Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018-19 vacation trips:
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (WE JUST GOT BACK!!!)
• Easter Island - January 5-13 (CONFIRMED - 6 PEOPLE SO FAR - GROUP LIMITED TO 10)
• Yap Immersion - March 11-24
• Bonaire - Late May (dates TBA)
• Indonesia - July 6-19 (Murex in Manado - TENTATIVE DATES)
• Whale Shark congregation at Isla Mujeres - August
• Maldives - October 12-25 (CONFIRMED - NOW TAKING DEPOSITS - ONLY 2 SPOTS LEFT)
• Sea of Cortez (Cabo Pulmo) - December 5-10 ( CONFIRMED - NOW TAKING DEPOSITS - 1 SPOT LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Nov. 8 - Redondo - Night Dive (FREE!!)
• Sat., Nov. 17 - - Avalon Underwater Park ($150 - three dives)Catalina Express
• Sat., Dec. 1 - Redondo - Navigation Dive (FREE!!)
• Sat., Dec. 8 - - Avalon Underwater Park ($150 - three dives)Catalina Express
• Thu., Dec. 13 - Redondo - Squid Night Dive (FREE!!)
• Thu., Dec. 20 - CLASS - Fish ID (Reef Seekers Westwood - $25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
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Hope you remembered to roll your clocks back an hour . . .
MY LEAST FAVORITE SIX WEEKS - I'm not a fan of the time between when DST ends and December 21, which is the shortest (daylight) day of the year. So I'll be counting the days until December 22, when days start to get longer again.
BACK FROM ROATAN - We had a really nice trip and stay at Anthony's Key in Roatan, arriving back home Saturday evening. (Although it was quite a bumpy flight from Houston to LAX.) Working on the trip report and the pix for the next few days and will send those out (as well as the newsletter) soon. Short version is that we started with fairly bad water conditions - surgy and particulate in the water cutting down the viz - but ended with calm seas and blue/blue/blue water. The folks at Anthony's run a really great operation and the fact it's all-inclusive (hotel, diving, and food) makes it all the more appealing. And we had some really great dives, with Mary's Place being one of the favorites. You can see a short video summary of that dive here:
Plus we had two Eagle Ray encounters, watched a Barracuda get his teeth cleaned, enjoyed a Field of Jawfish at Four Sponges, and even found a Sugar Cube, which is what they call Juvy+ Trunkfish, as that's about the size they are. So overall, really good. You can check out the Daily Top 10 shots I posted each day with this link: ROATAN 2018 - DAILY TOP 10 PIX . Here are four of my personal favs.
THE GANG'S ALL HERE - I guess I should also include the requisite almost-all-of-us group shot (missing Selo Imrohoroglu, Candy Botnick, and me).
NIGHT DIVE AT REDONDO THIS THURSDAY - I haven't really had a chance to check water conditions but we have a Night Dive scheduled for Thursday evening at Vets Park in Redondo. Depending on people's skeds, because we're off of DST (sundown is truly at 5PM), we can probably start a bit earlier than we would in the summer. If you're interested (I have one person so far) give us a call at 310/652-4990 or shoot an e-mail to this addy.
PHOTOG TIPS - We had a bunch of new photographers (or people with new setups) on this trip and one of the lessons learned is to experiment and vary what you're doing to see what works and what doesn't. This is an advantage of the days of digital. In film days, you only got 36 attempts and then either had to pay handsomely for E-6 developing on-site, or had to wait until you got home to see the results. With digital, you get instant feedback. And it's FREE (favorite words of all divers). So you can (and should) download EVERYTHING each evening and look at ALL of your shots to see what works and what doesn't. For instance, I experiment with 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 ISO. I also experimented this time with two new Sola 2500 floods and used them on a night dive as well as on a day dive to see what things looked like. Play with camera settings (Program, Manual, and others - I am NOT a fan of AUTO because it tends to minimize flash usage which means UW pix look washed out), play with flash positioning, play with shutter speeds, and whatever else you can control. You'll eventually develop a style and method of shooting that works for you as well as you'll instinctively know what works and what doesn't for you and your setup in a particular situation. For instance, on the shot of Cecilia with the turtle above (which I'm quite proud of), it was unexpected as I just happened to look over my should and here they came. But, because I know my camera, lens, and strobes, I was able to quickly adjust and get off what I think is a pretty good shot of the two of them. As the saying goes, the definition of luck is preparation meets opportunity. And since each digital shot costs you essentially nothing, fire away. The more you shoot, the better you'll get.
DEEP OCTOPUSES - In case you're wondering, the correct plural is "octopuses" not "octopi" (What is the correct plural of "octopus"?) . . . Take a peek at some way cool video of literally THOUSANDS of octopuses brooding eggs southwest of Monterey at a spot called the Davidson Seamount. The sad part of this is that the general life-cycle of a female octopus is that she lays her eggs, protects and nurtures them until they hatch, she doesn't eat in that time-frame, and then once they're away, she dies. So this is also video of animals living out the end of their life cycle. But it's a significant find, as well as a very interesting one, as it's only the second time this has ever been observed, and the first time on the West Coast. Also bear in mind that this video was shot some 10,000 feet deep (not a typo - 10,000 feet) from an ROV. The voices you'll hear are those of the operators up in the mothership control room. Take a peek (thanks to Susan Tritt for the link): Huge Cluster of Octopuses Observed Southwest of Monterey.
STILL IN VACATION MODE - It's hard to get out of vacation mode in your head (which is generally a good thing). I've been thinking about what would be offered at dinner tonight while I've been typing this and thought a nice boneless pork chop would be lovely as my order for the main dish. Of course, this would be much better had I thought hours ago that I was the one who needed to remove said pork chop from my freezer so it can thaw. Instead, I guess I'll be enjoying my frozen pizza tonight. Well, it IS DiGiorno's . . .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (WE JUST GOT BACK!!!)
• Easter Island - January 5-13 (CONFIRMED - 6 PEOPLE SO FAR - GROUP LIMITED TO 10)
• Yap Immersion - March 11-24
• Bonaire - Late May (dates TBA)
• Indonesia - July 6-19 (Murex in Manado - TENTATIVE DATES)
• Whale Shark congregation at Isla Mujeres - August
• Maldives - October 12-25 (CONFIRMED - NOW TAKING DEPOSITS - ONLY 2 SPOTS LEFT)
• Sea of Cortez (Cabo Pulmo) - December 5-10 ( CONFIRMED - NOW TAKING DEPOSITS - 1 SPOT LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Nov. 8 - Redondo - Night Dive (FREE!!)
• Sat., Nov. 17 - - Avalon Underwater Park ($150 - three dives)Catalina Express
• Sat., Dec. 1 - Redondo - Navigation Dive (FREE!!)
• Sat., Dec. 8 - - Avalon Underwater Park ($150 - three dives)Catalina Express
• Thu., Dec. 13 - Redondo - Squid Night Dive (FREE!!)
• Thu., Dec. 20 - CLASS - Fish ID (Reef Seekers Westwood - $25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
—————————————————————————————————————
Hope you remembered to roll your clocks back an hour . . .
MY LEAST FAVORITE SIX WEEKS - I'm not a fan of the time between when DST ends and December 21, which is the shortest (daylight) day of the year. So I'll be counting the days until December 22, when days start to get longer again.
BACK FROM ROATAN - We had a really nice trip and stay at Anthony's Key in Roatan, arriving back home Saturday evening. (Although it was quite a bumpy flight from Houston to LAX.) Working on the trip report and the pix for the next few days and will send those out (as well as the newsletter) soon. Short version is that we started with fairly bad water conditions - surgy and particulate in the water cutting down the viz - but ended with calm seas and blue/blue/blue water. The folks at Anthony's run a really great operation and the fact it's all-inclusive (hotel, diving, and food) makes it all the more appealing. And we had some really great dives, with Mary's Place being one of the favorites. You can see a short video summary of that dive here:
Plus we had two Eagle Ray encounters, watched a Barracuda get his teeth cleaned, enjoyed a Field of Jawfish at Four Sponges, and even found a Sugar Cube, which is what they call Juvy+ Trunkfish, as that's about the size they are. So overall, really good. You can check out the Daily Top 10 shots I posted each day with this link: ROATAN 2018 - DAILY TOP 10 PIX . Here are four of my personal favs.
THE GANG'S ALL HERE - I guess I should also include the requisite almost-all-of-us group shot (missing Selo Imrohoroglu, Candy Botnick, and me).
NIGHT DIVE AT REDONDO THIS THURSDAY - I haven't really had a chance to check water conditions but we have a Night Dive scheduled for Thursday evening at Vets Park in Redondo. Depending on people's skeds, because we're off of DST (sundown is truly at 5PM), we can probably start a bit earlier than we would in the summer. If you're interested (I have one person so far) give us a call at 310/652-4990 or shoot an e-mail to this addy.
PHOTOG TIPS - We had a bunch of new photographers (or people with new setups) on this trip and one of the lessons learned is to experiment and vary what you're doing to see what works and what doesn't. This is an advantage of the days of digital. In film days, you only got 36 attempts and then either had to pay handsomely for E-6 developing on-site, or had to wait until you got home to see the results. With digital, you get instant feedback. And it's FREE (favorite words of all divers). So you can (and should) download EVERYTHING each evening and look at ALL of your shots to see what works and what doesn't. For instance, I experiment with 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 ISO. I also experimented this time with two new Sola 2500 floods and used them on a night dive as well as on a day dive to see what things looked like. Play with camera settings (Program, Manual, and others - I am NOT a fan of AUTO because it tends to minimize flash usage which means UW pix look washed out), play with flash positioning, play with shutter speeds, and whatever else you can control. You'll eventually develop a style and method of shooting that works for you as well as you'll instinctively know what works and what doesn't for you and your setup in a particular situation. For instance, on the shot of Cecilia with the turtle above (which I'm quite proud of), it was unexpected as I just happened to look over my should and here they came. But, because I know my camera, lens, and strobes, I was able to quickly adjust and get off what I think is a pretty good shot of the two of them. As the saying goes, the definition of luck is preparation meets opportunity. And since each digital shot costs you essentially nothing, fire away. The more you shoot, the better you'll get.
DEEP OCTOPUSES - In case you're wondering, the correct plural is "octopuses" not "octopi" (What is the correct plural of "octopus"?) . . . Take a peek at some way cool video of literally THOUSANDS of octopuses brooding eggs southwest of Monterey at a spot called the Davidson Seamount. The sad part of this is that the general life-cycle of a female octopus is that she lays her eggs, protects and nurtures them until they hatch, she doesn't eat in that time-frame, and then once they're away, she dies. So this is also video of animals living out the end of their life cycle. But it's a significant find, as well as a very interesting one, as it's only the second time this has ever been observed, and the first time on the West Coast. Also bear in mind that this video was shot some 10,000 feet deep (not a typo - 10,000 feet) from an ROV. The voices you'll hear are those of the operators up in the mothership control room. Take a peek (thanks to Susan Tritt for the link): Huge Cluster of Octopuses Observed Southwest of Monterey.
STILL IN VACATION MODE - It's hard to get out of vacation mode in your head (which is generally a good thing). I've been thinking about what would be offered at dinner tonight while I've been typing this and thought a nice boneless pork chop would be lovely as my order for the main dish. Of course, this would be much better had I thought hours ago that I was the one who needed to remove said pork chop from my freezer so it can thaw. Instead, I guess I'll be enjoying my frozen pizza tonight. Well, it IS DiGiorno's . . .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
