petemes

Its a beautiful part of the world alright. Just finding my feet there and really looking forward to spending August each year exploring the Great Lakes. Pete

Mainline infused!

Thanks for your kind words Tim, No hiding though it is cold. But I thought I wouldnt be able to handle the colder waters. But with proper gear, dry gloves etc it didnt ever become a problem. We were doing on average 100min dives. Pete

Hi Stoo, I am super excited to make other trips round the Lakes, Tobermory, Isle Royale, Two Rivers, Milwaukee, Whitefish etc etc. You are so right about cold water diving. I guess anyone if given the option will want to go for the 30ºC water but people shouldnt discount colderwater dives. There are cracker sights to be enjoyed and the water temp is a slight logistic to think about avoiding freezing your balls off! Want to give that Gunuilda a nudge too!! Cant wait! Pete

Few more shots. Cornelia B Windiate built 1874, sank 1875 Florida, wooden steemer, 82m (270 foot) built 1889, sank 1897

Hi Steve, You are right. The Great Lakes is something very special indeed. Photographically its a wonderland. I havent had as much fun for a long time. With the zebra mussels being introduced into the lakes a few decades ago it really has cleaned up the viz. All these wrecks we are working on in Presque Isle is in the 45-55m mark. Its pretty cool on the bottom (3ºC) and ascending to 10 meters water warms up to 10ªC and a further five degree increase at the last deco stop (which is very welcoming!) Getting over the colder waters by wearing the proper gear is totally worth the hassle. The ambient light is lower but water is crystal clear. I have a Nikon D810 and been putting it through its high ISO paces. Just remember that these wrecks are unique. Nowhere else in the world can you dive 158 year old wooden schooners which are sitting bolt upright. They are so intact and pristine all you need to do is bring them to the surface, put sails on them and off you go!! Here are a few shots. Hope you like them. Of course there are over 6000 wrecks in the Great Lakes and range in all depths from just below the surface to 100m + deep. obviously the deeper ones are more virginal and not effected by damage (but then you have to spend long periods of time decompressing in the cooler waters). Typo, three masted Schooner 40m (137 foot) built 1873, sank 1899 Kyle Spangler 40m (130 foot) Schooner built 1856, sank 1890

Hi Jason, Proper lighting is probably the biggest secret to underwater photography. Its all about angle of your strobe and output and trying to eliminate as much of the water column as you can (getting as close as you can). Here are some really basic hints. Before you even start with your camera make sure that your buoyancy is up to scratch. Something disturbs the viz and if its you - then by taking that out of the equation you are already on your way. If you come across a great subject (like those ghost pipefish you pictured) then take a little time to get your strobes set up away from the subject, then move in really slowly and avoid excessive movement kicking up the particulate. keep the distance between the subject and camera to a minimum - get close!!!! angle your strobe away from the subject so that the subject is lit with the ends of the strobe beam. you can work out how wide your strobe beam is by simply bracketing your strobe angle. use low strobe outputs the first thing people tend to do is blast the hell out of each image. The key here is SUBTLE lighting. start at the lowest setting (1/8th) and go up maybe one or two increments MAXIMUM. The only way you can see particles in the water (backscatter) is because your strobe light is reflecting on them thus your camera will pick it up. And thats it!!! None of this is difficult, it just takes time to perfect. The more pictures you take - the more likely you are of finding the "sweet spot" angle of your strobes, then you will know this angle in the future and all your pictures will be backscatter free!! So get out there and spend a few dives working on getting that strobe angle right, remember LOW outputs and get close!! Pete Mesley www.petemesley.com

Nice shots Allen. I looked into liveaboards in a big way before I started going to Truk and found that they couldnt serve what I was looking for, but I have heard that they do a great job. Either way truk is a great place. I head off there each year. Heading back in June 2010 and probably sept too. Talk soon Pete

Hi Allen, Yeah the viz for us was well below average, The inner lagoon wrecks were really bad this year. Averaging the viz round 6-10m But the outer lagoon dives (Oite, Katsuragisan etc) were amazing! also the deeper wrecks off the eastern side of Dublon were good too. But with the viz down we just focused on the internals of the wrecks. The anemone was taken on the Shinokoku Maru. A shallow tanker sitting in 30m of water. The aquatic life on this wreck was stunning. Just a recommendation with posting your images. You have posted your one at top resolution. Try and reduce it to about 600 pixels across. This will make it easier for people to view and faster to download. Who did you dive with in truk? Pete

I might be keen on your 70-200 2.8 VR lense. have you sold it yet? Pete

Hi there, I am looking for old working Ikelite strobes. Like the AIN substrobes for example. I am working on multiple strobe projects and need quite a few with Slave attachments. Any help will be appreciated. So if you have an old manual strobe sitting in your closet gathering dust and want it to go to a good home let me know. Many thanks Pete Mesley Auckland NZ

Thanks heaps for your kind words Jean, Yeah, we had a ball this year. Without a shadow of a doubt the best consistent brilliant wreck diving on the planet. Here are some images of the trip. There is just everything for everyone!! I wont bore you with all the images I took over the trip (3000+) but here are a few. 8 second exposure at F22 Another angle of the same engine room of the Kensho Maru. Bow section of the Destroyer Oite sitting in 60m of water with schooling Jacks. San Fransisco Maru in 59m of water. bow section. In one of the forward holds of the San Fransisco Maru some truks Also for the "plant lovers" the aquatic life and soft corals were amazing!!! If you want to come with us each year have a look at my site www.petemesley.com/truklagoon.htm for all the gorey details. Wreck divers paradise!!!! I will have all my images up on the site soon. All the best Pete Mesley

HI CADiver, Thanks for the response. I am willing to pay a fair price for them. You let me know how much you want for them and I will respond. you can PM me preferably, not much point taking up bandwidth on this forum. send me an email petemes@ihug.co.nz I have a sealux housing so wont need the cords thanks. Looking forward to hearing from you. Pete Mesley

Hi Larry, I am in the market for two preloved DS125's. Are they still available? I would really appreciate it if you could let me know. I live in Auckland NZ so could arrange money to you via bank transfer or paypal. I will obviously be happy to arrange for shipping to NZ. Let me know many thanks Pete Mesley www.petemesley.com

HI everyone, I am sure a lot of you have an underwater photographic museum (scrap yard) where you might have a functioning Ikelite AI/N Substrobe. If you do and want it to go to a good home I would love to hear from you. I can promise I will use it to its fullest potential. I am also looking for a slave unit for these strobes. I am setting up multiple slave locations inside an engine room of the Mikhail Lermontov ( Russian Ocean liner) sunk off coast of NZ. If you can help me I would be indebted to you. You can private post me on petemes@xtra.co.nz or visit my site www.petemesley.com Many thanks Pete