The continuing sagas of the Blue Heron Bridge

[trigfunctions]

Where was your photo "peacock flounder" taken?
Was this at the bridge?

Do you mean this photo?
ScubaBoard Gallery - Peacock flounder
Unfortunately, I can't claim that one. It looks like DiveDocMD took it, and I don't know where it was. I have seen peacock flounders and other flounders at the bridge, but I've never gotten a picture that good!

 

[trigfunctions]

The hogfish is also a great shot Were you using a strobe? I saw a diver with I think a Canon & no strobe pass me. I found a seahorse & looked for said diver but must have gone to the no viz zone. The seahorses are scattered all about you just have to look closely

I got lucky on that hogfish shot. The second picture I took, it had changed colors to all white. That was probably me that you saw. I was diving in a black wetsuit with out-of-style blue sleeves, and I was using a Canon with no strobe attached. Thanks for trying to find me - I REALLY want to find a seahorse out there!

In fact, I will offer to buy a round of drinks for anyone who can point one out to me! Same deal for a frogfish.

 

[trigfunctions]

Ah, that was you I dragged over to the sailfins!

Actually, I photoshopped the rays into blank water pictures so don't feel too bad

I've had my share of bad camera days... I forgot to take my magnet in order to start the second strobe. I was shooting single strobe on Sunday (But, I think I only used a strobe 3 times during the dive anyway) Your pictures look great! You have nothing to worry about there. For my macro shots, I've added the focus light. It's a 5 watt focus light that adds daylight to my macro shots (That's the secret... shhhh!)

I KNEW some of those pics were photoshopped!

Yep, that was me. I met up with you and another diver (didn't get her name) in the parking lot afterwards. I got about 3 seconds of video of that sailfin doing his dance, but the rest of the shots weren't good. Every now and then, maybe every 20th time, my Canon has a bad day and everything comes out a little out of focus. I cannot figure out why - I wonder if it something to do with the housing or something interfering with the autofocus or something. Usually the focus comes out pretty good, even without a strobe or focus light.

 

[Sorrows]

The Ray Squandron was awesome!

It looks like our next trip down to Fla will be in late February. Can anybody tell me what the dive conditions will be like at the bridge at that time? More importantly, would your average person require a 5 or 3 mil wetsuit?

 

[D2Diver]

I got lucky on that hogfish shot. The second picture I took, it had changed colors to all white. That was probably me that you saw. I was diving in a black wetsuit with out-of-style blue sleeves, and I was using a Canon with no strobe attached. Thanks for trying to find me - I REALLY want to find a seahorse out there!

In fact, I will offer to buy a round of drinks for anyone who can point one out to me! Same deal for a frogfish.

I always wear a hood & have an Olympus compact digital with an Inon strobe angled down on top of my lens. I also have blue & black Volo fins. If you see me come over & if I have found a seahorse & it's nearby I will take you to it (Like Jim I look for divers to share my finds & recently dragged 2 divers to a seahorse & stayed to light it so they could take pics). I have only been diving the bridge for a year & this is about the time of year that I remember seeing the most seahorses & octos & it continued thru spring. In late spring early summer is when I started seeing the frog fish-although all of these are probably there year round
Deb

 

[djtimmy77]

there are a bunch of us on here that are pretty good at finding the seahorses. make sure to let us know next time you go to the bridge and maybe someone on here will also be going and can meet up with you.

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

I KNEW some of those pics were photoshopped!

...Every now and then, maybe every 20th time, my Canon has a bad day and everything comes out a little out of focus. I cannot figure out why - I wonder if it something to do with the housing or something interfering with the autofocus or something. Usually the focus comes out pretty good, even without a strobe or focus light.

Think about how/where you put the camera in the housing. Do you always put it in the housing in an air conditioned room (with a moisture pack in the housing). When I get the "little out of focus" it's usually because I had to open the housing on-site and let a bit of "dew" in... just enough to have a minimal fog happen on the lens

 

[BHB ScubaTroll]

The Ray Squandron was awesome!

It looks like our next trip down to Fla will be in late February. Can anybody tell me what the dive conditions will be like at the bridge at that time? More importantly, would your average person require a 5 or 3 mil wetsuit?

What's a wetsuit?

See this gallery for what to expect to see... (Wow! Looking at this gallery was some of the best vis of the year in February! Black, yellow, red and green seahorses and a host of other cast members... Octopi galore... Rays everywhere and pods of manatee (It was also when I had my strobe fixed... I was a madman with pictures!)

ScubaBoard Gallery - BHB_February_2009

Water temps through the month were 66 late afternoon at the beginning of the the month to 73-75 toward the end of the month

Oh, and watch out for the dirt darts... notice the flag just above his head and the cloud of sand as he hit bottom...

 

[DennisW]

Jim,

When Donna and I were there with you guys in August, I had a dirt dart land on my head. Screwed up a good picture, too.

 

[billmackbarnes]

Dive pictures are up from Sunday at Blue Heron!
ArrowCrab, Crab w Hitchhiking Anemone, Decorator Crab, Moon Jelly, Red-Tipped Fireworm, Shortfin Pipefish, & Yellow Seahorse

Yellow_Seahorse_kk_C

Shortfin_Pipefish_ee

Red-Tipped_Fireworm_ff

Moon_Jelly_ee - notice the fish swimming inside!

Decorator_Crab_gg

Crab_w_Hitchhiking_Anemone_uu

Crab_w_Hitchhiking_Anemone_ll

Arrow_Crab_e