Monterey Pics 11-23-08

[Larry C]

First dive-Oops, forgot to zip my dry suit. No dive, no pictures. By all reports, great dive with lots of color and great vis on Aumentos reef.

Second dive-Borrowed a dry undergarment from John and dropped on the Steam Engine on the Shale Beds. Lots of Nudis, mostly Clowns and Tritonia Festiva. Visited the Fringehead in his pipe.

Clown Dorid with cup coral and purple ringtop snail

Clown Dorid up close and personal (maybe a little too personal)

The Fringehead

Tritonia Festiva and little friend (maybe a Cadlina Sparsa?)

 

[Down_Bubble]

awesome shots! Especially the third one: looks like an alien or something!

 

[parabolic]

Absolutely fabulous Larry!!! Love 'em all. That little ringtop snail in #1 is great, what a nice bonus. Wonderful fringehead face also. Great set. PS keep them drysuits zipped

 

[ryssyr]

how long did it take before you noticed the zipper? I forgot to hook up my inflate hose on the drysuit once and got a very unpleasant surprise when I tried to fight the squeeze. I ended up getting it reattached but a little too late.

That dive was cold, wet and at the end of the day when I got home I looked like a road map of bruises.

btw... very nice shots.

 

[Larry C]

Thanks Down Bubble and Ken.

how long did it take before you noticed the zipper? I forgot to hook up my inflate hose on the drysuit once and got a very unpleasant surprise when I tried to fight the squeeze. I ended up getting it reattached but a little too late.

That dive was cold, wet and at the end of the day when I got home I looked like a road map of bruises.

btw... very nice shots.

Done that too! This one was a lot faster and a lot wetter. Noticed it when I rolled off the boat and felt 52f water down my back and my socks started to squish. When I climbed back in the boat my legs looked like the Michelin man! Naturally, since my wife left her purse in the car Saturday and got her window smashed and all our credit and checks had to be cancelled, I had my wallet in my undergarment pocket. Fortunately, the $997 check in it dried out nicely.

 

[zen_man]

Beautiful shots Larry! Thank you so much for sharing them with us.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Awesome shots again Larry. I am amazed at the Fringehead. How close to the fish were you? Even with zoom and cropping you must have been pretty close....maybe it is my size, but fish scatter when the sun disappears behind me

 

[Larry C]

Thanks ZenMan

Awesome shots again Larry. I am amazed at the Fringehead. How close to the fish were you? Even with zoom and cropping you must have been pretty close....maybe it is my size, but fish scatter when the sun disappears behind me

Thanks Steve. No zoom, only a moderate crop. Manual focus set at 3". Fringeheads are very territorial. They like holes, pipes, bottles and the like and seldom leave them. Their mode is to just hang out in the end of the hole till food comes by. This particular guy has lived in his pipe for years, although the pipe was moved and blocked in a storm and he moved out. It was returned to proper form and he came right back. He's quite used to having his picture taken and even seems to pose sometimes.

You might check out a couple of fish behavior books. How you approach them can determine whether they stick around. A lot of time spent around the same types helps. One trick you might try is hiding behind your camera. Believe it or not, when the fish sees your eyes it often turns away. Use your viewer. Also, don't approach like you're chasing it. Sidle up and hang around, act non threatening. Some fish are just skittish. If it's a Perch or a Kelp Greenling, you have to catch them on a good day.

 

[ScubaSteve]

.......One trick you might try is hiding behind your camera.......

I am going to need a bigger camera In all seriousness though, I do approach the fish very slowly and always use the viewfinder to frame the shot....but sometimes have to do this more than once :doh2:

Actually, my Santa list this year includes for fish identification and behaviour books so I guess we see just how good I have been. If Santa has bought into all the bad stories about me then I will have to get them in the new year. Since the wildlife where my local diving occurs is non-existant, I have opted to ask for the Caribbean version.

 

[Larry C]

Well, good luck with Santa. Personally, I'm chasing bigger fish. I'm hoping for a nice big box of Seatool D300 with a few little boxes of ports around it. (I'm not getting my hopes up, though. I think Santa has her eyes on a Xmas trip to Coz for both of us at about the same price tag!)