Claudette and I did out first Rigs dive back in May when Lynne and Peter came to SoCal. Report here: Linkola I remember enjoying the dives, but I also remember two specific things I'd change next time:
1) Take a wide angle lens down for at least one of the dives. Viz in May was stellar and even though its very, very dark down there, it would be an interesting challenge to shoot some W/A
2) Scooter - I vowed to not dive the rigs again without a scooter
Unfortunately, the viz wasn't as good as it was in May. It was good, and the water was thankfully warmer (54 as opposed to 50) but the water is still so dark down there - making the W/A shots challenging.
We were on the Eureka today. This rig is very dark. You are diving deep under a huge platform, and amongst dozens of large pilings and drilling tubes. And every 50 to 75 feet all of this vertical hardware intersects with another platform - all of this stuff blocks the sun, so its always dark under there (you shoot very slow shutter speeds in the darkness.)
You're in the open ocean - over about 650 feet. So there are currents and swells - and as they hit all of this hardware the place is awash with unpredictable swells and currents.
Anyway - I'm not complaining, but I was disappointed with the shots I brought back, technically. Slow shutters in all that darkness and surge isn't like shooting on a Caribbean reef. The W/A shots came back without the clarity and crispness I was hoping for.
Artistically, I was able to capture the essence of SoCal rigs diving - which is also important to me. Cold, brooding, darkness, industrial, a little goth.
What I'm saying is I'm not nearly as attracted to a clear shot that says nothing, as opposed to a soft shot that captures the moment. And with these shots I was able to achieve more of the latter.
THE TEAM
Claudette (of course) and Ken Liu. Its no secret Chica and I have been looking for a third. Ken has dived with Claudette and I on a number of occasions recently, and is at present main-lining the Koolaid. What separates Ken from many of the divers Chica and I dive with is he has fun. He is courageous, gregarious, he never complains and loves to have fun. He's acquiring the skills dive by dive, and that's important - but what I really love about the guy is he loves every dive.
In all the dives we've done with Ken, we hadn't had Ken on the scooter before. We took him in a brief romp in San Diego a couple of months ago, but that's it. The Rigs can be a serious dive, so I wanted to be sure if we're diving a 3 on Saturday, we need to get this kid in Scooter School pronto. So on Friday (night before the dive) Claudette and I met Ken at Vets and for about an hour we went to Scooter School. Safety, arresting a run-away, towing, emergency procedures, fitting, etc. He'd also never used a Can light, so I brought Jaye's 18W for him to get a feel for.
I gotta give mad lovin to Ken. We was excellent. He stayed close, he Scootered with confidence, his light signals were understandable, he was in control, he dived with confidence and he had fun. I could hear him laughing (that low "huh, huh" guys do) throughout each dive.
THE DIVES
Chica and I brought three 130's, filled phat (3600) with 32. We knew the first dive would be long and deep. The three of us were on the first team. You "live boat" the rigs, as there is no anchoring (650+ FSW) and no tying off to the structure. Your number is called, your team spalshes and the boat pulls around to drop another team.
For each dive today, we were the first team in and the last one out, with the exception of two divers that went to 160 FSW on dive one - and we were trying ou best to keep the dives about an hour.
Dive One
With the 32 flowing all day, and the luxurious 90 to 100+ minute surface intervals, we could have stayed longer, for sure. Especially with the Sea Lions wanting to play and play above 40 FSW. I swear, I'll never understand divers who don't dive the full 60 minutes on these boat dives. What's the deal with not wanting to maximize your BT? Anyway, dive two was a little shallower and a little warmer than dive one.
I wouldn't say we dive aggressively - but we do dive assertively. And this trip was no exception. Long dives, deep with smooth profiles and lots of time above 40 FSW. I like rigs diving.
Dive Two
Here are selected Wide Angles - I'll post the macros tomorrow some time - the macro life on the rigs is remarkable. Dive 3 was the macro dive. A link to the full 1-19-08 Rigs gallery is here: Linkage
Enjoy.
---
Ken
====================================
====================================
The Team - Ken Liu and Claudette
One of the best things about this day is on this boat were two people I deeply love and respect: Karim from Hollywood Divers and MHK - my Fundies instructor. They were working most of the day (read: this wasn't the silly fun trip for them that it was for Ken, Chica and I) so I didn't get to hang out too much with them. I did roll up on Michael on dive two, and snapped a couple of shots of him.
One of the coolest features on the rigs is after you hop off the live boat, you kick over and literally drop into the unknown. Your eyes are still adjusting on the descent, and it takes awhile. This shot captures well that feeling of falling into the hardware
Once you're in, there is this maze of vertical pillars and horizontal shelves. Its made for scooters - its like playtime slalom down there.
Chica playing while Ken gets his Scooter on
Ken, getting himself sorted out. He did great for his first time with a Scooter and a can light!
I handed the cam to Chica. She took this shot of me. I am SO shaving off my Barstow Trucker moustache tomorrow....
I've shot lots of portraits underwater. This is my favorite. I got Claudette to "sit" for this shot without knowing I was doing a portrait. I just asked her to stop for a moment, and she did - and she was looking afar off. This is SoCal diving, and this is my buddy (how lucky am I???) Dark, deep, cold, currents, surge, structure - but she's dialed in, squared away and confident. This shot says so much about her - its my favorite shot of the trip.
Ken didn't play much with the puppies, but Chica and I sure did. Here are some play time shots
On the first two dives, the Sea Lions didn't meet us until about 45 FSW. By the third dive, they wanted to play even more, and they came down to 65 FSW to get us. It was silly.
Chica and the Sea Lions...
This shot probably gives you the best idea of what its like down there. Lots of structure, green water, and plenty of space to run the scoots.
.
.
.
.
.
We hit it hard, dived long and saw so much great stuff. I can only do these dives with a great team.
Ken: you were so much fun to dive with. You are on an excellent road - stick with it, keep having fun and choose your buddy's wisely.
Claudette: you remain forever the apex buddy. I wouldn't be able to do this stuff without you. Thanks for pouring so much into our team.
.
.
.
.
1) Take a wide angle lens down for at least one of the dives. Viz in May was stellar and even though its very, very dark down there, it would be an interesting challenge to shoot some W/A
2) Scooter - I vowed to not dive the rigs again without a scooter
Unfortunately, the viz wasn't as good as it was in May. It was good, and the water was thankfully warmer (54 as opposed to 50) but the water is still so dark down there - making the W/A shots challenging.
We were on the Eureka today. This rig is very dark. You are diving deep under a huge platform, and amongst dozens of large pilings and drilling tubes. And every 50 to 75 feet all of this vertical hardware intersects with another platform - all of this stuff blocks the sun, so its always dark under there (you shoot very slow shutter speeds in the darkness.)
You're in the open ocean - over about 650 feet. So there are currents and swells - and as they hit all of this hardware the place is awash with unpredictable swells and currents.
Anyway - I'm not complaining, but I was disappointed with the shots I brought back, technically. Slow shutters in all that darkness and surge isn't like shooting on a Caribbean reef. The W/A shots came back without the clarity and crispness I was hoping for.
Artistically, I was able to capture the essence of SoCal rigs diving - which is also important to me. Cold, brooding, darkness, industrial, a little goth.
What I'm saying is I'm not nearly as attracted to a clear shot that says nothing, as opposed to a soft shot that captures the moment. And with these shots I was able to achieve more of the latter.
THE TEAM
Claudette (of course) and Ken Liu. Its no secret Chica and I have been looking for a third. Ken has dived with Claudette and I on a number of occasions recently, and is at present main-lining the Koolaid. What separates Ken from many of the divers Chica and I dive with is he has fun. He is courageous, gregarious, he never complains and loves to have fun. He's acquiring the skills dive by dive, and that's important - but what I really love about the guy is he loves every dive.
In all the dives we've done with Ken, we hadn't had Ken on the scooter before. We took him in a brief romp in San Diego a couple of months ago, but that's it. The Rigs can be a serious dive, so I wanted to be sure if we're diving a 3 on Saturday, we need to get this kid in Scooter School pronto. So on Friday (night before the dive) Claudette and I met Ken at Vets and for about an hour we went to Scooter School. Safety, arresting a run-away, towing, emergency procedures, fitting, etc. He'd also never used a Can light, so I brought Jaye's 18W for him to get a feel for.
I gotta give mad lovin to Ken. We was excellent. He stayed close, he Scootered with confidence, his light signals were understandable, he was in control, he dived with confidence and he had fun. I could hear him laughing (that low "huh, huh" guys do) throughout each dive.
THE DIVES
Chica and I brought three 130's, filled phat (3600) with 32. We knew the first dive would be long and deep. The three of us were on the first team. You "live boat" the rigs, as there is no anchoring (650+ FSW) and no tying off to the structure. Your number is called, your team spalshes and the boat pulls around to drop another team.
For each dive today, we were the first team in and the last one out, with the exception of two divers that went to 160 FSW on dive one - and we were trying ou best to keep the dives about an hour.
Dive One
With the 32 flowing all day, and the luxurious 90 to 100+ minute surface intervals, we could have stayed longer, for sure. Especially with the Sea Lions wanting to play and play above 40 FSW. I swear, I'll never understand divers who don't dive the full 60 minutes on these boat dives. What's the deal with not wanting to maximize your BT? Anyway, dive two was a little shallower and a little warmer than dive one.
I wouldn't say we dive aggressively - but we do dive assertively. And this trip was no exception. Long dives, deep with smooth profiles and lots of time above 40 FSW. I like rigs diving.
Dive Two
Here are selected Wide Angles - I'll post the macros tomorrow some time - the macro life on the rigs is remarkable. Dive 3 was the macro dive. A link to the full 1-19-08 Rigs gallery is here: Linkage
Enjoy.
---
Ken
====================================
====================================
The Team - Ken Liu and Claudette
One of the best things about this day is on this boat were two people I deeply love and respect: Karim from Hollywood Divers and MHK - my Fundies instructor. They were working most of the day (read: this wasn't the silly fun trip for them that it was for Ken, Chica and I) so I didn't get to hang out too much with them. I did roll up on Michael on dive two, and snapped a couple of shots of him.
One of the coolest features on the rigs is after you hop off the live boat, you kick over and literally drop into the unknown. Your eyes are still adjusting on the descent, and it takes awhile. This shot captures well that feeling of falling into the hardware
Once you're in, there is this maze of vertical pillars and horizontal shelves. Its made for scooters - its like playtime slalom down there.
Chica playing while Ken gets his Scooter on
Ken, getting himself sorted out. He did great for his first time with a Scooter and a can light!
I handed the cam to Chica. She took this shot of me. I am SO shaving off my Barstow Trucker moustache tomorrow....
I've shot lots of portraits underwater. This is my favorite. I got Claudette to "sit" for this shot without knowing I was doing a portrait. I just asked her to stop for a moment, and she did - and she was looking afar off. This is SoCal diving, and this is my buddy (how lucky am I???) Dark, deep, cold, currents, surge, structure - but she's dialed in, squared away and confident. This shot says so much about her - its my favorite shot of the trip.
Ken didn't play much with the puppies, but Chica and I sure did. Here are some play time shots
On the first two dives, the Sea Lions didn't meet us until about 45 FSW. By the third dive, they wanted to play even more, and they came down to 65 FSW to get us. It was silly.
Chica and the Sea Lions...
This shot probably gives you the best idea of what its like down there. Lots of structure, green water, and plenty of space to run the scoots.
.
.
.
.
.
We hit it hard, dived long and saw so much great stuff. I can only do these dives with a great team.
Ken: you were so much fun to dive with. You are on an excellent road - stick with it, keep having fun and choose your buddy's wisely.
Claudette: you remain forever the apex buddy. I wouldn't be able to do this stuff without you. Thanks for pouring so much into our team.
.
.
.
.
)!!!
