Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Film-Techers underwater

This is topic Film-Techers underwater in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 11-04-2003, 11:21 PM:

I have been curious to find out how many of you are SCUBA divers.

I was certified a little over a year ago, but I havent been since then. I keep buying equpiment though.

Also, what are some of your favorite dive sites?

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 11-05-2003, 02:24 AM:

Although I haven't dove (dived?) in a long while.... I used to teach SCUBA. NAUI/YMCA certified.

My favorites were the Bahamas, Florida reefs, ship wrecks, and caves. Lake dives were sometimes OK depending on the particular lake.

Filmed many dives for my local dive club and for TV. 16mm of course... [Smile]

>>> Phil

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-05-2003, 08:49 AM:

Sure, Spent many years in the water. Have a Divemaster Certification...PADI....Sorry Phil,......but PADI Divers always have way more fun. I was accused of almost sinking a pontoon boat once up on Green Lake in Wisconsin, but thats a whole other story if anyone wants to hear I'll post. Most of my time was spent either filming or doing still photography. Favorite dives were in the Great Lakes, Florida Springs, Ice Dives at Lake Geneva, WI., and first night SCUBA class where everyone was pounded to death. Its been about 4 years since I've been in the water. I think all of us Film-Tech-Divers should meet at Phils Pool for a party!

For those interested the top shot was taken with a Giddings Housing and Pentax Spotmatic, 28mm lens. My first good UW camera rig. The bottom shot taken with an Oceanic Housing and Canon F-1 with 18mm lens. I still have this rig.

Mark @ CLACO

Here are a few shots I've taken over the years....... I'll post some shipwreck pics tonight.

Somewhere in the Florida Keys. Larry in front of a section of shipwreck.

A view rarely seen unless you fall through the ice!

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 11-05-2003, 08:59 AM:

My favorite dive sites have warm clear seawater; that's enough. There are some amazing drilling platform dives in the Gulf, not too far from you. Florida has a few nice areas on the way to the Keys.
Hawaii has good diving in the summer but winter = high waves and things get a lot more physical and murky.
Around here it's (extremely) cold lakes and rivers, with little to see except junked cars and decrepit shipwrecks. I've never quite "got" the attraction of wrecks, I don't go down to the junkyard to poke through wrecked buses often either. Shallow ocean wrecks are interesting though because of the assortment of sealife they attract.
I would like to dive Bikini some day - somewhat of a contradiction of my wreck theory - but a fleet of fully laden warships sunk in a tropical lagoon is different from gazing at a smashed old coal barge (with a few carp lounging around it) whilst having to wear a drysuit to survive the cold. That said, local lake dives (especially Lake Erie) are much better lately than when I started diving; the much maligned Zebra Mussel has filtered the formerly cloudy water to an astonishing clarity. (and Erie is the warmest Great Lake)

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 11-05-2003, 10:46 AM:

Kodak makes a camera specifically for underwater use (up to 50 foot depth):

Kodak MAX Water and Sport Single Use Camera

Kodak has also developed technology to obtain optimum quality from underwater photos:

Kodak Sea Processing Program

Kodak Sea Processing Dealers

Kodak Interview with Underwater Photographer Rick Sammon

[ 11-05-2003, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: John Pytlak ]

Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 11-05-2003, 12:14 PM:

Phil,

how about "diven" ? [beer]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 11-05-2003, 01:30 PM:

Christian, I would have tried "divot", but I only see that when I play golf. [Big Grin]

Mark: Oh Puhleeeze! Everyone has to have PADI certs to even buy an O-ring. It wasn't worth mentioning... [Smile]

Congrats on the Divemaster rating...that is an accomplishment. [thumbsup]

I have no pool at this house since I live on a hillside. Wait! As I look out my window, I see the Pacific... I guess we could use that? [Razz]

>>> Phil

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 11-05-2003, 05:03 PM:

I've only been diving in Lake Travis (near Austin, tx) Everyone says it is a great dive site but I must have gone at the wrong time. Visibility was about 5-10 feet at the most, I don't know whether I am claustrophobic or agoraphobic but I wasn't very comfortable.

A guy that I used to go to high school with just recently got his certification so we are going to try to go sometime. There is a scuba park nearby that has pretty clear water that I am going to go to just to get comfortable in the water.

Athen's Scuba Park

We are also planning on going to the Bahamas for spring break to dive also. Spring break wouldn't be my first choice on when to go but its the only time I can get off.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-05-2003, 07:39 PM:

Well, I have to admit that the great state of Utah does have everything:)! Even a land locked stocked ocean dive spot in the middle of the desert.......
http://utahoutdoors.com/pages/seabase.htm

Here are a couple of more pictures from some dives.....

Now if I could only get my lift bag attached someplace it'd make a heck of a souvineer....
The HP cylinder of the Triple Expansion Steam Engine inside the steam ship America. Isle Royale, Lake Superior
I've been fortunate enough to dive the America, Cox, and Emporer on trips to Isle Royale.
Check out this excellent site for more pics of wrecks at Isle Royale....
http://www.superiortrips.com/Isle_Royale_Shipwrecks.htm

Hey Fred, I think I'm through...Jump up and down just a few more times will ya......

Chris,
Before you venture out into the open ocean, even from a dive boat, you need to be sure your legs are in VERY good shape! Do at least a couple dozen dives lake locked first to get into shape and to help keep your air consumption at a normal level. I used to be able to get about 2 hours from a 3000lb tank at 30 feet. Many times I had to get back on the boat to a group that had long run out of air and were stuck puking till everyone was back on board. On one dive, the divemaster came down and retreived us so he could get the boat moving and releive those that were seasick. There is nothing worse than being seasick, and or comming back up through puke in the water [uhoh]

.
Mark @ CLACO

[ 11-05-2003, 08:46 PM: Message edited by: Mark Gulbrandsen ]

Posted by Roger Katz (Member # 1625) on 11-05-2003, 08:26 PM:

Oops! I thought the title of this thread said "Film-Techers underwear," not "underwater." I wouldn't have read it otherwise. [eyes]

Posted by Ron Yost (Member # 1850) on 11-05-2003, 10:09 PM:

VERB: Inflected forms: dived or dove ( dv), dived, div·ing, dives

INTRANSITIVE VERB: 1a. To plunge, especially headfirst, into water. b. To execute a dive in athletic competition. c. To participate in the sport of competitive diving. 2a. To go toward the bottom of a body of water; submerge. b. To engage in the activity of scuba diving. c. To submerge under power. Used of a submarine. 3a. To fall head down through the air. b. To descend nose down at an acceleration usually exceeding that of free fall. Used of an airplane. c. To engage in the sport of skydiving. 4. To drop sharply and rapidly; plummet: Stock prices dove 100 points in a single day of trading. 5a. To rush headlong and vanish into: dive into a crowd. b. To plunge one's hand into. 6. To lunge: dove for the loose ball. 7. To plunge into an activity or enterprise with vigor and gusto.

TRANSITIVE VERB: To cause (an aircraft, for example) to dive.
NOUN: 1a. A plunge into water, especially done headfirst and in a way established for athletic competition. b. The act or an instance of submerging, as of a submarine or a skin diver. c. A nearly vertical descent at an accelerated speed through the air. d. A quick, pronounced drop. 2a. Slang A disreputable or run-down bar or nightclub. b. A run-down residence. 3. Sports a. A knockout feigned by prearrangement between prizefighters: The challenger took a dive. b. An exaggerated fall, especially by a hockey player, intended to draw a penalty against an opponent. 4a. A lunge or a headlong jump: made a dive to catch the falling teacup. b. Football An offensive play in which the carrier of the ball plunges into the opposing line in order to gain short yardage.

ETYMOLOGY: Middle English diven, from Old English dfan, to dip, and from dfan, to sink; see dheub- in Appendix I.

USAGE NOTE: Either dove or dived is acceptable as the past tense of dive. Usage preferences show regional distribution, although both forms are heard throughout the United States. According to the Dictionary of American Regional English, in the North, dove is more prevalent; in the South Midland, dived. Dived is actually the earlier form, and the emergence of dove may appear anomalous in light of the general tendencies of change in English verb forms. Old English had two classes of verbs: strong verbs, whose past tense was indicated by a change in their vowel (a process that survives in such present-day English verbs as drive/drove or fling/flung); and weak verbs, whose past was formed with a suffix related to –ed in Modern English (as in present-day English live/lived and move/moved). Since the Old English period, many verbs have changed from the strong pattern to the weak one; for example, the past tense of step, formerly stop, became stepped. Over the years, in fact, the weak pattern has become so prevalent that we use the term regular to refer to verbs that form their past tense by suffixation of –ed. However, there have occasionally been changes in the other direction: the past tense of wear, now wore, was once werede, and that of spit, now spat, was once spitede. The development of dove is an additional example of the small group of verbs that have swum against the historical tide.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

I know .. more than you needed to know. [Big Grin]

Ron Yost

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 11-05-2003, 10:59 PM:

Yikes! Ummmmm... So Ron, what's the short version? What should I have said? My "region" is California.... [Big Grin]

Also Mark, in the above pic, your arm looks to be a fake made of rubber! I have never seen a real arm bent in that position except after a skateboard crash. [evil]

BTW Mark, ONLY pussies get seasick! [Razz]

>>> Phil

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 11-05-2003, 11:04 PM:

Thanks for the advice mark.

There are a few lakes around here that are supposed to be pretty good.

Air consumption is definitely something that I need to work on. I would get nervouse or if I got cold I start breathing fast and burn up my air. I also get the same sensation as when I ride my motorcycle with my helmet visor open, it's like I cant seem to get enough air. The same thing happens on my bike be casue the air is blowing in my face so fast that it's ahrd to breathe in.

Have any of you ever been diving in the Everglades? I saw an episode of the crocodile hunter where he did and it looks pretty amazing. Tons of turtles and alligators everywhere.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 11-05-2003, 11:24 PM:

¡PELIGRO!

Everglades sounds a little scary even for an advanced diver.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 11-06-2003, 03:11 AM:

I agree Manny... Alligators can be seen in the local zoo...oh and, ummmmm, in many Ft. Lauderdale backyard swimming pools... as well as on MTV's "Jackass" show.... (On my watch list) [Smile]

Who the hell would want to dive those places with the great reef diving just down the coast? ONLY on the Alantic side...NOT that crappy, muddy, POS Gulf side!

Unlimited visability and 85 degree F water temp makes the reefs a great place to explore.

>>> Phil

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-06-2003, 08:04 AM:

Phil, Pauls arms are ok, probably just the angle. I'm taking the pix. There is a neat LF 3D film shot underwater on the clear side of Baja, "Ocean Wonderland" I think. Hey, ya want clear water?? Here ya go...

Inside Ginny Springs in north Central Florida visibility is typically 300 to 400 feet as long as other dorky divers dont kick up alot of calcium particles. Ginny is a natural fresh water spring that flows about 80 million gallons of fresh water a day into the dark coffee colored Swanee River.

Chris,
You're probably experiencing the normal adrenalan rush everyone gets when you're new. It takes alot of doves tog et used to it and to control air consumption. I started diving in 1972 and by about 1974 I was doing pretty good. Good physical condition is just about mandatory and if you smoke you'll probably never get decent air consumption from a 3000 lb bottle. When I spent alot of time assisting with classes in a nice heated pool I sometimes used to fall asleep while sitting on the bottom.

Mark @ CLACO

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 11-06-2003, 02:00 PM:

One of my favorite cave dives was a place in central Florida called the Blue Grotto. It was about 100 ft deep and in some places so narrow that my chest would hit one wall and my tank would scrape the other wall as ya wiggled to get past the tight places. And back then, I was not as "full-figured" as I am now. [Big Grin]

At the bottom, there was a large "room" that was fun to explore. It was a typical sink hole fed by an underground aquifer with such force that the surface water was disturbed. I always remember this cool warning sign they had:

There Are Old Divers
There Are Bold Divers
But There Are NO
Old, Bold Divers.

>>> Phil

Posted by Matthew Bailey (Member # 601) on 11-06-2003, 05:54 PM:

I have a 1950's Life magazine issue with an article of several divers aboard the Andrea Doria.

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 10-02-2004, 11:23 PM:

Just in case anyone was wondering. I just did my advance open water dives this weekend. The deep dive was only to 70ft, so not that deep. It was pretty dark and we had lights so it was kind of a simulated night dive. I did pretty good with the lift bag, but I think the dump valve didn't work on it so it was kinda hard to slwo it down. Other that and only about 5-7ft visibility the dives were pretty good. Water was about 80 degrees, no thermocline(at least not down to 70.)