There you go - if that post title doesn't work for a band name or some murder mystery novel, I don't know what would... ;)

Anyway, our second to last dive on our most recent trip was at a site called "The Lost Blue Hole". A blue hole is basically an underwater sinkhole, and is so named because from above they appear a deep dark blue color when compared to the shallow light blue color of the reef and sand around them.

This photo really doesn't do justice to this blue hole, but does kind of give the idea of what it is like to dive into one - to some extent, it felt like diving off a cliff.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm. 1/200 sec at f/5.6. ISO 800. Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in eTTL mode. Raw conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

Even at its widest zoom, my 18-55mm lens couldn't even begin to capture what the opening of this blue hole looked like.

As we went down into the hole, there were many ledges and shelves where various fish and other critters were taking up residence. On one large shelf, there was an enormous sea turtle with two incredibly large remoras attached to it...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm. 1/200 sec at f/5.6. ISO 800. Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in eTTL mode. Raw conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

There were also plenty of lionfish at this dive site (notice the big one in the right side of the frame).

Since the day was pretty overcast, it was fairly dark down in the blue hole, so Anya and I didn't linger for long. After a few minutes, we went back to the opening to explore the sand and small patch reefs surrounding the blue hole. As we came up, Anya pointed out a medium sized Southern Stingray swimming by us. I quickly framed my shot and rattled off some photos as I gently swam along next to it.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm. 1/200 sec at f/5.6. ISO 800. Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in eTTL mode. Raw conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

Look closely and see if you can spot the second, much larger stingray hiding right in front of your eyes! I honestly didn't see it the first time by, and I'm glad I wasn't swimming directly over top of it as that could have spooked it and could have been a bad situation.

We also saw a small group of Nurse Sharks, some of which were displaying flashing behavior where they give a quick tail flick while turning and rubbing their sides against the ground or some other rough surface - usually to try and rid themselves of parasites, or just to scratch an itch.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm. 1/200 sec at f/8. ISO 800. Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in eTTL mode. Raw conversion in Adobe Camera Raw.

By this time, I did notice the extra large stingray still hiding itself in the sand. I approached it slowly from the front and managed to get a nice portrait...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 18mm. 1/200 sec at f/8. ISO 800. Ikelite Housing and Port with Ikelite 161 Strobe in eTTL mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

While the conditions weren't great for photography because of the overcast morning, this was still an interesting dive, and a good reminder to keep my eyes open and look for hidden critters everywhere!

- Bill

We've seen this little fella (or gal, not sure which to be honest) wandering around the yard during the day recently. I figure it is just too cold for it at night when it normally would be out and active. I did some quick research and it said that opossums are highly resistant to rabies, so I think it is unlikely that would be why it is out during the day.

Either way, it stopped by the bird feeders today to get a bite to eat of any seeds the birds may have dropped in the snow, so I took the opportunity to get some photos. Honestly, though, he better be careful or one of the resident hawks or even a passing bald eagle (yeah - we saw one of them the other day) is going to decide to make a meal of him instead!

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, various shutter speeds at f/6.3. ISO 320. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Bill

We made a trip up to Presque Isle State Park this past weekend to look for Snowy Owls. Apparently we were too late for the owls as they are much harder to find in January, so we'll be trying again in December this year. However, seeing the lake frozen and everything looking like an arctic wasteland was kind of impressive (even if I am 100% sick of winter at this point and ready for spring).

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II at 49mm, 1/1000 sec at f/11. ISO 320. RAW processing Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Here's a couple more angles of that Spotted Cleaner Shrimp...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

Have a nice weekend!

- Bill

Not as flash as the Spotted Cleaner Shrimp, but much more common, Pederson's Shrimp are always a fun find and a challenging photo subject. Their skinny bodies and long antennae make them difficult to get in focus. However, if you can get a bold one and hold your hand still in front of them, they will sometimes hop on your hand and pick off any dead skin around your fingernails.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion in Photoshop CS5.

- Bill

Here's a couple more of that Pileated Woodpecker...

Stay tuned for more dive photos soon.

- Bill

Alright! I have finally made it through all the photos from my (at this point, not so) recent dive trip. I really should have finished them a long while ago, since the last dive certainly had a couple gems in them - in particular in the form of an encounter with a Spotted Cleaner Shrimp (Periclimenes yucatanicus). It was definitely a challenging subject due to the continually undulating anemone that it was hiding in, but I did manage several really sharp photos, and this particular one worked pretty well in several different crops... take a look and then cast your vote for which one you like best.

Original	2:3 Crop	Square Crop

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/200th sec at f/8. Image Stabilization on. ISO 400. Ikelite Housing and Port and Ikelite 161 Strobe in TTL Mode. Raw conversion and cropped in Photoshop CS5.

Honestly, I didn't even notice the crab also hiding in the anemone at the time - I was so focused on capturing a species of shrimp that I'd never seen before.

There are still a handful more good shots from the trip, so hopefully I'll post a little more frequently to get them shared here. Stay tuned.

- Bill

One good thing about winter is that with the leaves off the trees, it is easier to see birds. We've been seeing this Pileated Woodpecker come in closer and closer to the house recently, and this time I managed to get a couple decent shots...

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 400mm, 1/800th sec at f/5.6. ISO 640. RAW processing and cropped in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Not much to say on this one... just enjoy the nice winter sunset.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (borrowed) at 100mm, 1/200th sec at f/5.6. ISO 400. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

- Bill

Anya found this cool little imprint in the snow underneath one of her bird feeders.

Technical Data: Canon EOS 7D, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, 1/1600th sec at f/8. ISO 640. RAW processing in Adobe Camera Raw.

With the popularity of The Hunger Games these days, she said it reminded her of the mocking jay logo. Personally, it just reminded me that my fingers were getting cold and I should go back inside!

- Bill