Digital Immersions

Spiegel Grove 10th Anniversary Dive

2012-05-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

I was asked by Andy Newman, Newman PR, to join a media dive commemorating the 10th anniversary of the sinking of the 510-foot Spiegel Grove shipwreck. Having been intimately involved with the acquisition and sinking of the ship as a dive attraction off Key Largo, of course I was happy to participate. A raging current that day and heavy overcast made the photography a bit more challenging, but all went well. Here is a bit of a visual chronology of what has become Key Largo's most famous dive attraction:

The photos above show when she was being prepared to sink, and then when the sinking went terribly wrong. She held an airpocket in the bow and actually turned turtle and sinking. It took a lot of work and another $250,000 (on top of the $1.25 million already spent) to get her finally sunk, resting on her starboard side in 130-feet of water off Key Largo.

Finally, the passing waves from Hurricane Dennis set the Spiegel Grove upright, and she has been an incredibly popular dive attraction ever since. They now speculate the wreck has brought $35 million to local economy in the 10-years on the bottom. As you can see from the images from the 10th anniversary, she has become colorfully sponge encrusted and a great environemnt for wide-angle photography. These are all shot with Canon 1DMKIV, 8-15mm zoom, Seacam housing.

Olympic hopefuls training in the Keys

2012-04-08T09:18:00.005-07:00

As this is an Olympic year (London, summer 2012) we are beginning to see some world class swimmers coming to Key Largo and Islamorada to train. We are fortunate to have two really great facilities, a 25-meter short course pool at Jacobs Aquatic Center and 50-meter Long Course at Founder's Park. As always, it is inspiring for me to get in the water with these very dedicated athletes, and do what little I can to support their quest for the gold.

Pictured here are Missy Franklin, Kara Lynn Joyce, and George Bovell. I hope we hear lots from all three of them in London! To see more of the Missy Franklin story, in particular, follow http://touchthewall.com/.

Florida Keys dominates Penn Station!

2012-03-08T08:59:00.008-08:00

If anyone passed through Penn Station recently, in New York City, they might have seen a nice treatment of my underwater photographs from the Florida Keys. Our Tourist Development Council was hoping the winter cold up north might inspire some tourism to the Fabulous Florida Keys, and built evocative Keys' images that were strategically scattered throughout the station. The centerpiece was stair-art, that led commuters up the stairway, from the depths of the coral reef to the sunburst at the surface. Hope they exhaled on the way up, as we don't want anyone to get an air embolism (lame scuba diving joke).

This was part of a very creative campaign developed by the Tinsley Agency, in Miami. Some of the other images they used throughout the station are below. I wish I could have been there to see it in person, as this is one of the boldest destination advertising campaigns I've yet seen.

On press for Alert Diver, Winter 2012

2012-02-14T07:13:00.010-08:00

This week, as Alert Diver magazines begin arriving member mailboxes, I thought is would be interesting to reminisce a bit about the process that makes the magazine happen.

Of course, it all begins with the contributors, the photographers and authors who provide the stellar work that graces our pages. Regrettably I don't have their pictures to share here, but the outside contributors and the DAN medical and professional staff that contributes to our content is the very core of the magazine.

Once we have their raw materials our talented art staff in California and the best prepress house in the business do their thing, obsessing over every single page.

Then, there is our dedicated editorial and IT staff in Durham, NC, who take these editorial concepts to the printed page, strategizing where and how things should flow in the magazine, and making sure every single word is checked and rechecked. As my world is ever-more defined by pixels these days, our editorial staff is immersed in the words and the architecture of this magazine, and our companion website at http://www.alertdiver.com. I'm extraordinarily proud of their talent and dedication.

Months go into the process I've described in a few sentences above, and with every issue we thank the stars we are a quarterly magazine. For, without the luxury of time, we could not achieve the quality we seek in each issue of Alert Diver.

One of my favorite parts of the magazine production cycle is being on press. I don't know why that should feel so rewarding, as it is mostly about sleep deprivation, but it is absolutely necessary to see each page come off the press while working with the talented press professionals at Quad Graphics to assure the the words and images on the printed page are the very best they can be.

We pay special attention to the cover, both in terms of image selection and print quality. This issue's cover is a harp seal by Brian Skerry, in support of a Shooter article inside the magazine that speaks to his important work in photo-documenting issues relevant to marine conservation. As the harp seal is in dire difficulty at the moment due to habitat loss (the ice necessary for their pups to be born and grow to self-sustenance is in jeopardy from global warming) we thought this a timely and compelling image.

Finally, when every page is where we want it to be, I sign off on the pages, the press moves on to print 150,000 copies of the magazine, and it then goes to the bindery and the co-mail facility to begin its journey to member mailboxes.

Actually, even then we aren't quite done, for Alert Diver is also available as an iPad version which can be downloaded free of charge by any member of DAN North America by first downloading the free Alert Diver App from iTunes or the App store on iPhone or iPad, and then from "MY EDITIONS" in the device's "Newsstand" log on with your e-mail address on record with DAN as the user ID, and for the password use the last name (case sensitive with only the first letter of last name capitalized).

Those interested in subscribing to Alert Diver for a modest fee can do so, either as a singe issue or a one year subscription.

So, now that all this is done, you'd think it is time to kick back and relax for a few weeks? Not! Our editorial director in Durham already phoned this morning with a wish list for photographs to upload to the designer for the Spring 2012 issue. Here we go. Again. Loving the process, and the final result, so all good.

Kittiwake's 9-year Retrospective

2012-01-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

I just returned from shooting a couple of days on Grand Cayman, in celebration of the one year anniversary of the Kittiwake being sunk as an artificial reef off Seven Mile Beach. Here's what she looks like today, a vignette of what she's become after a year in the sea.

But, getting any artificial reef to this point involves a long and arduous process that involves considerable money, commitment, and almost superhuman persistence. Here is a visual chronology of the Kittiwake, from her time being cleaned of contaminants in a Virginia shipyard, to final preparations and sinking at the predetermined wreck site on Grand Cayman, and finally some images of her now one year later.

In the Yard:

On Grand Cayman on day of sinking, January 5, 2011:

Celebrating her first year as a dive attraction that hosted 20,000 divers, well exceeding projections for success:

Digital Master Class with Stephen Frink

2011-12-27T13:33:00.001-08:00

Digital Master Class June 9-16, 2012 Now Open for Enrollment

Our photo course in Key Largo in June is one of the highlights of my year. I choose early June because it is the very best time of year to dive Key Largo. The seas are typically warm and calm, and the water clarity likely to be as good as it gets here ... 60-80 feet, sometimes better. We charter a private boat with Ocean Divers and choose the best sites for whatever optic we have in play at the moment. This year the dates are June 9-16, complete details at http://waterhousetours.com/instruction#6.

In addition to putting the very best Key Largo dive opportunities on our side, including the most abundant marine life anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, we have a stellar instruction staff. We are privileged to have Photoshop Hall of Fame and Canon Explorer of Light Eddie Tapp to weigh in on all things Photoshop, and Frazier Nivens to teach a module in underwater video with digital SLR cameras; both joining me in instruction. Class limited to 14 pax.

To gain better insight into the structure of this week, please see http://alertdiver.com/Immerse_Yourself_in_...raphy_Education, by one of last summer's seminar participants, Tim Grollimund.

For reservations or further information, please contact Barbara@stephenfrink.com or phone 800-445-3737.

Cars as Art at Ocean Reef

2011-12-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

Here are some visual vignettes of some of the gorgeous and significant automobiles shown at Ocean Reef's Vintage Weekend 2011.

Shark Shootout 2011

2011-11-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

I've just returned from leading the Shark Shootout 2011 at Stuart Cove's Dive Bahamas. After a several year hiatus, interrupted for no good reason other than other projects getting in the way, it was really fun to be back off the southwest end of New Providence Island with close friends Stuart and Michelle Cove.

It was interesting to note how much more evolved the shark interaction opportunities are now. We worked on the 200-foot shipwreck Ray of Hope, but created feeding stations at both bow and stern of the vessel so we could spread out the group and offer better access to the action and the definitive "bite" shot. We had sharks on reefs, from inside and outside of a shark cage, and along the reef and shipwreck in the more distant and wilderness setting of Shark Wall. The fewest number of sharks we ever had was maybe 8 out at shark wall, but in the heart of it all (Ray of Hope/Bahama Mama/Shark Cage) there must have been 4 dozen sharks spread out between two or three separate shark wranglers.

Until someone is truly immersed in Shark Shootout they'll never understand how different (and clearly better) the shark interaction provided here is as compared to a traditional group shark encounter. For photographers it is all about proximity to shark action, and that's what Shark Shootout provides better than any other event.

Wakatobi - Ever better

2011-10-21T23:36:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from a great trip to Wakatobi Resort, in Indonesia. It had been a few years since I had visited Wakatobi and found the resort continues to operate to a very high standard. Unbelievable, really, given the remote nature of the operation.

I'm not particularly a food enthusiast, but the quality and diversity of the cuisine served at Wakatobi was astounding. The boats are spacious and stable, the dive staff ultra-professional and accommodating. And, perhaps most significantly for a group of underwater photographers like ours, the photo opportunities were eclectic and of very high quality along reefs of pristine condition. We expected a lot, but expectations thankfully exceeded.

Key Largo Advanced Photo Course - August 2011

2011-08-06T07:19:00.000-07:00

I just wrapped a great week of diving in Key Largo, teaching my advanced session of my school of underwater photography. Wonderful photo-ops all week with a passionate and engaged group of students. Thanks again to Ocean Divers for such professional and friendly service.

Alaska Aboard Nautilus Swell

2011-07-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

I've just come home from a really wonderful trip aboard Nautilus Swell, doing a little diving along the Southeast Alaska coast, but really doing more topside photography. The whales and sea otters and steller sea lions all delivered, but the overall scenery and sheer magnificence of the setting greatly defined the experience.

The Nautilus Swell, a 90-foot tugboat has been tastefully refitted to become the perfect expedition boat for marine photography in the region. I'll write about it all in greater detail in the next issue of Alert Diver, but for now here is a preview of the photo-opportunities.

As final endorsement of the quality of the adventure, before I left the boat I booked another charter for August 2013. It is really that inspiring and productive.

Key Largo Digital Master Class - June 2011

2011-06-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

Each year I teach a couple of very advanced underwater digital imaging courses in my home town, Key Largo, Florida. I choose Key Largo for the wealth of photo opportunities, particularly in terms of abundant and approachable marine life.

For the past few years I have been fortunate enough to be joined by Eddie Tapp teaching the Photoshop tutorials. Like me, a Canon Explorer of Light, Eddie is additionally a member of the Photoshop Hall of Fame, and an all around nice guy. We enjoy not only the instruction, but the time together on the boat.

Recognizing that video techniques are now an ever larger part of our D-SLR workflow, I also booked Frazier Nivens, an Emmy-Award winning local pro videographer to teach a short module on UW video techniques.

All is all, it was a terrific week with good friends and wonderful dive services from our friends at Ocean Divers.

We are looking forward to next year's classes:

Key Largo - June 9-16, 2012
Bonaire - Divi Flamingo Beach - July 7-14, 2012 and
Captain Don's Habitat July 14-21, 2012

Here are some images of our week in Key Largo.

Oceanic White Tips - Cat Island, Bahamas

2011-05-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last week I enjoyed a wonderful opportunity to photograph oceanic white tip sharks in the stunningly clear waters off Cat Island in the southern Bahamas.

I've known for years the sharks are there, because the fishermen have long complained how difficult it is to get a fish to the boat without the sharks eating it first. In fact, one angler I talked to said that anywhere else he fishes for sailfish with a heavy line, but at Cat he chooses a much lighter fishing line and lets the sharks force the billfish to the surface, where he can quickly reel it in. It gives him a better chance to avoid the shark taking his fish, and also makes certain the sailfish is less fatigued when released, and therefore has a chance to avoid the shark at that point in the process of catch-and-release.

So, the stars aligned on collective schedules with long-time buddy Stuart Cove already on-island helping a non-profit do some shark tagging, while another friend, Marko Dimitrijevic, and I rendezvoused with Stuart for a quick 3 day shoot.

Here are some shots Marko got during the week, the photographer being pictured being me.

And, here are some of my shots from the week.

Great fun!

Alert Diver - On press for Spring 2011 issue

2011-05-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

I've just come back from another presscheck at the Quad Graphics plant in Sussex, WI, checking the color on the Sping 2011 issue of Alert Diver.

This is an important issue, as it is 116-pages, our biggest yet, and presents the results of our annual photo contest, run in conjunction with Nature's Best Magazine.

We arrived in the late afternoon on Easter Sunday, in preparation for our first color check at 3:00 AM. Barry Berg, our director of manufacturing, was on hand as well. Doing this same job for Surfing Magazine for more than 24-years, he's an experienced hand at this 24/7 immersion into the printing process.

The Quad Graphic plant is a massive 1.7 million square feet complex, although I can't say I saw much of it this time as we ran the covers on one press, and all the rest of the forms on another web press. We'd typically do 32-pages in one chunk, and thanks to our very talented and professional press professionals could check each of the 2 - 16 page forms almost simultaneously. That was a huge time savings, being consolidated like that. We've been on presses in the past that only ran 8-pages at a time and the whole process took forever. Despite the efficiency, we fell into a routine of an a few hours on press and maybe 3 hours sleep in between.

The whole manufacturing process is interesting to me. All the color is evaluated under carefully controlled lighting conditions, to standardize what we view in our computer screens, in my office, and in the prepress house when we evaluate color. This issue was further fascinating to me because we were printing on a new paper stock, 70-pound weight and from a sustainably managed forest with soy inks as per normal, but this time chosen for optimum whiteness. We can't print with white inks on a web press, so to achieve a purity of white in the photograph we have to depend on a white substrate ... the paper. We searched extensively for this particular stock and are thrilled with the opacity, whiteness, and gloss.

We have a fair bit of control over the final color even while on press. Not so much as we might have in the early stages of image processing in the computer and then when making the matchprints with the prepress house. But still, it is essential to be on press and see the ink applied to paper to achieve the optimal result.

After about 32-hours the last of the forms are signed-off as approved and the Spring Alert Diver is ready to head to the bindery and then the co-mail facility. Next stop ... our DAN member mailboxes!

Philippines Photo Tour to Dumaguete and Tubbataha

2011-04-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

The shot above is of me photographing a hawksbill turtle by my friend Tim Grollimund, one of our guests from a recent tour to the Philippines. In fact, I'm still at LAX, with a long layover before catching the Red-Eye home to MIA.

We chartered a week on the Atlantis Azores to Tubbataha Atoll, with a few shoot days at the Atlantis resort in Dumaguete at the front end of the tour. While we were hampered by strong winds for a couple of days that made for a bumpy ride to the atoll and some reduced visibility overall, when it was good it was very good!

Terrific hard corals at both Tubbataha and Apo Island (offshore of Dumaguete), while Tubbataha delivered the wall diving and Dumaguete was best for macro critters. Here's a brief overview of some of my photo-ops:

Shark Shootout Returns!

2011-03-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

In the years 2004 - 2007 Stuart Cove and I collaborated on a very successful series of shark photography events in the Bahamas. Hosted by Stuart Cove Dive Bahamas, the Shark Shootout provided close access to what has to be the world's largest population of Caribbean reef sharks amid diverse venues; including shallow reef, shipwrecks, and even a cage scenario (shooting sharks from both inside and outside the cage).

These were very popular events, but other projects and destinations intervened, and we both needed a break. But, looking back with nostalgia over some of the hot shots from Shark Shootouts past, we realized it was time to revisit this event.

We don't necessarily expect it to be an annual gig like we did in the mid-2000s, but for this November the rare opportunity exists for stellar photographic access to Caribbean reef sharks with a team who know what photographers are looking for (and knows how to deliver).

Bookings go through Stuart Cove's organization at http://www.stuartcove.com and info@stuartcove.com.

Here are a sample of the kinds of things we photograph in Shark Shootout:

Man Of War Revisited

2011-02-07T07:34:00.000-08:00

The first time I went out to photograph the Man Of War infestation that is presently afflicting South Florida waters it was quite rough. I got some nice photos, but the over/unders in particular were not as controlled as I knew I could do if the seas laid down. So, when the wind dropped to 10-knots my buddy Phil Darche and I set out in his boat to photograph some more Portuguese Man Of War in the shallow water just behind the tower on Molasses Reef.

First were some topside shots of the Man Of Water. I had done traditional ID shots while out the day before, so here I played with light and reflections to get a different view. A wary loggerhead who came by to munch down a few Man Of War was a not-so-willing subject.

Then came the over/unders. I tried some polecam shots, thinking to stay away from the highly venomous tentacles but the boat and the jellyfish floated at significantly different rates, making every flyby very brief and frustrating. Plus, I couldn't keep the dome free of water spots and I couldn't shift the zone of autofocus in the housing as necessary to get either the topside or underwater part of the animal in critically sharp focus. Plus, I could only do either vertical or horizontal for each series, no ability to shift on the fly. For all these reasons I decided to shoot from in the water, on snorkel, with a 14mm II lens on a Canon MKIV, SEACAM housing with Superdome and S45 viewfinder.

All went well while I was using the housing blindly, just pointing in the direction of the Man Of War. But, I wanted the greater precision of using the viewfinder. I figured the "tunnel vision" of looking through the groundglass would increase the hazard of accidentally getting stung, but hey, how bad could it be?

I soon found out when the sharp and unmistakable pain of the sting simultaneously struck me on both ankles and left hand. I was wearing a brand new Oceanic LavaCore, so nothing stung me through the wetsuit, but it nevertheless found the exposed skin areas and struck. I had gloves and booties too, but stupidly I had left those at home. Note to self, next time I go to photograph Man of War, take all the protection possible ... including hood, booties, and gloves. Sigh ...

I was very surprised at the intensity of the pain, but more surprised at how tenaciously I was enveloped! The tentacles wrapped totally around my ankles and hand, so much so I had to actually swim back to the boat trailing the Man Of War. Climbing up the ladder was a "pain", as was extricating all the tentacles. They were very difficult to unwrap, stinging all the while. Even places on fins or ladder with bits of tentacle remaining would sting exposed flesh on contact.

We didn't have any vinegar or other anti-sting potions on board (although he does have now, seeing what we went through) so we just went back to the dock for the first aid. Vinegar was massively helpful, and while it smarted for a while it wasn't too bad for me. Some apparently are far more impacted by Man Of War stings, and I'm sure it matters where on the body one is stung. Interesting experience though, as they are clearly very efficient predators who are making their presence known on South Florida beaches and dive sites over these past few weeks.

For more on local impact in South Florida see:
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Man-of-War-Sting-Hundreds-Pile-Up-on-Beaches-115422344.html

Man-O-War Invade South Florida

2011-02-05T08:43:00.001-08:00

I'd been hearing stories about local dive boats in Key Largo that couldn't even get their divers in the water for all the Man O War jellyfish that were being blown in from the Gulfstream these past few days. In fact, local newspapers report the same thing, a 200 mile stretch of ocean from north of Palm Beach to the Florida Keys, so the population of them there at the moment is beyond comprehension.

It was a very bumpy 3-foot chop the day we went out to shoot the Man O War, and there were too many of them to consider doing it from in the water. So, I shot from the surface with a 1DsMKIII and 70-200 zoom, and then used my Seacam polecam with a Canon MKIV and 15mm fisheye (with Superdome) for the underwater shots.

Actually, it was a very difficult shoot. Slam-dunk in clam seas, but very challenging in the wind and the crop. But, I guess without the wind (and therefore chop) the jellyfish wouldn't be here.

Alert Diver, Winter 2011, on press at Quad Graphics

2011-01-31T06:23:00.000-08:00

Last week I was in Sussex, Wisconsin for the press check of our first quarter, 2011 issue of Alert Diver. While I've been involved as a contributing photographer to dive publications for 30 years, it is only since I started as publisher of Alert Diver for the Divers Alert Network that I became involved with design, prepress, and ultimately the on-press process necessary to produce a magazine. To my surprise, I love the press runs, not because I'm a mascochist and like sleep deprivation in the frigid Midwest in the heart of winter. But to get the precise color fidelity the high quality photos that we run in Alert Diver deserve; it is necessary to be on press, as the magazine is printed, in a color-corrected viewing booth on the floor looking at pages with a talented printing professional who can translate subjective color tweaks to the physical realities high speed web press.

We now print Alert Diver at Quad Graphics, in a beautifully modern plant more than 1.7 million square feet under roof. The bindery is here as well, and then the magazines get shipped to another Quad facility for mailing. The infrastructure is quite impressive, but what pleases me the most is the expertise and eagerness to achieve printing perfection that we receive from the pressmen. This plant runs 24/7, so in the course of printing a 100-page magazine we'll meet people from every shift, and I can honestly say it didn't matter whether the magazine is running day or night, there was always a crew in place to listen to our concerns and make the correction to assure each page was the best it could be. Here's a quick backstage of the print experience.

We arrived at Quad Graphics on a gray and snowy day in January for this press run. Luckily, the -12 degree weather they had the week before missed us, and we had a balmy 20 degrees.

Brian Harper, our Medical Editor, was on hand to help out on this press run. As it was his first time on press the Quad staff showed him around the facility. That bottom shot is not any press we would use today, but memorabilia from the Quadracci family that founded Quad press and built an impressive printing empire. See http://www.qg.com/aboutus/qg_story/timeline.asp for a bit of their history.

Maura Dunphy, our sales rep, joined us for a tour around the plant. It is all about ink and paper, and the big machines that put one on the other. In a plant like Quad there are many magazines being run simultaneously. Vogue was there when we were there, but even so, I didn't feel obliged to dress up for those 3:00 AM press calls!

Here are some miscellaneous shots of various pieces of the production process. The cover is by David Doubilet, an over/under of lemon sharks at Tiger Beach in the Bahamas. This issue of Alert Diver should begin arriving member mailboxes the first week of February.

Manatees at Three Sisters

2011-01-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

I just spent a couple of days in Crystal River, Florida photographing manatees. Most of the photo opportunities were at Three Sisters Spring as the water clarity in other areas where the manatees congregate was marginal (or less). Yet, even though the water from the springs was clear inside Three Sisters, there were a LOT of manatees in residence, and it doesn't take much swimming by either manatees or snorkelers to degrade the visibility quickly. Obviously with creatures this large, and challenging water clarity, wide angle lenses were called for.

Paul Nicklen joined me for this adventure. He was scheduled to be in Tampa doing a lecture series for National Geographic and was able to take a few days for a combination recreational shoot/scouting mission. This was our first opportunity shooting together; and fun to share tips, passions, and war stories (although his war stories were better than mine).

Thanks to KC and Mary Beth for their outstanding hospitality and local knowledge!

Orange Bowl Swim Classic_2011

2011-01-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

On January 4th our local pool hosted the 8th annual Orange Bowl Classic swim meet. This is the 8th time I've photographed the event, and the challenge is always how to get quality coverage that our PR guru, Andy Newman, can use to get the story out on the wire services yet do it differently than I've done in the past.

This year automatically presented some new opportunities because it ran in the afternoon, whereas I had always shot it in morning light previously. That changed which side of the pool I shot from and therefore the backgrounds were different.

From a technical challenge POV, our water clarity is normally stunning at the Jacobs Aquatic Center pool, but bring a couple hundred collegiate swimmers from the Midwest and the Northeast to the Keys in December and you can bet sunblock will be part of their pre-swim protocols. Of course, they slather it on just before jumping in, which is silly anyway, but the filters can't keep up and the water clarity suffers. Therefore, the shots that worked best are those with a very wide lens from very close. Doing so during a competition is difficult, but gratefully the coaches understand that I know enough to keep out of the way (barely).

Kittiwake to sink off Grand Cayman January 5th

2011-01-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

Dateline, January 3, 2011, Grand Cayman - Media Day photos courtesy Lorna Whitfield

On December 25th, 2010 all who love diving the Cayman Islands got a serious Christmas present when the 251-foot Submarine Rescue Vessel Kittiwake was towed into the protected waters off Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach. Last minute preparations are underway for her to be sunk on Wednesday, January 5th at a designated site off the western shore of Grand Cayman.

I was hoping to be there to see the festivities in person, but other deadlines interfered. Gratefully, Lorna Whitfield, a talented photo pro and resident of Grand Cayman, agreed to cover the event for Alert Diver and sent me the photos below.

Seven years in the making, the Kittiwake is a project of the Ministry and Department of Tourism in partnership with the Cayman Islands Tourism Association (CITA). CITA provided financial and project management support and will be managing the Kittiwake's dive site, once the vessel is sunk. A broad cross-section of CITA's membership has provided varying levels of sponsorship for the project. The Divers Alert Network is likewise a proud sponsor of the Kittiwake project.

The 5-deck, 2200-ton Kittiwake was originally commissioned as a Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship in the United States Navy in 1945 during World War II. After 50 years of service the Kittiwake was decommissioned in 1994.

USS Kittiwake (ASR-13) Submarine Rescue Vessel:
Launched 1945
Decommissioned 1994
Length 251 feet
Speed 16 knots

To follow the progress of the Kittiwake sinking stay tuned via the official website at http://www.kittiwakecayman.com.

To see photos of the Kittiwake being cleaned at the shipyard in Virginia, see http://stephenfrink.blogspot.com/2010/05/kittiwake-grand-caymans-newest.html

Pennekamp's 50th Anniversary Promotion

2010-11-24T20:09:00.000-08:00

I was recently contacted by Andy Newman of Newman PR to shoot an illustration of a snorkeler reaching out the the Christ of the Abyss Statue in my home town of Key Largo, Florida. It was to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park this December. The Statue is iconic of Pennekamp, and we wanted to show it as a warm water destination, hence the girl in the bathing suit.

Actually, the shot was comped as a replication of one of my stock shots, a photo I'd taken of my daughter, Alexa, snorkeling around the Statue last summer. However, the shot Andy liked best was a horizontal, and we needed a vertical for the combination of rack brochure, poster, and cover of the Keys Traveler magazine that Newman PR also publishes.

In our hour at the Statue we shot models Corky Wagner and Katy Weiland individually and as couples around the Statue. Their only direction was to reach out to the Statue, but don't actually touch it. Touching coral, or in this case the brass of the Statue, is discouraged, ecologically, so we wanted the impression of connection without the actual physicality. http://tinyurl.com/statue-video

Leaving room for type was also encouraged, as can be seen here in the final execution.
Thanks Andy ... nicely done.

SEACAM and Canon Do DEMA 2010

2010-11-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

The DEMA (Dive Equipment Manufacturer's Association)trade show in Las Vegas was very productive this year. We premiered the new Alert Diver, Quarter 4 - 2010, to rave reviews, and had fantastic reception to various DAN initiatives and seminars presented throughout the show.

In addition, I was there wearing my hat as SEACAM distributor. I import these beautiful housings for the North and South American market, and I was joined on location by designer/manufacturer Harald Hordosch (from Austria) and my SEACAM sales manager, Liz Johnson and Scott Rodman.

SEACAM and Canon were exhibiting side-by-side again this year. As a Canon Explorer of Light, I am proud to be associated with the Canon camera line, and enjoyed the proximity so I could answer some of the technical or creative questions that emerged relative to shooting Canon products.

While no specifically new SEACAM products were introduced at this year’s DEMA, there are some innovative new offerings to be released in the very near future. At the show housings on display for Nikon included the D300 and D3s, and also for the popular Canon 5DMKII. In addition, other SEACAM products displayed included the remote monitor and polecam units, a minifisheye dome port, an underwater tripod, and of course the magnified S180 and S45 viewfinders. The Seaflash 150 garnered a lot of attention from booth visitors, not only for its TTL functionality with both Nikon and Canon, but also for its rear-curtain synch possibilities with both camera brands as well. The beam coverage from the Seaflash 150 is both very wide and even, with a native color temperature that makes it my personal favorite for wide angle photography.

At the Canon booth there was considerable interest in the new 8-15mm fisheye lens. Included here are photos shot on a 1.3 cropped sensor Canon 1DMKIV from the same vantage point at both 8mm and 15mm zoom range. (The lens renders a full circular image with full frame Canon cameras like the 5DMKII and 1DsMKIII) Other popular products were the new Canon G12, 7D, 70-200mm II lens, and of course the extraordinary Canon 5DMKII that has defined the new category of still and video convergence. Canon staff, including David Carlson, Chuckie Luzier, Ed Meyers, and Jim Rose were on hand to answer all technical questions; while a Canon printer churned out prints of my photos, given away free of charge as DEMA souvenirs.

8-15mm @ 15mm on Canon MKIV

8-15mm @ 8mm on Canon MKIV

Additionally, I gave a seminar in the Photo Resource Center on wide angle photography. As always, the SEACAM booth was a focal point for SEACAM shooters to get together and meet with Mr. Hordosch and share stories of their favorite UW imaging tools. Here Wyland, Stephen Frink, and David Doubilet pose in front of the SEACAM booth display.

PhotoPlus Expo in NY for Canon

2010-10-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

I just came home from a very quick trip to Manhattan, speaking at the PhotoPlus Expo at the Javits Center by invitation of my friends at Canon. Here are a couple of shots of the venue on the floor where I spoke to the topic of, no surprise, underwater photography. This is not me speaking though ... I didn't get that shot.

After the show I had a few hours to wander around the Times Square part of town, and since I had my Canon 1DMKIV with me to demo in my SEACAM housing at the show, this was a perfect opportunity to shoot some night images of the Bright Lights/Big City. These are just grab shots, no tripod, but the performance of this camera at ISO 1,000 is scary good. See the Actual Pixels detail of one of my shots, hand-held at 1/30th second. You probably can't tell much from a blog-size photo, but on a good monitor the absence of noise is amazing.

Here are a few other shots from Broadway. Great city, and a nice change of pace from the tropical destinations I normally visit.