The human eye is a wonderful instrument.
It can deal with great variations in light levels, contrast and depth of field.... giving you mind a completely clear idea of what you are seeing.
I am often reminded of this when I review the pixtures I have taken.
A scene that was nice but unremarkable when seen with the naked eye .... can require considerable "adjustment" in Lightroom to get something even close to the same clear image.
This is a Lesser Electric Ray.
Fairly common in the Caribbean.... it is happy to lay on the bottom, in sand, gravel or sea grass.
Generally unconcerned with the approach of a diver.... it can deliver a mild (14-17 volt) electrical shock, if it thinks you have gotten too close.
Ok, the truth is.... it's not the "travel" part of scuba travel that I enjoy.
It's our habit to travel right after Christmas each year.
Because it's a great time for us to get away, as Linda's business is slow then.
But I can tell you it does not make the travel any easier.... in fact, quite the opposite.
December of 2012 was a particularly, unenjoyable, trip.
Apparently it comes as a complete surprise to American Airlines.... that we have winter here in America, each winter.
You can probably tell I am still just a little bit mad about how poorly they handled things.
Starting with the "Hi it's Christmas Day.... your flight is cancelled" call.
And, if you can imagine it, getting worse from there.
But when you finally do get there and get settled in.... the scene above is what you see from the balcony of your room.
And the scene below.... is where you wake up to the next morning.
And things begin to get better.... lots better.
We get to see a lot of anglefish when we dive.... this one is a Grey Angelfish.
I really do mean that as a statement of pleasure.
They are big enough.... that you always notice them.
They are bold enough.... that they will often swim directly at you.
They are brave enough.... that you don't have to sneak up on them, to get a pixture.
They are shaped a bit like a dinner plate.... so if you don't get something of a profile there really isn't much of a pixture there.
But that works for me.
As those of you that follow me know.... I am pretty much always up for, getting in close and making a "portrait".
I read somewhere that the Grey Angels, in particular.... were a solitary fish, most often swimming alone.
There must be some sadness in that.... as they always have that yellow tear running down their cheek.
We get to see lots of lobsters when we are diving.... this one is a Spiny Lobster.
And I am lucky enough to have lots of pixtures.... taken from just about every angle I can think of.
And, I have to tell you.... everyone of them looks like something that was put together from "spare parts".
Parts that didn't really match.... using directions that were being held upside down.
Spiny Lobster are known in some parts of the world as Langouste lobster and in other places as Rock lobster.
They can be distinguished from true lobsters by their very long, thick, spiny antennae and by the lack of claws on the first four pairs of walking legs.
You might also hear the difference.... as they are also known to make a rasping sound, in order to repel predators.
They make this noise by rubbing their antennae against a "file" near the base of the antennae.
I might take most of my pixtures underwater.
But if I took all of them there.... I would be leave out a lot of cool stuff.
This might look like a pretty ordinary palm tree.
But in fact.... it was the one right outside our bedroom window.
It was the one.... that whispered us to sleep every night.
A Caribbean vacation without the wind.... is not a good thing.
The trees don't sing.... and the bugs get a little too friendly.
