OK - Some more Scoot pix from our Labor Day 3-dayer
This was a Scoot like a Brut weekend. With my preferred milieu being Macro and Fish Pix, I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and take some WA Scoot pics.
Here are some that I haven't posted HERE (Ben Her Rides Again) or HERE (Bubble Bustin').
Enjoy.
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Ken
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A shot on the Ascent. I was having sinus issues this weekend, so my ascents were particularly slow. Plenty of time for some shallow zoom zoom pics.
We also scooted deep. This is "Little Farnsworth" - a sea mount that starts at about 80-something and drops to about 130. We were down at the bottom and doing a little zoom through the crevices.
I forgot to mention - at the top of each dive, I do a cam test. It involves me locking focus and firing off a shot, and a hesitant volunteer verifying that both strobes are firing. At the start of the Little Farnsworth deep scoot, I did a Strobe test. Claudette, upon me taking the picture, verified that both strobes fired. Throughout the first half of the dive, I was having troubles with the left strobe (as you can see in the pics above and below.) What I didn't know until I got back to the boat was my strobe verification method was flawed. Although my volunteer verified a perfect firing of both strobes, she in fact never saw them fire - HER EYES WERE CLOSED! (you are so busted, Chica...) So the shot you see of me in the Bubble Bustin' thread is me tying to fix the strobe that my dive buddy lied to me about...
Another from Lil Farns. This was a tighter crevice.
Immediately after shooting the above shot sequence, I asked her to come back through upside down. 'Dette was feelin' it, and just threaded the tight crevice, upside down at full speed. Pretty cool.
We also did lots of Kelp Scooting. One of my favorite things to do on the Scoot is high speed Kelp Improvisation. We call it WFOKI (Wide Frickin' Open Kelp Improvisation). Pull the hammer, shift to 5th gear, and hold it there at all costs. Shucking and jiving, making quick decisions, working on quick thinking, agility, and of course, showing off for each other! Sometimes you make salad. Sometimes you crash and burn. But all the time your nerves are on edge. Its really best in a wetsuit - but in the morning (when we shot this) it was a little cool.
More WFOKI. Its tough with the big camera. Its more fun with just a wetsuit and a can light.
'Dette, Scooting with the fishes
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One of the wonderful things that separates the X-scooter from the others is you don't ever need to wrestle or negotiate with it. You dance with it. You lead, of course, but it deftly follows the lead of a skilled partner. And the beauty you make when you dance is inspiring. I've wanted to shoot this shot for a long time - I'll post a better one (technically) soon, I hope, but you get the idea. Artistically, I love this. I'm just not a great technician, and its holding back my ability to express (my problem.. sorry about the side bar.) ABOUT THE SHOT: We were at about 70 feet, and the Breakfast Club was below us. We were on the way up, completely in mid-water, and I motioned to Claudette to dance in the bubbles. She went into the most amazing improvisational dance. Inspired by the bubbles, their sound, the pinnacles and the blue water around us, she was spinning and turning and diving and just putting on an inspired show. It was quite lovely. I must have taken 20 or more shots, but this is my favorite, and it captures the "in the moment" joy that these wonderful tools can inspire. It was a moment I'll never forget.
Mid-Water Upside Down shot. 'Dette really has the upside down thing going on.
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I am constantly telling the subjects I shoot (when I'm shooting W/A) that they can't get too close to me. The lens manages tight focus at a very close range. 'Chica was zooming by upside down (as above) and I was shooting... and she kinda blasted over me at about 4" or 5" from me. I'm talking near collision! I felt the prop wash as she went by. This is the "just a little too close" shot that followed the one above...
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Sorry 'bout the flashes... I saw the strobes! I did, I did!... I swear I did! Obviously I didn't keep the peepers open for the whole burst, but I really did see both flashes at least begin as my eyes were snapping shut. 
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