July Wrinkles Dive on Catalina - Part 3 of 3 (the Scooters)

[Mo2vation]

You should be hawking those first two. Centerfold material.

The surface conditions can really make it tough to *breath up* and get relaxed before your descent.

can't wait to see the rest!

How did you get the kelp to look so soft and yet keep her so sharp? (#2) Is that natural or are you selectively treating different areas of the image? Because that is a very beautiful effect. Your lighting looks supberb. I hate you. Those images really make me want to be there.

Is she not relying on a snorkel on the free dives? ..and what do you guys do at the surface?

Me hawking my shots? I wouldn't even know where to begin.

I'm an artist, not a marketing guy.

I shoot for me - I don't enter contests, I post all my stuff in the SoCal rooms (not the major rooms or photo rooms), I don't put my stuff out there for critique or evaluation, I don't belong to a photo club or photo society, I don't go to meetings, I don't take classes.

I dive.

I shoot.

With everything that is within me, I try to remain pure. Its all an artist can do. I don't get photo magazines, I don't belong to photo websites, I don't read photo news letters, I don't own a single book on photography. I've never taken a photo class, I've never taken a photoshop class, seminar, webinar or sat through some speaker at a trade show. I couldn't name the pioneers of underwater photography, I don't get scuba magazines or travel magazines.

I dive.

I shoot.

Has this cloistered isolationism held me back? Oh yes. I'm sure it has. I have so much to still learn, and although my learning curve is pretty vertical, the footholds and handholds come slowly because I do all of this on my own.

The trade off is my stuff is pure. I'm not trying to impress anyone but me. I'm not shooting to get placement, I'm not shooting to get fame, I'm not shooting to get paid, I'm not shooting so my club will respect me.

I shoot because what I see down there in my cold water SoCal Pacific is beautiful, and its nearly always mis-represented, homogenized, filtered, dumbed down or simply ignored by most other photographers.

I want the people who find my stuff to see what I see down there.

My website has HUGE images (1200 DPI) so can actually see the images. None of that thumbnail BS or worse - loading up each image with my name or watermark. Come to my site, you see images. Large, clear images. I don't have an equipment section on my site. Nobody cares how the sausage is made. I'm serious here. The websites of most "photographers" are woefully lacking, IMO. It has to be about the images, not about the photographer.

When you ask about selective manipulation - I have to laugh. I don't even know how to use multiple layers, let alone selectively manipulate stuff, Catherine.

When you see a shot of mine, you're seeing what I saw. The colors are genuine, the scene is actual, the critters were really there.

I'm an artist, not a technician.

I am a photo shop dummy. That pic looks very misty on the edges because the viz was not very good that day. She's sharp and the colors stronger because she's close and the strobes lit her up - the edges are off in the misty distance, well out of strobe's reach... so they're misty and muted.

I do very, very little in PS. Its all lighting and manual settings in the camera, selecting my POV carefully, planning and execution. And a little luck.

As to the snorkel - yes, she is using one. She tucked it under the rash guard before each descent. She pulled it out on the way up and used it on the surface.

Thanks for the kind words. I work really hard at this - hundreds of dives a year, tens-of-thousands of images a year. If you see something different in my stuff, then its working.

Thanks again, Cath - means a lot to me.

---
Ken

 

[Kevrumbo]

You should be hawking those first two. Centerfold material.

The surface conditions can really make it tough to *breath up* and get relaxed before your descent.

can't wait to see the rest!

How did you get the kelp to look so soft and yet keep her so sharp? (#2) Is that natural or are you selectively treating different areas of the image? Because that is a very beautiful effect. Your lighting looks supberb. I hate you. Those images really make me want to be there.

Is she not relying on a snorkel on the free dives? ..and what do you guys do at the surface?

Still waiting for pictures from a "Lady Godiva Run" with Sherman's X-Scooter over there in Oahu, Catherine!

 

[Cacia]

Its all lighting and manual settings in the camera, selecting my POV carefully, planning and execution

Well, you have a gifted eye for ambient light. There is a spirit in those shots that really captures the adventure, and I hope more people get to see them.

The scooter guys should be begging you. The shots make me want to buy a scooter and start taking pictures again.

"Lady Godiva Run"

H A -- H A. Well, I think you should do underwater scooter salsa in your b-day suit.

Ken, those wetsuits don't look too bulky, what are they 7's or 5's?

 

[Mo2vation]

Well, you have a gifted eye for ambient light. There is a spirit in those shots that really captures the adventure, and I hope more people get to see them.

The scooter guys should be begging you. The shots make me want to buy a scooter and start taking pictures again.

H A -- H A. Well, I think you should do underwater scooter salsa in your b-day suit.

Ken, those wetsuits don't look too bulky, what are they 7's or 5's?

'dette's wearing a custom 7mm suit, with a (I believe) 7mm vest underneath. It may be a 5mm vest... its lots 'o neoprene either way.

She's in great shape. I have such ab envy it makes me sick.

I had her put a black rash guard top over it (she looked FOREVER for a blank, black-only rash guard....) as in the previous free diving shots all of that hardware (the weighted back plate she's wearing, D-rings, straps, etc.) took away from the feeling I wanted of just diver and scooter.

We forgot to remove the stern D-ring in these shots. I didn't PS it out as a reminder to her and I that we blew it.

The plans we have for the next free dive series are pretty ambitious. Labor day will be a big weekend for us.

Thanks!

---
Ken

 

[HBDiveGirl]

You should be hawking those first two. Centerfold material.

The surface conditions can really make it tough to *breath up* and get relaxed before your descent.

That was one of the toughest elements on this day: The rough surface and constant boat wakes as hundreds of boats left Catalina on a busy Sunday. *breath up* is a great term... and when the snorkel swamped, it was tough to settle into a rhythm. On the ascent, I finally learned to surface with my back to the swell so that first important breath was more air than water. Does everything have to be a test? :14: It was a great relief each time to get underwater and zoom Zoom ZOOM in the big blue space.

Those images really make me want to be there.

As beautiful as Ken's photographs are, it's even more amazing in person. Free-diving the X-scooter in sunlit giant kelp is sublime.. beyond words... only these photos can even come close.

(Thank you, bestest buddy, for all the beauty you bring back.
Most. Fun. Ever!)

Is she not relying on a snorkel on the free dives? ..and what do you guys do at the surface?

I was using a rigid Riffe snorkel on the surface so I could relax while breathing, and synchroize with Ken as he hovered at depth. His signals are extremely clear, so I could see what path he wanted me to take for each pass. I removed the snorkel as I left the surface, equalized, and palmed it behind my body somewhere... out of sight.

It was great to bust a move for the surface and get that first huge breath without a snorkel in the way.

I also realized I have to take control of my face muscles in the powerful water flow. These X-scooters are FAST, and without a snorkel clenched in my teeth, my relaxed face looked like that of an astronaut on the centrifuge ride. EEEK! Not good. One more thing to think about while free-diving: Get a grip on the grille, and smile purposefully at the nice man with the camera.

We're just getting warmed up, here.

Stay tuned.

~~~~~~
Claudette

 

[Cacia]

You might want to try some longblades sometime, they do look dramatic in images and are great on descent surface dives.

I find myself wondering if shallow water blackout is less of an issue because the PP of 02 would not have so much time to drop before surfacing, at your 15 foot range. If he needed to assist you, I suppose he would quickly drop your scooter?

I am assuming you all are shore diving this? We like having a tube on a small weight anchor for surface support. I use one with a floor so I can throw cameras and stuff in it to rest. I even put drinking water in it.

 

[Mo2vation]

You might want to try some longblades sometime, they do look dramatic in images and are great on descent surface dives.

I find myself wondering if shallow water blackout is less of an issue because the PP of 02 would not have so much time to drop before surfacing, at your 15 foot range. If he needed to assist you, I suppose he would quickly drop your scooter?

I am assuming you all are shore diving this? We like having a tube on a small weight anchor for surface support. I use one with a floor so I can throw cameras and stuff in it to rest. I even put drinking water in it.

They are terrible scooter fins. They look nice in the pics, but they are terrible scooter fins.

---
Ken

 

[D_B]

They are terrible scooter fins. They look nice in the pics, but they are terrible scooter fins.

---
Ken

I noticed that her fins look short, are they?

 

[Mo2vation]

I noticed that her fins look short, are they?

For the monkey diving and freediving sets, we used my black APS Mantaray fins.

I've been looking for a lighter fin for Monkey diving - the Jets are way too heavy when I'm not in a dry suit and I'm not kicking. Jaye and I are off to Bonaire in 13 days, so I also wanted some plastic fins to take some weight out of the cases.

In my search for lightweight plastic fins, these came highly recommended for Monkey diving by people I respect. So I got a couple of pair.

THE BEST FIN EVER for scootering. Love 'em.

Hate kicking in them. In their defense, all of the other plastic fins I tried sucked too, for kicking. These were the best scooter fins from the pile of plastic suckage.

They make great trim tabs, they make terrible propellers.


---
Ken

 

[D_B]

:lol:
Trim tabs

I thought they looked like mantas, but somehow shorter .. thanks