NEWSLETTER JULY 2007

FORTHCOMING PROGRAMME

Aug 14th: Presentation by Gavin Newman plus Annual General Meeting

COMPETITION PROGRAMME

Aug 14th: Reflections

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Aug 14th Meeting

The Meeting (start time 2000hrs) will be at our normal venue (click here for how to find us).

Please try and be on time as we have to keep the main doors locked while we are using the building. However, there is an intercom entry system so you should be able to get in if you are running late.

The main presentation will be by Gavin Newman, a photographer and videographer of international acclaim. His website says  'Adventure Sports & Environmental Photography Film & Video Production' - visit  http://www.underworld-productions.com/ for details of his amazing adventures. Primarily a cave diver, Gavin has also been involved with environmental issues and his expeditions this year have included destinations such as China and the Antarctic. This should be an excellent presentation - come along and be amazed.

The monthly competition theme is 'Reflections' - a bit trickier than some perhaps but let's have a good number of entries - even if you don't feel you have any winners, send some in to benefit from the audience feedback . Send your digital files to Bob Anthony anthonyrez30@tiscali.co.uk or bring your slides on the night (let Bob know if you will require a slide projector).

We will also be holding our AGM so come along and have your say. If you wish to volunteer for any of the jobs involved in running the Group, then let me know. Also, if you are unable to get to the AGM but have something you wish to say, then send me an email akdiver48@hotmail.com

St Abbs Splash In Aug 26th

Our boat is booked for the 25/26/27th Aug and there is only one place remaining; however, there is good shore diving in the area.  Accommodation is booked but there is one room available from 25th Aug in the guest house we normally use. Check out the marine reserve details and Splash In Rules on  http://www.marine-reserve.co.uk/index.htm

RECENT EVENTS

July Meeting

BSoUP Splash In

The rain stopped, the wind dropped and the sun even put in an appearance for our weekend in Plymouth. We were well looked after by Dave Gabrielle of Discovery Divers in their new boat; this is a large RIB with an inboard diesel and loads of space for ten divers with camera kit - there is even a toilet. With reports of poor visibility in some areas, the skipper's local knowledge helped in our choice of dive sites with, on the Saturday, dives at Hillsea Point and the Mewstone. On Sunday morning, with calm seas, we were able to get out to the Eddystone, followed by a final dive on the Mewstone ledges. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend of UK diving was had by all.

The judging of the Competition was held in the Plymouth Aquarium building and this proved an excellent venue. As to the competition results - well, what can I say? This was something of a whitewash by our Group, who took all the Winner and Runner Up spots in the major categories:

Alan James won the Macro category with this shot of a flatworm

Alan also took the Runner Up award in the Macro category with this nudibranch

Alan also won the Fish category with this cuckoo wrasse

Cathy Lewis took the Runner Up award in the Fish category with this tompot blenny

Arthur Kingdon won the Wide Angle category with this over/under

Jan Davies took the Runner Up award in the Wide Angle category with this urchin and kelp shot (plus a couple of wrasse)

Jim Drake won the Beginner Macro category with this feather worm shot

Arthur Kingdon went on to win the Best of the Day award and, with it, the Red Sea liveaboard prize. Alan James was the Runner Up with his flatworm shot and Jan Davies took third place. Jim Drake went on to take the Best Beginner award. Congratulations to all.

In addition to the 'On the Day' competition, there was a print competition which was on display for several weeks at the aquarium in Plymouth. The prints were voted on by members of the public as well as by the Splash In competitors on the Saturday. The British category was won by Trevor Rees and the Overseas category was also won by Trevor - a great achievement.

Our thanks are due to the hard working BSoUP members who organised the competition and who coped well with the technical gremlins that appeared on the day. You can read more about the Splash In on the BSoUP website. http://www.bsoup.org/Splash/2007/S2007_results.php

Using a Flash Snoot - Alan James

Alan gave a very interesting presentation which gave an insight into how he achieved his winning images during the Splash In. He anticipated that the visibility would be fairly poor, so he delved into his spares cupboard and resurrected a snoot which he had used many years ago in his Nikonos days.

The snoot is an accessory that severely restricts the angle of coverage of the flashgun, thereby ensuring that only the subject is illuminated and not much of the surrounding water. Alan's snoot is a homemade affair which started life as a spotlight. The wide end fits over his Sea & Sea YS110 and the narrow end was further restricted by a piece of plastic (a Nikonos rear lens cap) with a circle of about one inch in diameter cut out of it. It ideally needs a flash with a built in modelling light so that the small area of illumination can be accurately aimed at the subject. The whole thing was painted matt black as Alan also hoped to use it to backlight jewel anemones and did not want the snoot to show in the image.

Alan went to Babbacombe on the Thursday prior to the Splash In to try out the set up. He kept things simple by using only one flashgun. After some fine tuning (he made three different sized end caps) he was sufficiently encouraged to try it during the Splash In. If you look at Alan's images above you will see that there is no backscatter in the flatworm and nudibranch images although there is a little in the cuckoo wrasse image which, of course, was taken further away from the subject.

A snoot can be made from a variety of materials quite cheaply and easily. It certainly works very well, particularly on the smaller subjects and offers a different lighting option that is well suited to UK conditions. For anyone who missed the talk, I'm sure Alan would be happy to answer any questions you may have on this subject.

Lembeh & North Sulawesi - Arthur Kingdon

Arthur recently visited North Sulawesi where he spent the first part of the trip on Lembeh Island and the remainder on a liveaboard - MV Odyssea 1. He stayed on Lembeh Island at Lembeh Resort http://www.lembehresort.com/index.html where he was able to dive many of the sites in Lembeh Strait, plus the resort's house reef. On board MV Odyssea 1 http://www.odysseadivers.com/ he dived the walls and reefs of Bunaken Marine Park, plus a further couple of days back in Lembeh Strait. This talk concentrated more on the smaller creatures (critters) and the poorer visibility dives rather than the wide angle opportunities offered by Bunaken Marine Park.

Arthur showed images of the Lembeh Island Resort and its beautiful surroundings in the lush forest of Lembeh Island. He was full of praise for the facilities on offer and the attitude of the Dive Centre staff which were aimed squarely at the underwater photographer. The camera room is only a few paces from the dive equipment area which, in turn, is adjacent to where the boats are moored. The air cylinders in the picture are equipped with blow guns, and the charging points are voltage stabilised.

Lembeh Strait is famous for its frogfish and they come in all shapes, sizes and colours. This image was part of a sequence that showed the pink frogfish bullying the red one and taking over its perch. The look on their faces says it all. Arthur did say that it got to the stage where he was actually electing not to photograph some frogfish as there were so many to choose from!

The Lembeh Resort House Reef is home to several frogfish including this football-size, red specimen. Although Arthur used a 60mm lens with his Nikon D200 for most of his shots, he used a Canon A540 compact with Inon fisheye converter to capture some of the wide angle aspects of the area.

In addition to frogfish, there were nudibranchs everywhere

Some were even doing what nudibranchs do. A rare shot, at the moment of copulation - if you're into nudibranch sex that is.

The Lembeh Resort house reef has an area of staghorn coral that is home to around a hundred mandarin fish. Dusk dives offer the best opportunity for photographing the mating displays of these beautiful fish. Having a dive guide holding a torch is the secret - thanks Dimpie!

Octopus are quite common and many of them use a variety of found objects to provide a defensive shield. Coconut shells are favoured but this one has a collection comprising a clam shell, half a china mug and a piece of silver foil paper. Blue ring, hairy, and mimic octopus are also found.

Crinoids provide a home for a variety of colourful crabs and shrimps. Arthur said that much of the credit for the images must go to the local dive guides who are expert at finding the subjects; "there were times when I did not have a clue what I was photographing as I could hardly see what the guides were pointing at - I just aimed the camera in the general direction and pressed the shutter"

Much easier to see were the many varieties of cuttlefish. James, a dive guide from MV Odyssea 1, spots a flamboyant cuttlefish in this image taken with a Canon A540 + Inon FL165 Arthur felt that, other than the flamboyant cuttlefish, the Sulawesi varieties were not as interesting as those we find at Babbacombe!

The area offers lots of opportunities for photographing a wide variety of shrimp from tiny specimens to large mantis shrimp. This was an attempt to get a different perspective on a particularly large mantis shrimp. The harlequin shrimp in the Monthly Competition below are amongst the most beautiful of shrimp but they have a rather gruesome diet - ask Arthur if you want to find out.

Arthur showed a variety of images of ghost pipefish including:ornate, robust, and this halameda specimen. Banded pipe fish plus seahorses, large and pygmy were also found. All are very photogenic subjects that can be almost guaranteed by the dive guides. They ask you what you have on your 'wish list' when you first arrive and they will do their best to find what you are after.

Scorpion fish of the Rhinopias genus are on many 'wish lists' and two specimens were discovered during Arthur's stay - this purple version plus a beautiful lacy version in bright red. These are rare fish and to find two on one trip was a real bonus.

Bangkaii cardinal fish were once found only on Bangkaii Island but they have been introduced to Lembeh Strait and they are now very common. No-one knows how they got there but there are plenty of rumours. One suggests that illegal fish collectors dumped them overboard when approached by Lembeh Strait police. This image was taken near the police pier and there were large numbers in that area, so the rumours may well be true.

In addition to the images above, Arthur showed many other great images covering all sorts of critters. The variety of diving on offer in North Sulawesi will keep any underwater photographer very happy,and the macro enthusiast will be delirious. Arthur arranged his stay at Lembeh Resort via a local company that is run by an Englishman and his Indonesian wife - for details see http://www.manadosafaris.com/ Although the same could have been arranged via UK companies, Arthur preferred to have a knowledgeable local contact and this proved to be very useful.

Monthly Theme Competition - Open

Surprisingly, this competition attracted only 19 entries - a number of members were on holiday but there should have been a higher number than this. However, there was a worthy winner and a clear one at that; with six votes, Fiona Bowles took First Place with a fine shot of a long nose hawkfish.

In Second Place with three votes was Trevor Rees with a close up of a dahlia anemone from one of his trips to Scotland.

Five images picked up one vote each:A snorkeller by David Stephens and also a squirrel fish by David Stephens both taken on a recent Maldives trip.

A goby in a sea urchin by Trevor Rees

A pair of Lembeh Strait harlequin shrimp by Arthur Kingdon

A seahorse design, created by Anna James, was the only manipulated image to receive a vote.

Annual Print Competition - Trophy Presentation

We were finally able to catch up with Cathy Lewis who won our Annual Print competition, way back in April, and Alan James presented Cathy with the Dolphin Trophy.

MISCELLANEOUS

Cape Wrath Liveaboard

Several of our group, along with other Bristol divers, are visiting Cape Wrath and the Western Isles over the period 18 - 25 August. This promises to be a great trip and anyone wishing to go on it should contact Roger White on 01179 771 779.

Maldives Manta & Whaleshark Safari

Ocean Optics and Maveriks Diving are organising a rather special trip to the Maldives in late October 2007. Read all about it on their website (tell them you saw it here if contacting them) http://www.mavericksdiving.co.uk/events/20071027maldives.html

Arthur