As I write it is July 2018 and we have already had some fantastic diving in Plymouth. We are loving the new location for our diving activities (we now have our hard boat Endeavour moored there). It may be a bit further to drive to than our previous mooring in Weymouth, but the quality of diving plus more favourable tides are making it seem like a great decision up to now.
Here are a few of my own photos (I’ll add more from others as I get them) to whet your appetite. Please leave your comments below.
Click images to open larger versions / start a slideshow:
In the depths of winter, Chris Stevens and I decided to teach the BSAC Underwater Photography SDC. Twelve people signed up – a 50/50 mixture of our own branch members and some from the Oxford University branch (OUUEG). We held theory sessions in our clubhouse, followed by three specific trips tailored towards underwater photography: Porthkerris in Cornwall, Plymouth in Devon, and Chesil Cove in Dorset. Following each of these trips, we had an image review session where we discussed the photos taken, assisted with post-processing and made suggestions for improvement.
You can see the results below – in no particular order. Well done to everyone who took part – the results are very good for a group with little or no previous experience and one of the coldest springs for UK diving that I can remember!
Sea urchin and starfish (Porthkerris/Caio Goodman)
Spider crab (Porthkerris/Caio Goodman)
Spiny lobster (Porthkerris/Caio Goodman)
Conger eel (Plymouth/Nart Daghestani)
Jewel anemone (Plymouth/Nart Daghestani)
Tompot blennie (location TBC/Chris Stevens)
Comparison of normal and protune mode in GoPro (location TBC/Chris Stevens)
Exposure series on GoPro – left to right: EV -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 (location TBC/Chris Stevens)
In August Ross Henderson masterminded an expedition to Plymouth. This involved taking our boat, Endeavour, away from Weymouth to Plymouth for a week of fine diving. With wrecks galore and great visibility, this was a fantastic week. Here are just a few photos from the start of the week.
Another Easter trip shared with OUUEG in Cornwall. Another great start to the dive season, with lots of newly qualified divers, good conditions and fun all-round.
Plumose and jewel anemones
Mark
Jewels
OUUEG’s RIB ‘Seahorse’
Connor
Chris with his GoPro
Decent size anchor – on the Mohegan
Wrasse: rock cook
Connor on the Mohegan
Connor
Connor
Re-entering Celtic Kitten, Porthkerris Diving’s hard boat
Here are the entries in each of the categories from our the annual Oxford BSAC Underwater Photographer of the Year competition. All images had to have been taken in the three years preceding the competition. Each diver could submit a maximum of three images across the five categories. Images were printed and displayed in the clubhouse, where members voted on their favourites in each category. Anthony Hayes and Jan Pickering each won a category, and the overall joint overall winners were Alex Gibson and Chris Stevens, who also shared one of the categories (Creatures). Well done to everyone who took part! Photographers’ names appear in the captions. Click any image to start a slideshow.
Six of us spent our Sunday rescuing each other (well, mostly Howard, who kept coming back to life!) at Hinksey Lake in Oxford! Ian, our Training Officer kindly organised a whole day, helped by Jorgen from OUUEG and Howard, to go through all the theory at the clubhouse and the practical scenarios in the lake.
This was not a club trip as such, but three club members went together. This liveaboard toured Fury Shoals and St Johns, with all but one dive being a reef (no wrecks!).
One of the most hotly anticipated trips in years didn’t disappoint. Despite some at-times ropey weather we dived every day but one and enjoyed some fantastic scenery and wrecks, and we met quite a few seals 🙂
Three intrepid divers plumbed the not very icy (7°C) depths (2.5m) of Hinksey Lake on New Years Day 2016. Steve Litchfield, Andy Pickering & Howard Thomas completed a 30 minute dive in the fairly gloomy waters of the lake from the entry point next to the pontoons, over to the bridge and back.
