Quick post for one of the most spectacular Caribbean fish, the Queen Angelfish. Shot taken in the Bahamas.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Waiting to Exhale...
(Click photo for larger image).
Wanted to provide the "story behind the picture" for this shot. Picture was taken in the Bahamas this past summer on a live aboard dive cruise. The first dive was a Dolphin dive - but no guarantees that they would even show up. As we motored through the area in about 40 feet of water with a nice sand bottom, the wild Spotted Dolphins started to appear and ride the bow wave. Sometimes they would join as a single dolphin, sometimes in pods of 3 - 4. Pretty soon, there were about 30 - 40 dolphins riding the bow wave.
We all got ready on the dive deck, and jumped in - snorkel gear only - and I probably took 50 pictures on that fantastic dive! Because the Dolphins are so fast in the water, I actually did not realize until reviewing the pictures that I had captured this Dolphin just starting to exhale before he broke the surface. The weather was a little rough that day (OK - really rough judging by the number of people that got sick) but a neat aspect of the composition is that you can see the choppy surface, and a slight reflection of the dolphin in the waves.
Only thing I would do different next time on the dive would be wear a weight belt with a couple of pounds of lead to offset the buoyancy of the wetsuit. This would have helped on some of my free dives to go deeper to get better angles shooting up.
So I thought the caption "Waiting to Exhale" was fitting. Taken with Canon A620 with Canon housing.
Enjoy, and dive safe.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Dive Equipment that I use
Dive Equipment selection is very personal, and there is a lot of very good, safe, dive gear on the market today. My equipment has evolved over time, but here is what I trust to Dive with (in alphabetical order):
- Buoyancy Compensator Device: Fred T Stainless Steel Backplate with Single Tank adapter, Single piece of webbing harness, Deep Outdoors 34# buoyancy wing, Deep Outdoors D-rings on harness and left and right waist, OMS BCD pocket on right side of waist strap. Also have a Zeagle Ranger (used infrequently).
- Compass: Suunto D7 (Right Wrist Mount)
- Computer: Suunto Vyper (Left Wrist Mount)
- Cutting devices: EMT shears (right BC pocket), Wenkona Blunt Tip Knife dual edge with normal and serrated edges (inside left calf)
- Dive Timer: Waterproof Dive Watch (left wrist).
- Exposure Protection: (as needed) 0.5mm Scubapro Steamer, 3mm Henderson Hyperstretch, 3mm Bare Thermal vest with 7mm attached hood, 7mm Bare Artic, Henderson Hyperstretch wetsuit boots, Henderson 3mm hood, various gloves.
- Fins: Scubapro Jet Fins, also Scubapro Twin Jets, both with Spring straps.
- Lights: Primary - UK eLED, Secondary - Q40 mini, Strobe - Tecktronics T200
- Mask: OMS "ICU" Mask
- Reel: OMS Primary Reel (right BC pocket)
- Regulator: 1st Stage - Scubapro MK20, 2nd Stage - Scubapro S600 (7 ft long hose), Alternate second Stage - Scubapro R380 (over right shoulder, bungied around neck), Pony Bottle - MK2/R190 (bungied to tank until deployed)
- Surface Marker Bouy: OMS 75# Lift Bag (bungied and clipped to the bottom of Backplate).
- Tanks: 2 X Worthington X7-100 HP (3,447 psi) Steel, Pony - Luxfer 30ft Aluminum. All Oxygen cleaned for Nitrox compatibility.
- Weight system: Weight pockets on BCD tank bands, and weight belt with necessary weight based on dive configuration and exposure protection.
Equipment Part 1 - Mask, Fins & snorkel - Dive Gear 101
Assuming you have saved enough of your hard earned money that you are considering getting into Scuba and buying your gear, the first purchase is typically Mask, Fins and Snorkel. This is the basic staple of dive gear, and many times is a required purchase as part of Basic Open Water Scuba Certification. If you have been diving awhile, you may want to skip this post since it is a basic overview of this equipment intended for the new Diver.
With Dive Masks, these should be purchased from a quality scuba equipment manufacturer, and you should avoid purchases from your local discount stores. The mask should fit comfortably to the shape of your face. Many masks also have prescription lenses that can be fitted, or "Gauge Reader" lenses that allow magnification of the lower portion of the lens similar to a bifocal. With the Dive Mask, the major option today is purge vs. non-purge. The purge valve is a small device located below the nose with a one-way valve that allows the diver to clear the water from his/her mask without tipping the mask away from the face. Although these masks are popular for the recreational diver, this purge valve does pose a possible failure point. As a personal note, one of my first masks was a purge mask, and due to the shape of my nose, the valve rubbed the bottom of my nose raw. On repetitive dives, this became very irritating and before long I purchased a non-purge mask. Look for a comfortable low-volume mask that allows rapid clearing.
The major Fin options are either full foot or strap-on fins. Full foot fins provide less water resistance, and are preferred for warm water diving where the shore entry is relatively smooth. The advantage of these fins is that they do not require wetsuit boots. Wetsuit Boots have soles similar to tennis shoes that can aid in a rocky shore entry situation where bare feet may pose some risk to injury. After the boot is put on, the fins are secured to the feet using adjustable rubber straps.
The next big discussion with fins is the split fin debate. If you are interested in researching this topic further, please see some of the fin reviews in Scuba Diving Magazine or search Google for more details. Personally, I find that Split Fins provide better "top end" speed, but suffer in slow speed maneuverability. I own 2 sets of fins, a pair of Scubapro Twin Jets, and also a pair of Scubapro Jet Fins (both in black). Both pair are the strap-on style fitted with Spring Straps for easy of donning/doffing.
Finally, the snorkel is a very useful device for surface swimming, and conservation of air in your tank. These typically have a flexible lower section to allow head movement, and most have a very convenient purge at the base to assist in removing water from the snorkel before use. As divers become more experienced, the snokel typically gets relegated to the gear bag and not used. I personally carry a small flexible roll-up snorkel in my BC Pocket on all my dives.
The colors of gear is only limited to your imagination, and a great way to make a fashion statement.
Although this first gear post is very basic, I hope that you have found it useful.
Dive Safe.
With Dive Masks, these should be purchased from a quality scuba equipment manufacturer, and you should avoid purchases from your local discount stores. The mask should fit comfortably to the shape of your face. Many masks also have prescription lenses that can be fitted, or "Gauge Reader" lenses that allow magnification of the lower portion of the lens similar to a bifocal. With the Dive Mask, the major option today is purge vs. non-purge. The purge valve is a small device located below the nose with a one-way valve that allows the diver to clear the water from his/her mask without tipping the mask away from the face. Although these masks are popular for the recreational diver, this purge valve does pose a possible failure point. As a personal note, one of my first masks was a purge mask, and due to the shape of my nose, the valve rubbed the bottom of my nose raw. On repetitive dives, this became very irritating and before long I purchased a non-purge mask. Look for a comfortable low-volume mask that allows rapid clearing.
The major Fin options are either full foot or strap-on fins. Full foot fins provide less water resistance, and are preferred for warm water diving where the shore entry is relatively smooth. The advantage of these fins is that they do not require wetsuit boots. Wetsuit Boots have soles similar to tennis shoes that can aid in a rocky shore entry situation where bare feet may pose some risk to injury. After the boot is put on, the fins are secured to the feet using adjustable rubber straps.
The next big discussion with fins is the split fin debate. If you are interested in researching this topic further, please see some of the fin reviews in Scuba Diving Magazine or search Google for more details. Personally, I find that Split Fins provide better "top end" speed, but suffer in slow speed maneuverability. I own 2 sets of fins, a pair of Scubapro Twin Jets, and also a pair of Scubapro Jet Fins (both in black). Both pair are the strap-on style fitted with Spring Straps for easy of donning/doffing.
Finally, the snorkel is a very useful device for surface swimming, and conservation of air in your tank. These typically have a flexible lower section to allow head movement, and most have a very convenient purge at the base to assist in removing water from the snorkel before use. As divers become more experienced, the snokel typically gets relegated to the gear bag and not used. I personally carry a small flexible roll-up snorkel in my BC Pocket on all my dives.
The colors of gear is only limited to your imagination, and a great way to make a fashion statement.
Although this first gear post is very basic, I hope that you have found it useful.
Dive Safe.
Waiting to Exhale...
(Click Photo for Larger Image)
Camera - Canon A620 with Canon Waterproof housing.
Prints available for sale.
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