can afford the hardware and don't mind managing the bulk of large cameras and lenses. Dedicated macro lenses combine the qualities of a telephoto lens with close focus. This provides good magnification of 1:1 or better without having to get too close to the subject. Lots of light is available from in built flash or external strobes and taking good macro images in the realm of 1:2 through to 5:1 is relatively easy depending on the lens. It is worth noting that auto-focus becomes more challenging for the camera at macro ratios greater than 1:1. Lenses designed for macro ratios greater then 1:1 will almost always need to be manually focused even if they are auto focus capable.

C. Use extension rings or diopters with a standard lens and a DSLR camera.

The use of extension rings or diopters creates apparent magnification by allowing a standard lens to focus more closely and hence achieve greater magnification. This is a commonly used by those who already own a DSLR camera and want to dabble in macro imaging. The issues with macro rings are very similar to those experienced by compact camera users, namely the close proximity of the object to the lens and difficulty in both lighting the subject and also in achieving acceptable depth of field. In some cases compact cameras will do better due to their smaller image sensor and associated better depth of field. An image sensor in a compact camera which is only 25% the size of that in a DSLR camera can take the same image at 1:2 image-to-sensor ratio while the DSLR struggles at 1:1.

Depth-of-field Issues

Any time a lens is placed close to a subject it requires a smaller and smaller aperture to achieve acceptable depth of field. For large apertures it is not uncommon to be struggling with a focal plan less than 1mm in depth where anything outside of this 1mm good zone becomes progressively unfocussed. Stopping down the lens to f8, f16 or even f32 widens the depth but at a huge cost to available light and the absolute dependence on strong strobe lighting or very long time exposures. The higher in magnification you go these problems become exponentially worse to the point that 10:1 is really the limit without going to dedicated microscope hardware.

To wrap up I would suggest making a start into the world of macro photography with a good digital compact, a sturdy tripod and an equally good deal of patience. The results from compact cameras can be quite stunning and now with the higher megapixel counts available you have a lot of scope for cropping to achieve even greater apparent magnification. If you already have a DSLR camera I would really suggest aiming to purchase a dedicated macro lens. Extension tubes with standard lenses will always present frustrating problems with low light and poor depth of field although good results can still be achieved with patience.


Until the next post, drink the potion or nibble the cake and see where the rabbit hole leads! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Self Portrait In A Ball Point Pen

Solitary stigma surrounded by six furry anther. Lilies display beautifully their crown jewels!

Until the next post, take the time to notice the little things in your world! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Lily Macro

Yesterday I waited for the sunset at West Beach, hoping the sun would peek out through the clouds just before setting. Alas, no such luck. Not even a hint of a gleam before the sun was no more and a sullen twilight settled upon the beach and the ocean.

We'll perhaps no dramatic sunset this time but there is always a photograph to be taken no matter where, no matter what the conditions so snap away I did!
More photos from the evening can be found here in my Facebook Album.


Until the next post, snap away! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Moody West Beach Twilight

As much as most of us have an innate dislike of spiders they are undoubted fascinating and even if we want them as far as way from us as possible the fascination remains. This photo is of the much maligned white-tailed spider Lampona cylindrata. In this example a juvenile with a body only 2mm in length. The beautiful banded colouring and translucent appendages are due to this spider being so small and will disappear as the spider matures.

This little spider has been unfairly labelled as the cause of horrid necrotic ulcers which never heal after a much publicised study back in the 1980s. In fact more recent studies have demonstrated that bites from this spider have only minimal short term effects. On the bad side however the white-tailed spider is a wandering nocturnal hunter and as it likes homes it is probably the biggest culprit of domestic spider bites we have here.


Until the next post, face your fears take spiders you find in your house back out into the garden rather than squashing them! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Juvenile White-Tailed Spider

The wonderful thing about photography is how it makes the ordinary, extra ordinary. I was in our garden this afternoon and thinking about how much it needed a good tidy. Soon I started noticing all the little things which make a garden beautiful with out that extreme manicured look so common in home and garden magazines. This single camelia flower is a beautiful example.



Until the next post, enjoy your messy garden and take the time to notice the beautiful things! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Camelia bloom

It did not take long to review the photos. In fact I think this one came just as much by popular demand as by our choices. Either way it's the one we will be using in Jennifer's promotional material.

Until the next post, ... Robert



Photo: Robert Rath, Jennifer Liston, poet, musician and super-model!

We all have heard of the bush tucker treat, the witchety grub, but how many know what happens to a witchety grub when it grows up and gets its wings? Today my daughter brought home this beautiful giant moth found in the school yard. We set it down on the kitchen table and I took a couple of photographs before it when out into the garden.

After a little bit of research we discovered it was an adult witchety grub or wood moth. There are about 60 species of wood moths in Australia of the family Cossidae, the largest having a wingspan of more than 25cm. The life cycle of the 'witchety moth' is rather interesting with the grub living for up to two years before becoming a moth which will live just a few days. This one will only live for a day or two more.

Its always fun to take photos of unusual critters and this little guy was a poser for the camera!


Until the next post, pull out your bush tucker books and enjoy! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath

Yes, the rumors really are true; Jennifer has a third collection of her fabulous poetry completed and now with the publisher for production. There will only be a limited run of these so to make sure you do not miss out you can pre-order your very own copy at White Wave Press.

The other good news is that 10% of the sale price of each copy of Jennifer Liston's third poetry collection will be donated to Ovarian Cancer Australia.

Once again be prepared to be entertained, amused and perhaps at times a little challenged with her beautiful and thought provoking words.

... Robert

Jennifer is about to launch her third collection of poetry and we decided to take some fresh new photos for her author profile. Here is just one of the many I took Sunday evening down on the beach at sunset. A few more can be found on Facebook but to be honest we really have not even started reviewing them.

One thing I tried for these images was using Canon's 100mm F2.8 macro. The one I usually use for those little undersea critters. Well as a portrait lens wide open at F2.8 this lens is as sharp as a tack with just enough depth of field to be manageable.

This photo of Jennifer was taken right on sunset with the sun kissing the horizon with only natural light. She looks gorgeous, doesn't she!

Until the next post, take care out there and enjoy beautiful sunsets as I regularly do ...Robert

Photo: Robert Rath, Jennifer Liston, poet, musician and super-model!

Make yourself a coffee and head over to Jennifer's new website, http://jenniferliston.com, which is her own little cobwebby corner of the poetry world!

Be prepared to be entertained, amused and perhaps at times a little challenged with her beautiful and thought provoking words.

... Robert

Yesterday I took a set of images from Edithburgh specifically experimenting with shooting into the sun. Please excuse the backscatter, no cleaning up has been done.

More photo's from the 'Edithburgh Sun Shots' dive can be found here at Edithburgh Sun Shots (Facebook Album) or my slideshow on Flickr.

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

Photo: Robert Rath, Leafy Seadragon, Edithburgh. Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

My first recollection of Sausage Jellies is seeing masses of them washed up on our local beaches resulting in them being squished through each other's hair, thrown at each other as in snowball fighting and generally not appreciating what they really were. We thought at first they were some strange jellyfish that seemed to have no sting. Soon someone started a rumour that they were really eggs, but eggs of what?

Well the rumours turned out to be true and indeed the Sausage Jelly is a blubbery mass of thousands of eggs of either the Conical Sand Snail Polinices conicus or the Sordid Sand Snail Polinices sordidus. These little snails are responsible for the very familiar sight of cockle shells washed up on beaches with neat little holes drilled in the side. The Sand Shell is predator and hunts these bivalves, attaching themselves to some poor cockle, drilling a neat little access hole with a rasp-like tongue and devouring the poor little critter now defenceless from attack.

This photo of a Sand Snail egg mass was taken last week while diving at Pt Noarlunga. This Sausage Jelly floating in the water presented the perfect opportunity to capture its beautiful form and show off the individual eggs distributed through its mass in way not seen in one simply washed up on a beach.

More photo's from last week's dive can be found here at Sigma 15mm FE First Tryout (Facebook Album) or my slideshow on Flickr.

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

Photo: Robert Rath, Sand Snail Egg Mass, Pt Noarlunga. Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

Night diving is always great fun and often full of wonderful little surprises (big surprises are OK too so long as they are under 3m). Last night Matt and myself descended below the ever popular Pt Noarlunga Jetty just shy of midnight. The usual suspects showed up on cue and I got the chance to play a little bit more with my new rig.

About midway into the dive a little squid no bigger than a golfball turned up out on the sand. At first I thought he was one of the local Southern Dumpling Squid. The colours seemed right even if a bit pale, though you can never really tell with cephalopods. Those cute little bug eyes did not seem right though, they seemed too big for a dumpling squid. Shortly after taking this image he rose and swam directly at my camera lens. A behaviour I have never experienced with dumpling squid.

Today I had a closer look at the photograph, the eyes, the colours on the wings and the presentation of the chromatophores and decided he must be a juvenile Southern Calamari (Squid), Sepioteuthis australis.

All up we had a great dive and it was a real pity I could not convince a few other friends to join us. It seems than diving invitations are not so popular after 10pm on a normal working weeknight! Oh well, there's always next time.

More photo's from last night's dive can be found here at Midnight Pt Noarlunga (Facebook Album) or my slideshow on Flickr.

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

Photo: Robert Rath, juvenile Southern Calamari, Pt Noarlinga Jetty (Night). Please ask if you want to know more about how this image was taken.

Today I noticed a tiny tiny spider in a messy little web high up on the window frame and wondered what it would be like to be a fly! The amazing thing about really little things is how amazing they look from their own perspective instead of ours.

I hardly even noticed this little gal up there and when I did it was really a case of 'so what'. But, once I shrunk down to her size it was a different story altogether! Thoughts of Frodo Baggins being be captured and dragged off by the great Shelob came to mind and in an instant I decided she had to go. Just as soon as I took a photo and returned to human size again of course! You just can't let monsters live in your kitchen. You never know what mischief they will cause.

Nothing in the image gives any indication of her true size. In fact the frame is less than 5mm across!


Until the next post, take care out there and stay away from monsters! ...Robert


Photo: Robert Rath: Shelalob (Shelob's Australian cousin) ready to pounce!

Port Noarlunga is a bustling beach-side suburb about 40 minutes south of Adelaide. Easy to get to, easy to access the water via the jetty and with the Adventure Blue dive store close at hand makes Pt Noarlunga the most popular shore dive destination near Adelaide.

The main attraction here is an extensive reef system running parallel to the shore and accessible from the end of the jetty. The reef is broken into northern and southern sections with a deep gap separating the two. Depths range from 5m to 15m depending on which parts of the reef you dive.

Too many divers never really get to appreciate the fantastic beauty and diversity of this place because they limit their diving to the end of the jetty and the protected side of the northern reef system. This is especially true for new divers who complete some or all of their open water training here and only see a tiny part of the system. They risk overlooking the rest Pt Noarlunga has to offer because of their associations with their initial experiences.

A good way to really see the Pt Noarlunga Reef in a whole new way is to dive 'The Gap'. Access to the gap is by a 300m snorkel south from the end of the jetty. Yes I know that sounds like a long way but it's a much more pleasant 300m than walking the length of the jetty which everyone is prepared to endure! Just stay on the inside close to the reef and take your time to enjoy the critters in the shallows. You can dive this traverse if you like but your time in the Gap will be limited due to initial air consumption. The Gap is obvious where there is no more reef at or near the surface even on a low tide.

Once you descend into the Gap it is like nothing else you will have experienced on the inside of the reef. The seascape becomes one of big bommies and thick kelps. You'll notice a big jump in the diversity and size of fish species. Stunning huge schools of Silver Drummer. Solitary Longnose Boarfish, Sweep and Old Wifes, many species of Leatherjacket, Blue Groper, Magpie Pearch, Western Talmas, Hulafish, Dusky Moorwong, Zebrafish and more. In other words, a fantastic cross section of South Australian reef fish. Colours abound with beautiful Sponges, Ascidians and Corals. Huge Gorgonian Fans catch nutrients in the current and many varieties of Algae complete the scene.

Watch your depth and air here as it is quite easy to get down to 15m and your increased air consumption may catch you by surprise cutting short your dive and enforcing a long snorkel back on the surface. With a third of your air used, start your journey back north along the outside of the reef. You can proceed the full 300m north on the outside if you are happy to clamber over the reef on surfacing to get back to the jetty or if the tide is high. Otherwise I'd recommend only going 100m north on the outside and then surfacing. Locate and traverse the narrow channel though the reef here back to the sheltered inside. Descend again, heading north for the remaining 200m return trip.

Good navigation skills are essential to get the best from this dive so make sure you have a compass and are comfortable with natural navigation techniques. Don't worry too much about getting lost though as the worst result likely is to be red faced and endure a long snorkel back.

So if you are a regular Pt Noarlunga diver and have not yet experienced diving 'The Gap', then please make it your very next thing on your diving 'ToDo' list. If you have never dived Pt Noarlunga before then make the effort to spend the time to do two or three different dives here and make sure 'The Gap' is one of them.

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


Photo: Robert Rath: Belinda Rowland admires a stunning Gorgonian during last week's dive.

'Portrait Of A Diver' is one of those images that I just can't work out how to categorise. It was one of those surreal images that you never actually see for real. But the image and everything in is real, exactly as the photo was was taken.

Please comment on what you think you might be looking at in my 'Portrait Of A Diver' and what state my friend Gerry might actually be in?

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.)

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.)