topic Re: Northern California Kelp Forest in Share Your Photos

Northern California Kelp Forest

2ndjetty — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:20:19 GMT

Canon 5D Mk IV with Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L. As shared on Instagram.

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

Stephen — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:18:16 GMT

This is gorgeous! What lighting & housing did you use?

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

2ndjetty — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:21:26 GMT

Thank you Stephen! I used a Sea & Sea MDX-5DIV housing and dual Backscatter MW-4300 video lights. Settings were ISO 1600, f/13, 1/60s. Uncropped.

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

2ndjetty — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 18:23:19 GMT

Oops, the 4:5 for Instagram (this version here) IS cropped to adjust aspect ratio.

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

shadowsports — Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:49:18 GMT

@2ndjetty 👍

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

ccanada — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 00:10:21 GMT

@2ndjettyThis is such a beautiful image. Having attempted underwater photography myself, I recognize the amount of effort to make it happen. Nice work!

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

Tintype_18 — Sat, 04 Mar 2023 23:29:51 GMT

Unique setting with vivid colors. Thanks for sharing. BTW, don't sharks hang out in kelp beds? Curious if you have ever seen any there.

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

2ndjetty — Sun, 05 Mar 2023 00:28:25 GMT

Thanks. You're lucky if you see even a horn shark or leopard shark in kelp beds these days. I think in the 60-70s you could see blue sharks, soupfin sharks, and a few others here and there, but they're mostly gone now. You can see six-gill sharks somewhat reliably in La Jolla when they're known to be in the area. It's extremely rare to see something like a great white shark. Of all the 10s of thousands of divers in California, one person might catch a fleeting glimpse of one every couple years. So to answer your question, I've seen the small sharks but have never seen the big guys with near 1000 kelp dives up and down the coast.

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

Tronhard — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 16:57:26 GMT

This is a gorgeous image, but one of a sadly reducing environment. The kelp forests are the cold-water equivalent of our coral reefs, in that they they provide protection for the young of many species. As the water warms, their environment is threatened by the temperature shift and also the explosion of some predatory species like star fish, which kill of core species.
This is a gorgeous photograph and say that with total respect for the skill involved and also getting into that cold water!

Re: Northern California Kelp Forest

Fotogrni61 — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 00:08:55 GMT

Lovely photograph. Very interesting equipment used too; some I've never heard of.

Canon 850D Tamron 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3