Coming back up to the boat at the end of a dive

Nothing special here.  I'm bored with the lack of pictures here since all the lockdowns, so I'll just post some of my own.

This may help remind us of what we've been missing.

After my safety stop, I ascend to the Henry Morgan, a dive boat out of Oak Ridge, Roatan

The top of my 230mm dome port begins to break surface.

Hey, an over-under!   (While fascinating, I can't seem to do them myself due to the 30 pound camera weight).

I'm actually shocked that the boat is in focus somehow.   Captain Cudy awaits my arrival.  The divemast is putting his gear away, and I'm the only other diver on the boat.

How about somebody else putting up their sequence of shots of something underwater?

kelpdiver wrote:

the bigger the dome, the easier to get focus. And since you paid the $$$ for the big glass dome, the less likely to have water droplets getting in the way.

Yes, and now I just have to learn how to fin so furiously that I lift the 30 pound rig halfway out of the water, aim, focus and get the shot.

At this point, it's more like a failed dolphin jump a bit.  I sort of heave it up pressing the focus lever and hoping for the best in the half second I can hold it out of the water.

To be honest, it's enough effort that it needs to be the purpose of the dive.   I've mostly been trying something here or there at the end of the dive when we get back to the boat.  (Partly because at the beginning of the dive, I don't have the camera ready until I get to the bottom, and partly because the best over/under sites aren't always near the boat).

When I got to Roatan, I get there around 3-4pm in the afternoon usually, and just have time for a checkout dive off the shore.   One year I thought I should stay in the shallow area for a while and practice over/unders in 4-5 feet of water where I could simply stand and hold the camera where I needed to as long as I needed to get the focus right, point the strobes, test exposures, etc.

Turned out even that was too hard!   My standing didn't work so well in fins on big slippery rocks, and it was starting to get dark so I couldn't really see what I was doing above water or below.   From that experience, I think some sort of float is called for here.  I've now seen ads for some.     I'd like something akin to a geared central column on a tripod where I could fine-tune the height of the dome easily.