Max Bottomtime Loc: Torrance, California

It seems as if there has been rain each week in Southern California this year. We've made a few bad dives, but last weekend was an exception. We had a bad dive followed by two decent dives.

The wreck of the Tammy, misidentified as the African Queen is in 90 feet off Long Beach. When I first dived it, there were still portholes, a large bronze propeller and lots of life, including at least three wolf eels. We dropped into plankton-filled water to find six feet visibility at the shipwreck. The propeller and wolf eels were gone, as was most of the other marine life we found here before. I used a Sigma 15mm lens, which always makes the visibility look better than it actually was.

We later made two dives at a reef off Palos Verdes I found using Google Earth. It was our first time on this reef, but there will be lots more dives here. We found more marine life here than we have found at nearby reefs in the past five years.

On this reef, I used a Nikon 85mm 1.4G lens. The focal distance is 2 1/2 feet. I tried using Nikon 5T and 6T filters without much luck. I used an external +5 diopter on these dives and had better luck. I was able to swing the diopter away from the port to shoot a good sized lingcod and put the diopter back over the port for macro shots. I usually prefer the 105mm lens but will keep the 85 on until I learn how to use it. :)

Bow of the Tammy


Bow of the Tammy


Jorunna pardus


Lingcod


Janolus barbarensis

Ronsh Loc: Floresville,Tx.

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

gwr Loc: South Dartmouth, Ma.

Very nice set. Your final shot is brilliant. When you post your shots, there is a button that says "store original". If you click on that, the people viewing your shots can get a downloaded version. We get much more detail. That final shot is screaming to be downloaded. The orange would just blow up! Thanks for the beautiful post. Gary

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

Great shots, Max! And another new nudibranch for me. I never was too concerned about rain when I dove. I mean, how much wetter can you get? Granted, it does affect visibility sometimes. You are a really talented underwater photographer, keep 'em coming!

Max Bottomtime Loc: Torrance, California

We have several rivers in LA/Orange County, as well as lots of storm drains that dump vehicle fluids, cat poop and pesticides into the ocean each time it rains, reducing visibility. We also wear drysuits, so gearing up in the rain gets the inside of the suit wet.

Before I began shooting underwater I used to dive in a wetsuit, but now I spend an hour and a half without moving much. I'd be a popsicle by then in a wetsuit. :)

We're going back up to British Columbia on Friday for a couple of weeks of diving. I hope to have even better photos to post when I get home.

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I learned to dive in the tropics and all my diving has been in the tropics. I haven't been able to convince myself that diving in cold water would be fun even with all the evidence I have seen on television and with photos like yours. Warm water and usually great visibility has spoiled me. Never even worn a wetsuit and don't want to. Closest I've been to a wetsuit was a lycra thing that was required when my wife and I dove the Great Barrier Reef on a trip to Australia in 2017.
Good luck on your trip to BC. Hope you get a bunch of nice photos to share with your UHH admire-ers.

Ourspolair

Great shots as usual. Take care and stay well.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

Wow! Great shots of awesome denizens