Wide angle shots

[XJae]

I finally had a chance to put a S&S 16m on my Sony P10.
I couldn't be happier with the results.

Here's a few...

The entire album is on the new Wreck Valley Divers site. (under construction)
Dutch Springs Inaugural Dive

Although it is fully automatic, the main reason I like the P10 is its small size.
However, the S&S 16m lens is huge and weighs just as much as the camera with the housing.

 

[Dee]

I'm green with envy for the visability ya'll have!

 

[XJae]

I think, in general, the zebra mussels have been slowly increasing the vis.

For the first half of these shots we were the first ones in the water, on a friday, on the one of the coldest days.
Maybe a half a dozen other divers showed the whole day.

In this shot...

...what looks like sand is actually fine silt.

Come the next morning, Saturday, much of it is kicked up by 8:30.

 

[Dee]

We don't have zebra mussels, I almost wish we did! And we also have that fine powder-type silt. We have quite a bit of grass that grows down to around 30ft or the thermocline. Below that it's really silty.

Our viz isn't bad if you dive during the week but within just a few hours the rototillers have trashed the viz. Alot of folks blame the students but that's not fair. Students surface swim to the platform bouys and descend down a line. They return the same way. With the exception of 1 tour dive, they don't get anywhere near the bottom to stir it up!

 

[XJae]

We have some grass too…

…there’s a small grass covered mountain in the 10 to 30 foot range, pretty much in the middle of the quarry. It’s a nice ~30 foot dive going around it. There’s seems to be more fish around there. If you start flipping rocks, they’ll follow you, knowing you’ll uncover some crayfish.

I couldn’t agree more with you about the students. I do think it’s the more recently certified divers who are the main culprits though, the ones I see standing on the bottom anyway. Although, I’ve have seen many a seasoned diver kick it up. I think most of them are use to sand and currents and don’t realize you can billow a giant cloud from 15 feet away.

When I shoot some of the other sites and re-shoot some of these it will most definitely be when nobody else is there.
Hmmm, maybe in the dead calm of winter.

 

[Dee]

Now that's is cool! Our lake will look like that in a couple of months.