Ft. Pickens Night Dive 01-23-12 with Nightsea (Underwater Fluorescence)

[MRXRAY]

All right, Let me start with a quick lesson in Underwater Fluorescence: Basically some forms of Cnidarians which include Anemones, as well as some corals produce a Protein based chemical which they use to possibly protect them from the Suns UV radiation, in effect a sort of SunScreen. We can't see this with our naked eye but when you shine a light on the subject with the proper excitation filter attached and then block any unwanted reflective light with a barrier filter you get to see some amazing things.

I first saw this at DEMA (Diving trade show) this year and Immediately knew that I must possess this technolgy for myself (Evil grinning and hand rubbing taking place). So over the course of a month or so I started collecting the pieces I needed to not only see the underwater Fluorescence, but to also capture it with my Underwasser Digital camera (Note the slight play on German, gives it a more evil villian appeal).

So last night with Camera in hand my buddy and I headed to Ft. Pickens for a night dive and to finally try my new gear. I was a bit disappointed with my ability and skill at both finding and capturing images, but not in the end results.
First I was not prepared mentally for the fact that I had to swim around at night in the dark with only a modest Blue Light to lead my way. My buddy and I were quickly seperated as he was instructed not to shine his light in my direction and also becuase he could not see me, I mean I'm swimming around in the dark. So it was with great trepidation that I found myself alone, in the dark, at night, , in 60* water, in "Shark Infested Waters" (Only when you are alone at night), while I humm the theme to Jaws..... Needless to say my ass was puckered to a factor of 7!

Not 4 minutes into the dive all that changed when I saw my first Fluorescence! My heart skipped a beat! Oh was it beautiful, my first 20 photos were a mess as I tried tirelessly to tune my camera settings and find a way to focus my camera on the light Fluorescence in front of my lens. Finally after a few ill fated attempts I finally had success, and for my friends who know me, that meant a little underwater dance!!!

From then on it was back to business, I ended up with about 85 shots in a 1 hour dive as I tuned my abilitiy and my camera at my new found passion. I'm attaching a few shots here for your to see. I took a couple of "White light" shots with the Fluorescence shots to compare and I think those shots really tell the tale and why I was so excited and still am to get this gear into the water.

With White Light (Standard Underwater Photography)



With Nightsea:



Before:



After:




A Few More shots:

[Hetland]

Love before and after shots!

[paulwall]

So it was with great trepidation that I found myself alone, in the dark, at night,

Were you wearing sunglasses?

Great pics. Cool effect.

[MRXRAY]

Were you wearing sunglasses?

Great pics. Cool effect.

Actually, they are called filters in this case, but Yes.

[denisegg]

That is awesome Mr X !! They are truly beautiful.

[paulwall]

Actually, they are called filters in this case, but Yes.

Sorry, I was channeling the Blues Brothers:

It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses

From your line:

that I found myself alone, in the dark, at night,

[Hetland]

Sorry, I was channeling the Blues Brothers

I thought it was a reference to the Corey Hart song:

I wear my sunglasses at night
So I can, so I can
See the light that's right before my eyes

[GLENFWB]

Awesome job Barry.