Ogden Point at Night

I hooked up with a bunch of divers from Frank Whites Dive Shop for a night dive at the Ogden Point Breakwater. Ken, Chris, and I wanted to meet some new divers and hang out with some old friends. I have a long-standing relationship with the people from Frank Whites, and it’s where way back thousands of dive ago, I received my PADI Open Water Certificate and began my underwater adventures. Our goal on this dive was to get some images of Stubby Squid, but for me I also wanted to get another dive in on my Fusion Drysuit and the Si-Tech Neck Tite system I’m testing. The conditions on this evening were great: calm seas and good visibility. The only difficulty was the tide, as it was out quite far out, and anyone who has dove the breakwater at low tide knows that it can be hard on people and even harder on gear! We walked out to flag 2 and descended down to the sandy bottom. The soft sand around this area and beyond along the breakwater is the best place to find the Stubby Squid. It didn’t take long to find three of these creatures, each about the size of a pea. After spending some time capturing images of them, we moved on down the breakwater and came across a fourth pea sized squid along with one the size of a golf ball. What an amazing find! I give all the credit to Ken who spotted the big one while I had my lens trained on a juvenile Black Rockfish. Having the unprecedented opportunity to get some images of such a large Stubby Squid was truly a memorable experience.

During this dive I was also able to get some images of a number of other inhabitants of the breakwater, including a Red Irish Lord with a parasite on its eye, Grunt and Sailfin Sculpins, and of course the Disheveled Sea-mouse. This was a spectacular dive and one that I will not soon forget. Thank you to everyone from Frank Whites plus Ken and Chris for being awesome spotters and holding their lights just right so I could get some fantastic images.

Scott

  

West Coast Shootout #2 Location Announcement

Adventure #2

Ogden Point Breakwater, Victoria BC

 

Date: Sunday February 20, 2011

Time: 10:00 am

The Ogden Point Breakwater is the mecca of shore diving on Southern Vancouver Island. What makes it such a superb dive site is its abundant marine life, easy access and excellent amenities. January's West Coast Shootout was EPIC and I hope that this one will be just as great. The photographic opportunities at the breakwater are endless, from shooting Wolf eels and Giant Pacific Octopus to large schools of various rockfish anyone with a camera can capture some great images. Lets make this shootout as great as the last. 

For more details check out www.8arm.com

Scott

Wicked and weird

On a recent night dive, I had the pleasure of not only photographing a number of Stubby Squid (Rossia Pacifica), but I also came across a true oddity that resides in the water of the Pacific North West. The Disheveled Sea-mouse, or Bristle Worm (Aphrodita negligens), is one of the craziest and coolest creatures that a diver or beachcomber may come across. This weird underwater denizen at first glance looks more like an underwater tailless mouse than a worm; however once you overturn it, you will see that it has the segmentation of a worm. The name of this creature is derived from the neglected appearance of its fury coat, which is usually covered in sand and debris. The worm grows to about 4 in. (8 cm.) in length. On this particular night dive I was diving at the Ogden Point breakwater in about 30 ft. (10 m.) of water. This worm was crawling across the bottom covered in kelp and eelgrass, which made it quite easy to spot it on this particular occasion. I was shooting with a 100 mm macro lens on the dive and had to back up from the subject to get a full body shot. One of the worm’s unique characteristics is the reflective, multi-coloured hairs protruding from its body. This creates a great photo opportunity and the lights from other divers and camera strobes bouncing off the animal’s body creates a very interesting effect.

Scott

West Coast Shootout #1 – Madrona Point Part 2

The second dive of the day for the West Coast Shootout, we hopped in at the small wall. This wall is located to the left of the beach, and the best entrance is down a small ravine that leads to the water. This wall runs parallel to the beach and is quite shallow (maximum 40 ft/ 12 m), however the life is incredible. The rocks that jut out of the sand are covered in anemones, sea stars and macro life. The wall is also undercut, providing a sanctuary for many juvenile fish and is a great place to find Bay Pipefish, which are relatives to the seahorse. On previous dives I have seen hundreds of these elusive creatures in one area. There are also a number of shallow octopus dens scattered along the length of this wall. On this particular dive, we managed to find 4 octopus on the wall and I was able to get some great images of one large octo hunkered down in its den. I decided to shoot macro on this dive hoping that I would get some images of a pipefish along with some of the different nudibranch species that reside on this small wall. I was not disappointed: not only did I find a pipefish, but I also managed to shoot a large octopus in its den. This particular octopus was quite large (5-6 ft /2 m) across and was hiding under a slab of rock. To be able to get a good shot I had to remove my strobes from my housing and place them off camera to generate the light that I needed. I also placed my spotting light off camera, which allowed me to see, and my camera to focus. The images turned out quite well showing that sometimes you have to think outside of the box to get the shot you want.

I would like to thank everyone who came out for this first shootout, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year!

Scott

   

Part 1 of the Madrona Point Blog link

A little taste from last night's shoot - Stubby Squid

I was out with a bunch of people for a night dive last night at the Ogden Point Breakwater. Great dive, lots of life, and of course found some Stubby Squid. 

More pictures to follow.

Scott

  

Neck Tite System Test Dives # 2 / 3

As you all may know, I’m part of the testing team for the Si-Tech Neck Tite system that has been installed on my Whites Fusion Drysuit. The first dive I did on the system was at Ten Mile Point, and for dives two and three I took the suit to Madrona Point in Parksville for the West Coast Shootout. Once again, the system preformed flawlessly. No leaks, super comfortable, and very mobile. Every piece of gear I own and use for diving is specifically for aiding me in underwater photography. My open circuit system, rebreather, suit, lights, dry gloves, etc. all have been chosen to make my life easier as an underwater photographer. Having this replaceable neck seal is just one more thing that makes sense and will help with accomplishing my photographic goals. 

Scott

West Coast Shootout #1 – Madrona Point Part 1

With all the excitement surrounding last year’s West Coast Shootouts I had to continue this monthly event into 2011. The first shootout was at Madrona Point in Parksville, BC. The amazing marine life and incredible visibility at this site keeps me coming back both for myself and to showcase it to others. As an underwater photographer, Madrona is one place where I can photograph a multitude of nudibranch, rockfish and other fish species all condensed into one small area. This site is also great for spotting wolf eels and octopus, along with the occasional sea lion encounter. 

On this particular day, the plan was to do two dives: one at the large wall, and the second dive at the small wall. Madrona’s large, or main wall, starts in about 35 ft (12 m) of water and drops down to 100 ft (33 m), and is a haven for several rockfish species and kelp greenlings.  If you can imagine, this wall is about 500 ft (150 m) long and is 65 ft (20 m) high at its highest point, tapering off at each end. The wall is covered in what can only be described as mini caves and holes. A vast array of marine life reside in these holes of various sizes and shapes: octopus and wolf eels use them for dens, Tiger Rockfish nestle deep inside the larger ones, and gunnels and sculpins peer out at you from the darkness.
  

Once everyone was geared up, we headed out for the main wall. The visibility could only be described as a phenomenal 50 ft. + (15 m.), and once we reached the wall it was alive with life. Everyone paired off and most of the photographers stuck together trying to help each other find something cool to shoot. I was able to get some images of a number of rockfish but most importantly I found a baby wolf eel. So exciting! After the dive everyone was raving about how amazing the visibility was and the amount of life everyone had seen. 

To be continued…

Scott