I recently took a working vacation to Alaska to make some videos for the Cove Lodge in Elfin Cove. I was able to bring the family along to help out & be models. The kids LOVED it there! Here's a quick video I put together with some of the activities:
I will still be doing more extensive videos with more information about the lodge soon.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Catching Up!!!
OK... it's been way too long since I updated this! Since My last post, I have made several videos, traveled to Cozumel and Alaska and got laid off from my FT job as a Graphic Designer. So, I will be using this opportunity to go back to school for Video Design & Production! I also have a solo exhibition (for my new paintings) lined up for October of this year that I am trying to prepare for.
Here are the videos:
Here are the videos:
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Water for Everyone
This is the condensed version of the documentary "Water For Everyone" by Margo Cavis. This documentary is about 2 kid's (aged 10 & 12) first dive trip, their views about diving and the environment. (This movie has been condensed from half-hour to 12 minutes for online viewing.) Find out more about Margo's underwater art at www.margocavis.com
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Recent Volunteer Dive at GLA
A fish's point of view!
I took these 2 photos from inside the Great Lakes Aquarium last weekend.
Below is a photo from the outside of the largest of the 3 aquariums. I also added a few photos of the area under the aquarium, food prep & dive prep.
I took these 2 photos from inside the Great Lakes Aquarium last weekend.
Below is a photo from the outside of the largest of the 3 aquariums. I also added a few photos of the area under the aquarium, food prep & dive prep.
Bahamas
August 27, 2008
I just had to send an update - since today's dives went so well. We didn't get to dive at all yesterday - since the weather didn't clear up until evening.
Today both Talon & Steel did 2 dives. Patrick is one of the divemasters & he took Talon aside to help him. (This is why I chose a small dive shop - instead of the big one located in the hotel we are at.) It worked out so well on the first dive, that we decided to throw some sharks in the mix for the second dive. The second dive was shark alley - both Talon & Steel were calmly swimming among the sharks! If they keep doing good we might be able to add in some afternoon dives as well. I am going to have to try to find some more tapes for the video camera - I didn't bring enough. Russell is using my Canon DSLR now, since I'm doing video.
I just had to send an update - since today's dives went so well. We didn't get to dive at all yesterday - since the weather didn't clear up until evening.
Today both Talon & Steel did 2 dives. Patrick is one of the divemasters & he took Talon aside to help him. (This is why I chose a small dive shop - instead of the big one located in the hotel we are at.) It worked out so well on the first dive, that we decided to throw some sharks in the mix for the second dive. The second dive was shark alley - both Talon & Steel were calmly swimming among the sharks! If they keep doing good we might be able to add in some afternoon dives as well. I am going to have to try to find some more tapes for the video camera - I didn't bring enough. Russell is using my Canon DSLR now, since I'm doing video.
Bahamas
October, 2008
We just recently took a trip to the Bahamas. Both kids are now old enough to get certified - so we got to make it a family dive vacation. Talon is 12 & got certified last year. Steel is 10 & just finished his certification.
August 26, 2008
We are stuck at the hotel right now since we are waiting to see what the weather is going to do - I guess there is the possibility of some rough weather. We are supposed to call the dive shop soon to find out if it will be possible to go out today.
I swear I think Steel is part fish! We can't keep him out of the water at all & he's doing great with the diving. Every second he's not in the ocean - he's in the pool. We have done 4 dives so far. Talon just did the first one. Steel has done all 4 dives. The seas were a bit rough yesterday... enough to make me feed the fishes - but Steel still did both dives with me. He got to see a small wreck, a turtle, lion fish & tons of other stuff. He gets very excited & is pointing out just about every fish. He's got a natural knack for finding things too! He spotted a lion fish inside the wreck at the same time I did - plus he said he saw an eel that I did not see. Talon is not taking to it quite as easily. He has a lot of anxiety. We will most likely need to have to have really calm water to get him back in.
I just brought my DSLR on the first dive day - since I needed to see how the kids would do before bringing new/different equipment. Then yesterday I brought the video camera. I really enjoyed doing video.... Guess I knew I would. I see advantages to both. With the DSLR I can take photos that can be enlarged. With the video I'm able to capture some very different things that don't really look dynamic in photos.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Great Lakes Aquarium
Our whole family spent this weekend in Duluth. We went snowboarding all day Saturday (except my son Steel who prefers skis - & is a speed demon). Then stayed overnight at a hotel & went to GLA (Great Lakes Aquarium) on Sunday to volunteer in the 3 large freshwater tanks. My son Talon took some photos. I'm in the Blue/Black drysuit & my husband Russell is in the Red/Black drysuit.
While in the tanks we feed the fish and then do some cleaning. I really enjoy it!
While in the tanks we feed the fish and then do some cleaning. I really enjoy it!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Volunteering at Great Lakes Aquarium
I just recently had my first volunteer dive in the Great Lakes Aquarium. It was a blast! The water is pretty cold. It was 55ºF - so we all wore drysuits. There were 3 of us - me, my husband & our friend David. We first got into the largest of the 3 big tanks. All new volunteers have to do a couple skills in the tank first - no matter what type of certification you have (Russell & I are divemasters & David is an instructor).
Right away when we got into the tank a crowd formed - so we had an audience for our mask removal & regulator retrieval, etc. While I was trying to put my mask back on a big Sturgeon was sucking on my head & they would swim right up in my face. I guess they were hungry! So, then we got to "perform" for the crowd - feeding fish. The big Sturgeon were really fun to feed. We would get them to come up off the bottom so the people could see their big sucker mouths come down to take food from our hands.
The other things we are supposed to do is clean the inside of the Plexiglass & scrub rocks. We didn't get a lot of cleaning done on the first dive since there were so many people watching. Then we moved into the 2 smaller tanks. I was a little cold by then, so I was happy to scrub some rocks. On the second dive I realized I wasn't just getting cold at that point - my feet were wet! After I got out I realized I was completely wet from the waist down. The drysuit I had borrowed had started leaking at the waist seal. This week we have to try to make sure it's all sealed up.... since I have to wear that same suit for the ice dive that's coming up. I would not be able to complete a dive if I had that much water in my suit for an ice dive - with 39ºF water!
Next time I will get some photos. I'm also hoping to get some good photos of the upcoming ice dive!
Right away when we got into the tank a crowd formed - so we had an audience for our mask removal & regulator retrieval, etc. While I was trying to put my mask back on a big Sturgeon was sucking on my head & they would swim right up in my face. I guess they were hungry! So, then we got to "perform" for the crowd - feeding fish. The big Sturgeon were really fun to feed. We would get them to come up off the bottom so the people could see their big sucker mouths come down to take food from our hands.
The other things we are supposed to do is clean the inside of the Plexiglass & scrub rocks. We didn't get a lot of cleaning done on the first dive since there were so many people watching. Then we moved into the 2 smaller tanks. I was a little cold by then, so I was happy to scrub some rocks. On the second dive I realized I wasn't just getting cold at that point - my feet were wet! After I got out I realized I was completely wet from the waist down. The drysuit I had borrowed had started leaking at the waist seal. This week we have to try to make sure it's all sealed up.... since I have to wear that same suit for the ice dive that's coming up. I would not be able to complete a dive if I had that much water in my suit for an ice dive - with 39ºF water!
Next time I will get some photos. I'm also hoping to get some good photos of the upcoming ice dive!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Australia 2007
We are home after our 3 week adventure in Australia! The trip was fun, but expensive. After our amazing dive with the Fur Seals in Tasmania I did end up buying a new lens for my camera while we were in Sydney. I was able to find a fixed 28mm lens that fit in the lens port on my Ikelite underwater housing.
After our week in Tasmania, we spent a couple days in Sydney - then a couple days in Cairns before we went on the live-a-board for a week on the Great Barrier Reef. I am happy to say I did not get sea sick at all while at sea. The water for diving was much warmer - in the low 80s (Fahrenheit) - as apposed to the high 50s of the water in Tasmania... so, I was happy!
The visibility was not as good as I had expected, but still not bad. The amount of pristine beautiful coral was wonderful! We saw lots of sharks - most of them were smaller than the ones I've seen in other oceans, but much of that was due to the breed of sharks we saw - mostly white tip reef sharks. We also saw gray & silver tip reef sharks. We did do a shark feed on one day so I got some great shark photos!
Some other fun stuff we saw: octopus, cuttlefish, lion fish, huge cod (grouper), bump head parrot fish, schools of barracuda, anemone fish (even one true clown fish), plus many other fish in massive quantities!
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