newyork – Michael Witten

I was overheated, lethargic. The world looked gray and dull for photography. Yet there was that something in the air – subtle signs of weather change. I figured I’d try to cool off swimming in a local cove for relief. The high temps and humidity had me feeling pretty lazy, so I figured I’d leave the camera home. Realizing this was dumb, and anticipating rain, I left the heavy lenses home, but put my camera into a surf housing.

Hemlock Cove was refreshing. The god awful record-breaking brown tide was all but gone. All was calm, but storm clouds were moving in, looking good. Had a swim, took a few shots and the wind shifted North. White caps within three minutes inside the cove!

A North wind smooths the surface of the ocean, countering the usual onshore breeze here on the south shore of Long Island. I ran across the parkway, and jumped in. A nice storm, and being in the ocean are two things that re-energize me. Can ya relate? Yep.

Photo tips: I use a Nikon 16-35mm lens with an Aquatech base model housing. The base model has no real controls, so I set the F-stop to where I want it, and shoot in Aperture priority. I then set the ISO to auto. This way the camera has a chance to give me a good exposure. In the menu, you can set the lowest shutter speed and the highest ISO that you are comfortable with. (If the amount of available light means your shutter would get too slow at your chosen F-stop, the ISO will automatically increase, allowing the camera to keep your shutter speed fast.)

The wide angle requires a dome port. To prevent water droplets from blurring a pic, they need to go. First, make sure you have no oily greasy fingerprints on the port. (dish soap, but rinse well.) Then, spit. And spit. And lick. The dome port actually has a lot of surface area. Spit a lot. Lick a lot. You may get funny looks. Keep the housing under water until right before you shoot. The water will fall off, leaving a thin film of water with no drops. Keep spitting, keep licking, keep shooting.

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Questions or comments? – feel free to hit the comments. Thanks for looking!

The ocean on the south shore of Long Island really starts lighting up with life this time of year. Along with tropical fish and startles, we also get some sharks that are better known to more southern waters. The most common shark I have seen in the last few years is the Hammerhead. They seem to like the surface. I’m not sure of the species, but I would guess scalloped hammerhead. (Hit the comments if you can identify!) They are definitely feeding on the bunker (first pic). These sharks are amazing to watch. They are extremely maneuverable, and slice and dice through the ball up bait.

Its been found that unusually structured vertebrae are what allow this tight maneuvering. That crazy head – the Cephalofoil – helps with lift and turning, however its main function is more of a sensory organ. All sharks have electroreceptors called ampullae of Lorenzini that help detect prey. By spreading these out over the wider area of the cephalofoil, it acts like a radio antenna, allowing the shark to sweep broader areas for prey.

While we wait for this south wind to calm, here are some older pics from last year, this week.

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