Trefor Pier still standing (but only just)

Trefor Pier is located on the Lleyn Pennisular in North Wales. For many divers and underwater photographers based in the north west, this site has been a regular haunt. However, in recent times, the pier has started to collapse, with large chunks of the wooden struts now lying on the sea bed. Many people have said that it is no longer the haven for marine life it once was, and that perhaps it is now too dangerous to dive. Nick and I, along with Tony Gilbert, went to have a look yesterday. The last time we dived this site, on a cold February day, the lack of marine life was noticeable. So it was with some trepidation that we returned.

We arrived to flat clam seas and amazing visibility. You could see all the pier structure and the grasses and seaweeds from the surface. Paddy was excited to get wet and so were we. It was too hot to leave the dog in the car while we dived, so we took it in turns to snorkel with him, while the others dived and then swapped round.

Sunbeams streamed through the structure of the pier. A halocline formed where fresh water, running down from the mountains, meets the sea. Paddy posed as always and so did a group of kayakers that were navigating the shoreline. So for wide angle, there was plenty to keep us busy. The concrete pier wall is full of crevices and these were packed with shannies peaking out, and even swimming towards the camera lens. Shrimps, crabs and tompot blennies also make great subjects. Tony also found an endangered fresh water eel and a tiny squid in the sand.

The site is shallow, with the maximum depth at around 8m. On a day like yesterday, it is a perfect site to relax and focus on taking photos. However, it can also look, and feel, a bit like the inside of a washing machine drum on a heavily soiled load! The weather needs to be kind, but when it is, this wonderful dive site still performs.

The kayakers did tell us, however, that a section of the pier had fallen over night. Not in a wild storm, but on a calm evening. You would not want to be diving when that happened - so the jury is still out on how safe it is to dive under the structure itself.

Three Shires Head

We recently attended a talk at the Northern Underwater Photography Group (NUPG) by Rob Cuss about photography in the top 1m of water. Rob had ear troubles and could not dive, but did not let that put him off getting some innovative shots in amazing UK locations. One of the shots he showed at the talk was from Three Shires Head, where Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire meet. So when our friend, Tony Gilbert, invited us, and John Spencer, to join him on a day trip, we jumped at the chance. This is how we ended up parked on a roadside, loaded down with drysuits, weightbelts, masks, snorkels and, of course, our underwater camera equipment, looking at the spectacular countryside asking "How far is it?"

The walk, through wonderful scenery, was about a mile! So after 20mins down a rocky path, we got our first glimpse of what we had come to shoot. The river Dane, here, comprises brown shallows, peaty waterfalls, and calm pools, topped by an ancient stone packhorse bridge. Our dog, Paddy, was in heaven. Repeatedly leaping up from the river bed through the ferns and swimming in the deeper pools.

The first shot Nick wanted to have a go at, was to use some remote strobes to light the inside of the small tunnel the river runs through. The picture below shows me setting up the lights for this shot:  Paddy is, of course, helping.

The water tumbles down the larger rocks, and so with your camera safe in its housing, you can try some shots of the fast flowing water. In this shot I like the mask, snorkel and neoprene cover left on the dry rocks below a tree, and the water rushing down the falls and splashing back up.

 

We had hoped for blue skies, but this will only give us a reason to go back on another brighter day.

Of course, Paddy thought that this was a fantastic day out! And it was. No need for tanks and scuba gear, which is just as well given the walk. Here is Paddy swimming in the deepest pool, showing the rolling Cheshire hills in the background

This location was something completely new for Nick and I. It just shows that there are some wonderful locations to visit right on our doorstep - you just have to think a little differently. Thanks to Rob Cuss and Tony Gilbert for getting us there. Where shall we try next?

Farne Island Seals

Well it has been a while since we have been able to blog, but hope to keep you updated more regularly from now on! We make an annual pilgrimage to dive with the Grey Atlantic Seals in the Farne Islands and this year I was without my beloved SLR! Jamie, from African Space, was trying it out on the Sardine Run in South Africa. So I was forced to pick up our backup camera and try it out. It is sad that the Sony NEX-5, in it's shiny Nauticam Housing, only gets used when we have a flood or other camera disasters, so I was going to try to make the best of it. What it can do, that my Nikon D200 certainly cannot, is take video, and if there is one creature that begs to be on the moving screen - it is the seal. Here is a link to my first attempt at filming them:

Farne Island Seal Video

We charted our favourite skipper, Paul Walker, from Farne Island Divers, who has a super fast RIB, a huge amount of experience, and the know how to get you into just the right location. As our group all had underwater cameras on-board, we limited the group to 8 divers, which gave us loads of room on the boat. The sun shone, the water was flat calm and the visibility was rubbish! All this rain over the last few months has meant that run off from the local rivers reduces the usually clear water to a green mush. But this did not dampen our spirits and nor did it stop the seals from displaying their enquisitive nature and coming to take a look at us.

If you have not already dived with seals, then book onto a boat right now! You can stay in the shallows, even stay at the surface, and if you are patient enough, they will come and bite your fins, grab hold of your camera and play around with you in the water. On surfacing, I glanced up to see where our group was, to make sure we were not holding everyone up, only to find Yo-Han and CJ laughing near the boat, each with a seal sitting on them!

As I said, I was using the Sony NEX-5 and had an INON D2000 strobe for photography and a Light and Motion  Sola 1200 light for video. I had the 16mm pancake lens (with occasionally the fish-eye adapter on). The only drawback I found with the camera was the lag in the timing from pressing the shutter button to the camera actually firing.

Nick was also in the water, of course, and was using his usual setup of Nikon D700, Sealux housing, and 3 INON strobes. It it a lovely experience to share. and it is always great to come home and compare images. Now we need to book some more time in the Farne Islands, as well as our seal dive closer to home, Puffin Island. To finish, here is a shot that Nick took showing me, with my camera, and, of course, a seal!

You can't always get what you want

As underwater photographers you can often have a particular shot in mind, or a particular species you want to add to your portfolio and so you arrange a trip to get a specific image or to photograph a specific event. But sometimes nature doesn’t always follow the same plan! Recently we organised a 4 day trip to Cornwall to photograph Basking Sharks and currently Nick is away in South Africa to get images from the Sardine Run. In these modern times of instant gratification with next day delivery, online access to all the information you could want, fast food and the like, it can be quite reassuring that you can’t always get what you want. 

Of our 4 days booked to be out looking for Basking Sharks off the Cornish Coast this month, 1 day was cancelled due to bad weather. The other 3 days were perfect, all the zooplankton a Basking Shark could wish for was floating along in shallow water, flat calm seas and sunshine – but not a shark (or anything else for that matter) in sight.  We spent, very pleasant, long days trailing up and down the coastline, eager to get in the water with these amazing fish, lots of anticipation – but not a sausage. 

In South Africa, today, there are reports of the sardines in small pockets, there are rumours that this is going to be one of the greatest sardine runs in decades – but 2 days out on the boat has not produced a single underwater shot. 3 more days to go to get a bit of luck! Fingers crossed Nick!

On Sunday, I was out on a boat in the Farne Islands, the skipper looking glum at our prospects of finding any dive site suitable to dive, let alone get close to the Atlantic Grey Seals that we were there to photograph. Then a bit of surf caught his eye and the boat changed direction to one of my favourite dive sites, Megstone, surely we could not be that lucky – but tides, surge and current at this one spot were perfect. The seals were in playful mood and we had one of those special encounters you wish for.

Nature, Climate Change, Weather Conditions, Luck, Expertise. I guess that the point I am trying to make is that you cannot take the fabulous marine life interactions, that we hope for on every trip, for granted. You cannot predict with 100% accuracy when migratory species will arrive (or even if they will show up at all) and so when you do get a great experience, it is to be cherished and the opportunity grasped, with camera in hand and at the ready. It does us good to not be instantly gratified on every whim – to leave us wanting to get back into the water for more.

You can’t always get what you want...

But if you try sometimes you just might find
You get what you need

---

Anglesey, the small island with big potential

Anglesey is a small island, separated from the rest of North Wales by the Menai Strait. Anglesey is also a paradise for underwater photographers and divers alike. As it is such a small island, it is easy to travel from one side to the other by road or by boat, and offers both shore diving and boat diving, for beginners and more advanced divers. If the wind blows out one side of the island, then go to the other! If you are on a budget, you can mix boat diving with some great shore diving, with one of the best shore dives being the Menai Strait, diving right under the famous Suspension Bridge - but make sure you get your tide times correct as the currents can be hazardous in this narrow stretch of water.

Frogfish Photography has spent the last 2 weekends on Anglesey, camping in the evenings and diving during the day. We shore dived Menai Strait and McKenzie's Pier, and we chartered Quest Diving to dive both sides of the island. Puffin Island, on the east side of Anglesey, is always a favourite due to a resident population of Grey Seals, who are playful and like to approach the camera. This time we had very bad visibility due to an early algae bloom - but even that did not lessen the fun we had with these playful creatures! The east coast also offers the wreck of the Royal Charter, where you can always hope to find gold!

The west of the island offers some great diving, and we had incredible visibility (close to 10m) on the reef, where migrating spider crabs are arriving and dogfish swim amongst a host of great marine life. For those that like their rusting metal, then the Kimya is also nearby. This is an easy going wreck site, less than 10m deep, so there is plenty of light and bottom time (if the tide times allow)

Anglesey is well worth a visit for a weekend or longer. If you want to join a group of divers then there are a couple of events coming up: The Big Scuba Trial and the NUPG Summer Splash In. Frogfish Photography also organise regular boat trips - so get in touch if you would like to join us!

Get into UK Underwater Photography

I have worked with a lot of underwater photographers of varying experience recently, advising on and selling housings, strobes & accessories for their cameras. I have spent hours teaching photography and photographic techniques to people who want to take underwater photographs. When I ask them where they do their photography, more than half say “in warm blue water”. So many underwater photographers refuse to try UK waters – they are missing out on some of the finest opportunities for underwater photography anywhere in the world.

“It is colder than tropical waters” – It is colder, which is why you want to invest in good scuba equipment that keeps you warm. One example is the Waterproof 5/7mm hood, which changed my whole attitude to diving in cold water when I first tried it! For great, warm gloves that you can still use your camera and strobe controls look no further than Fourth Element

“It is unpredictable” – true British weather is not the most reliable - but there are plenty of good real ale pubs along the coastline to while away a windy day.

“It is dark and green” – so a light or some kind and a strobe will restore the colour and light and if you select a high ISO, then some of the “grainy” effects can be really atmospheric, or stay shallow where there is more colour and it is lighter

“The visibility is poor” – yes it can be, but as much of the diversity around the UK are ideal for close up macro, then the water column & particulates are at a minimum and even a small strobe will give excellent photographs

My key titbit of advice? Get advice from experts, join your local underwater photography group (BSoUP, NUPG, EMUP), ask your local underwater photography centre or dive club. 

The image below is a composite from a few UK dives taken in 2010, just to give you a taste of how great diving can be around this coast, just get in and give it a go!

Basking Shark Photography

Apparently, the first sighting of a Basking Shark off the UK coastline was reported this week. This gets me very excited about getting back in the water with these huge sharks to get some more images. Basking Sharks start arriving in spring on the south coast, and by the time the summer arrives they can be spotted all around the UK. We are booked in for a 4 day weekend in June with Charles Hood in Cornwall, but hope to get down there sooner as well. Basking Sharks are endangered, but happily are protected in UK waters. All sightings should be reported to the Shark Trust's dedicated website to further scientific research to help understand more about these elusive creatures.

The images posted here are from June 2010. Basking Sharks, if you are lucky enough to find them, swim/feed in a regular pattern, hoovering up plankton, so you can get a feel for where they are swimming and position yourself, without chasing them away, to get a close pass. Sometimes they get so close that you can worry about being swallowed up whole! As they are so close to the surface, on sunny days, there is no need for strobes. Work on getting reflections, sun bursts and other natural light shots. Other tips for getting the "wow" shot of this amazing shark: watch out for backscatter as the water will be full of zooplankton; take lots of photos when you get the chance, as meeting one in the water is a rare and special event. Remember to enjoy the experience!