An interesting photo shoot.

Once in a while I get contacted to photograph subjects that are not underwater and it is always an interesting shoot. I never know where my own diving and underwater photography will lead me, only that it will be 'interesting'. A week or so ago a local friend of mine, Rick, was contacted by an individual who needed some photographs of his gemstones taken to use in the individual's advertising campaign to sell these stones.

This week, I spent parts of days engaged in photographing some very beautiful and ornate gemstones, Turquoise and it was a new challenge for me. The individual, Capt. Shon, who, along with his partner, Lee, also own a restaurant here in Key Largo, Captiain Shon's Seafood Grill and Pub. They had already purchased all the photographic equipment necessary to do this type of photography and shoot.

We used a Canon dSLR and its 100mm macro lens and a 'shadow box'. Once we got organized the shoot went well. I learned many new things and most of which was about the stones themselves. I did not know how popular they are and as such, there are only three mines in the world that contain enough turquoise to make the mining of them profitable. I had no idea how valuable these gemstones are but learned it when we would weigh each one and weigh them to the 100th of a carot.

Interesting life's experience for this scuba diver. Camera settings were ISO 1600, AWB, F-Stop of F-22 and a Shutterspeed that varied from 1/60th of a second and faster, and varied only due to the reflectiveness of the stone photographed. The camera lens was set to manual focus and each stone focused individually. The shadow box had different types of light choices, and the photos were taken using the halogen choice. We mounted the camera to the box and I used my remote control to trigger the shutter, to avoid camera shake and out of focus photographs.

I wish Capt Shon great success with his endeavor and it was an interesting experience for me to be a small part of. Thank you Rick and Capt. Shon and Lee and for her help in organization!

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Working with CBS

Earlier this month I received a call from my friends, Rob and Aja, who own Pleasure Diver, a dive charter company here in Key Largo (http://www.pleasurediver.com/). They had received contact from a CBS film crew who needed some footage for a pilot that will be produced by CBS and aired this spring. The crew privately chartered Pleasure Diver for the day, and Rob and Aja wanted to and did engage my diving and photographic services to help support the film crew's effort. The shoot occurred on November 5th and 6th. The crew captured their needed footage on the first day, but, had such great diving they stayed on to dive the second day!

For me it was a very interesting challenge as they needed water that looked like the Pacific Ocean, as that was where the pilot program was taking place! We were lucky and on the days they were here we found beautiful blue water. Luckier still that on their shooting day, 'everything' that could show up 'critter-wise' did! We needed sun for filming and the sun was out. We were void of current and surge which made filming easier. And we had great visibility with clean water. The film crew Dennis and Eddie were an absolute dream to work with. They were very serious minded about their task at hand, to capture the footage, but were very easy going and laid back about it none the less. Fun to be on the boat with and to dive with.
Was a nice 'kudo' for me to be a part of and especially given the success the film crew had. And aside from doing a bit of bragging here in 'my blog' ('cause I can!) I want to use this as a forum to thank my friends Rob and Aja of Pleasure Diver for the opportunity. Thank you Rob and Aja!


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"September 2008 Dive Spectacular"

Many years ago and for years, I have had the idea to get a group of my 'regular guyz' together and take a trip somewhere cool. Down to an island in the Caribbean, whereever. That is a huge undertaking to say the least and the least of which would be the ability to get a dozen or so different 'guyz' from all parts of the country and world together on the same dates! Last spring it came to me that I have a pretty good list of 'regular underwater photography guyz', who all live in Florida and maybe I could put together a less ambitious undertaking and right here in Key Largo.
So in March the plan began with emails to 'my guyz'. The "our September Dive Spectacular" was born. The above slideshow captures best in imagery what it was all about. Most drove down from all over Florida, and even one came from the UK, on the previous Friday night, or that Saturday morning.
We had arranged to privately charter our own boat for the afternoon. There were around 20 of us on the boat and I was able to handpick both the boat and crew and picked a boat and crew that most of my guyz were already familiar with. We met at noon that Saturday in September, and the weather, even during our hurricane season, fully cooperated. Sunny, warm, calm seas. We provisioned the boat with snacks including: a rumcake, an apple/caramel fruit platter, Sunspree soft drinks ( and a couple beers were spirited aboard), bottled water, crackers, cheeses, chips and dips and salsa and mixed nuts, cookies and a plate of brownies. Oh yeah, we also brought our scuba gear and the camera tables and other spaces were jammed with underwater photography equipment of any and all types!
The dives were just wonderfull with great visibility and swim suit warm water. It was amazing to hear about all the cool stuff that everyone 'said' they saw even after just the first dive! The captain and I came to the conclusion that 'the first liar did not stand a chance'. There were 'claims' to Manta Rays being seen, Eagle Rays spotted, Sharks, including a Tiger shark, a big mouthed green Moray Eel and a very large menacing Mantis Shrimp and more than one seductive Mermaid. At least one diver claimed to seeing a Whale Shark! Another claimed he missed seeing that because he was busy watching a humpback whale and her calf. And a third missed both events due to being busy dodging a pod of bottlenosed dolphins!!
In case any of you missed the event, or missed seeing these things, they are included in the slide show.
I was overwhelmed by this whole event and especially the comraderie. Everyone met and immediately got along! And throughout the day and later after the dives at our planned happy hour and cookout, that was held dockside. New friends were definitely made. While we had around 20 'guyz' on the boat, we invited the crew and dive operator staff to our happy hour and cookout so I guess we had around 25 or 30 people during this part of the 'Dive Spectacular. Only one person, Brian, and his wife, could not make it as a last minute work issue rose its ugly head. But, Brian you were there in spirit as evidenced by a photo of you on the boat!
To top off the good diving, we did what divers do after diving. Debrief and Celebrate. We had both types of beverages, the second type being 'adult'and in abundant quantities. Iced and ready for us when we got off the dive boat! Four grills were fired up to cook the things we used to make shiskabobs with: all the colored peppers and onions and mushrooms and big cubes of marinatetd sirloin steak, and nice chunks of marinated and plain chicken breast filets. To tide us over one of the 'guyz' brought a large crockpot full of bbq-ed pulled pork, and, one of the Mermaids got a bunch of chickenwings from the adjacent bar. Along with all this we had potato salad, macaroni salad, and one of the guyz grilled 30 ears of corn on the cob. Breads, butter, coleslaw, more chips and dips and the usual condiments were all there. Oh, I almost forgot, we grilled scallops in butter!! I do not believe anyone went hungry! Or, thirsty! And we had music too, thanx to a guy bringing a small boombox! So, there was some dancing (not me).
Everybody chipped in with the preparation of all of this from beginning to end. And made it such a spectacular event. It began with an idea last spring and started at around noon that September Saturday. Continued on until the last of the 'younger guyz' attending quit at around midnight. A few of the heartier souls showed up the next morning for a debrief session over Bloody Mary's and Mermosas. I had coffee, thank you!! Laughing
We are already talking about doing this again and perhaps a little differently and likely between now and before next September! I have been diving a long time. This event, to me, epitomized what scuba diving can be , should be, and is, all about! Great fun from start to finish! It was overwhelming and indeed a 'Dive Spectacular'! And made possible, simply, by good divers and good people just gettin' together and goin' divin' ! September 20, 2008.
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Happy Birthday, Natalie!

Happy birthday, Natalie. And congratulations again on all your accomplishments as a scuba diver and student of scuba.

Your successfull completion of your Underwater Navigation specialty course with me, and, your hard worked for Rescue Diver credential with my friend, Sasha, who owns South Beach Divers, http://www.southbeachdivers.com/ in Miami.

Huge congrats, tooo, on your completion of your Divemaster course. You are such a good student of scuba and always come well prepared for your course and ready to go!


You also make a wonderfull dive buddy and not a bad underwater model for this humble photographer.

Have a great day today on your birthday.

"Matt's Kids"

I consider myself fortunate and and am very thankfull for being able to do what I do. I teach people how to scuba dive and or underwater photography. It is rewarding for me to help my students reach their goals. I make an analogy to when we were all kids. And when we meet and make a new friend, one friend knows something that the other does not know or know much about. And I am the new friend and the one showing the other friend something the friend does not know.

Years ago, I met a new friend, Professor Matt Landau, who came to me and spent some days with me learning underwater photography. Matt is a PHD and college professor who teaches the Marine Sciences at Stockton College in New Jersey. Each year, during the summer, Matt conducts a couple of week-long field trips to the Florida Keys with a group of his college students, who we here in the Keys affectionately refer to as ' Matt's Kids'. They are in my mind the future 'Cousteaus' of the world. They are all good 'kids', dedicated and studious and work hard while here. Matt's field trips are not junkets for college kids. Their days are long and begin early and end well after dark.

Matt asked me years ago, if I would spend a day with him and his 'kids' working with them and helping introduce them to our local marine environment and I readily agreed to. Over the years, these days, one day during each of the two week field trips, that I spend time with Matt and his Kids, are among the most rewarding days of my year.

As the years passed, Matt's Kids have graduated and went on to work in their field. And make a contribution. Each year, Matt brings new groups of these kind of people.

I thought I would use my blog to applaud not only Matt, but, his 'kids'. To in some small way give recognition to them and their energies and dedication to their endeavor. Thank you Matt and a thanx to your 'kids'. Our Kids! It has been my good fortune to meet and work with them.

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Turtle Rescue in Key Largo

We have a lot of fun scuba diving and being out on and visiting our wonderful reefs here in Key Largo. And once in a while during the midst of it all, we come across a chance to do something in return for the fun we all have. One day this past August that 'something' appeared on the horizon. I had already finished my dives that day and was back on the dock. Enjoying a dive debrief and a beer. When, I started to hear about a turtle being rescued; so here is the 'story' as I remember it and am attaching a slide show that helps document this:

Scotty who works for our marine sanctuary patrol, was on duty when he spotted a turtle on the surface. Scotty drove his boat over to check out the turtle and noticed it could not dive. Scotty knew something was wrong with the turtle and he could not, single handedly, do anything to help it. So, he got on his marine radio and hailed Ocean Divers' boat, 'Santana' as it was in the area. Santana arrived on the scene and between Scotty and Santana's crew, they managed to land the turlte onto Santana. A call was placed to our very own 'Turtle Hospital', a non-profit entity headquartered in Marathon, and they have a 'Turtle Ambulance'. The Turtle Hospital's ambulance arrived at the dock to meet the boat and take the turtle to the hospital.

I had originally heard that the turtle had ingested a plastic bag, which they do do, misstaking these baggies for jellyfish. This can be deadly as the plastic plugs up the turtle's system. But, in this case that was not what was ailing the turtle. I am not sure what exactly was wrong, but, some sort of infection in a body cavity causing an inability for the turtle to dive. The turtle is being treated with anti-biotics. The Turtle Hospital staff named the turtle 'OD' for Ocean Divers and in their gratitude for the efforts of Scotty and OD in rescueing the turtle. For more about this rescue visit the Turtle Hospital's blog here: http://www.turtlehospital.org/blog/?m=200808

To me, it is pretty cool , that we can be out there scuba diving and having some fun and sometimes, get the chance to do some real good for the environment which we recreate in!

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