mntlblok

Ran back across this thread whilst looking for something else. Have never made another attempt to dive (or even to "find") Gray's Reef, but have since run across a number of other Bank Sea Bass whilst diving the Blue Heron Bridge - where I seem to dive almost exclusively the last few years. http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=76042652@N00&q=bank%20sea%20bass

Not even sure how I ended up back on this page, but it's now kind of funny that I was so fascinated with those urchins. BTW, I've never since tried diving Gray's Reef again. It was an all around terrible experience. But, I've become a semi-regular Blue Heron Bridge diver in the last few years and this variegated urchin is very common at that site. I've since learnt that if one turns enough of these over, one can find both bumblebee shrimp and squat urchin shrimp hanging out on the underside.

Hell, *yes*, it helps! Thanks! It took about half an ounce of pressure "press" it out. The little wifey had to ask what I was cracking up about when it popped out so easily. :-) She might even get her kitchen counter back if I can figger out how to remove that "coating". Probably wouldn't have thought about greasing that o-ring, neither. . . Kevin nut retainer

Ikelite sent me a replacement set for the thingy that holds stuff via screw to the top of the housing for my latest Digital Rebel. I had to break the plastic piece that surrounded metal "nut" that screws onto the black plastic part. After removing that metal "nut", I've decided that I should seek help about how to dislodge the remaining black plastic "screw". Figgered a photo might help with asking the question. How do I get the black plastic screw loose? Also, apparently the piece of black plastic that fits around the "nut" is "glued" into place. Is something peeled off the "sticky" side of it in order to make it adhere to the inner surface of the housing? TIA Kevin (needing another screw loose) Savannah

Ran across one of these about a month ago at the Blue Heron Bridge. Only learnt today what it was. Kevin Bryant Savannah http://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/s...57627051186336/

Tested it out while in the darker areas under the Blue Heron Bridge last weekend. That's not a lot of light that it puts out, but it worked exactly as advertised for helping with focusing when there's no sunlight. On three dives with my 60mm macro, I also tested out +4, +7, and +6 diopter setups - my first attempts with screw-on diopters. It worked out that with the light pointed down as far as it can go, it was just right for the closest focus with +4 diopter, but it doesn't aim close enough to the end of the flat port to get the most out of the +6 nor +7 diopter setups. While it would be hard to imagine that this light could cause a "hot spot", there's no danger of it, as the light turned itself off for a second with each flash of my strobes. As an aside, I *love* what I can do with the diopters, but the loss of flexibility can be aggravating at times. Kevin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/s...57626303492505/ A jumble of pics from my lame attempt at mounting my new, little focus light. Kevin Savannah

Thank you! And that pic of the YS mount helps. I'm guessing that the ball arm has a screw on the end opposite to the end that the YS mount attaches to, no? Since I last posted, I took the top off of an old, broken tripod, turned it upside down, and the screw fits the hole in the housing. I'm thinking that some acrylic for making impression trays (and maybe a little duct tape, if necessary :-)) will get me going with the 39.95 mini focus light from B&H or Adorama, with no further purchases. Wonder why he didn't show me that one at Reef. . . Kevin

Fantasea Nano Focus Light #6022 Stopped by Reef Photo and Video the other day and was shown what was available and recommended. Can't justify spending that much more on a focus/aiming light, but I'm tired of fiddling with lining up the two modeling lights for macro with my DS-125's. Have read this thread. Why would I not be satisfied with the above listed Fantasea light? Have not seen it mentioned. Is it related to the "360" that *has* been mentioned? *If* I were to acquire said light, how do I best (most cheaply :-)) mount it into the screw hole on the top of my Ikelite 550D housing? Some sort of "flex arm" looks like it would be nice, but I can't find a picture of how the parts are connected. Don't even know what a "Y-S" mount is. Help! TIA Kevin Savannah

Oh, and I think I now remember that his first name was Paul. I'd love to see his web site if someone can tell me who he is from that description. TIA Kevin Savannah

Yeah, I thought the bite mark on the barracuda was cool. I think the sea crate is a sharptail eel. He was busy on a hunting trip, nosing into every cranny. Whenever he really started digging at something, the other fishies in the neighborhood, especially the puddingwife, would come running, apparently looking for scraps. He was very busy and wasn't bothered by my presence at all. I kept trying to swim backwards with my fins to stay in his hunting path, but the rascal was so fast that it turned into quite a challenge. I was able to spend a long time with him, as I was typically doing that shore dive at the hotel on my own. I made reservations for the Caribe Blu well ahead of time, having learned of it via a "shorediving" web site. It turned out that I was only able to get put on a waiting list, and was fortunate to have a room come open. It seems that most of the folks whom I met there were regulars, and a very high percentage of them were from Minnesota. I'm about to conclude that Minnesota (and Wisconsin) is populated only by very nice folks. I had stayed a couple of times in the (distant) past at the La Ceiba a bit down the road, but I think I read that their shore dive was no longer available due to construction. I think the nearby cruise ship piers took a beating with a recent hurricane. The dive at the Caribe Blu is only about 20 feet deep, much of it only half that. The current runs left to right, but typically isn't too bad. The surge in the shallower areas sometimes made photography even more challenging than usual. :-) The wireless internet connection for the hotel only worked in the lobby (my office :-)) and maybe the first room next to the lobby. The dive shop folks and divemasters were just dandy. I very much enjoyed the experience and would go back if I got the urge to dive without a Nekton liveaboard over me. That may not happen, as I'm gettin too old for carting the photo gear around, and keeping it from bouncing around too much on the little dive boats. I did get a nice tip from an anesthesiologist from Minnesota (wish I could remember his name or web site), who, I believe, says he does some teaching of underwater photography and said that he has met Eric on one of those jaunts. He told me about using a soft-sided cooler for carting the housing and strobes around. I'll have one soon. Does his description ring a bell for anyone? He also wore a really cool pirate-themed Scuba-doo-rag (just learned of those on this trip). :-)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/76042652@N00/...57600072764921/ Nice stay at the Caribe Blu. Very handy for shore diving with tanks available 24 hours a day. My Digital Rebel started dying again at the end of the trip, so I'm treating myself to the new 400D, which means I also have to get the new housing. Is there much of a market for a used Ikelite housing for the 300D? mntlblok@bellsouth.net

Thank you, very much. At least now I know. My UW stuff was already saved on CD's, but some more recent stuff will be gone unless I can make the undelete thing work. I'll get my geek wife on it right away. :-) Thanks, again. I'm guessing that there is probably a way to back photos up on a DVD without screwing them up, eh? Kevin

I recently purchased an external DVD burner and a digital camcorder so that I could share video clips. Since I had learned to work a bit with burning DVD's, I decided to unclog my PC's and burn most of my photos to DVD. Now that I have them on DVD, I can play the DVD and see the photos via a slide show, but I can't find a way to get the photos off of the DVD and back onto a computer. I suppose I could hit "pause" and do a "screen capture", but I'm not sure that I would have the same thing that I had started with (a photo with the same resolution that was originally stored and could be manipulated with photo software). I'd like to be able to just click on a bunch of thumbnails and drag them to a folder on the computer, but I don't find a way to see the thumbnails. I'm afraid I now have the photos as part of just one big "DVD-type" file and I can't get at the photos anymore. It might be a "BUP" file. Help! Kevin Savannah

Page 18 of the February Smithsonian magazine has our mouth-agape little friend. Kevin Savannah