Monterey Shootout, Six Dives with Beachhopper II August 1, 2 August 1-3, 2025

I made four dives on Friday, August 1 and two dives the morning of Saturday August 2 with Beachhopper, joined by Guy Foster. Below will first be the six photographs I submitted to the competition, alas, but unsurprisingly unsuccessfully. I submitted three photos in the Intermediate Traditional Macro category, no cropping, only color and other adjustments that apply to the entire photograph. I also submitted three photographs in the Intermediate Unlimited Macro category. Our dive sites on the two days included Mr Ed (and Ed Anderson was on the trip with us), Shale Island, Metridium Mountain, and the former urchin control area (the name slips my memory..). After the six photos I submitted for the contest are some other favorites from these dives, to see them all, go to: https://photos.app.goo.gl/K8sLRgESysKrud8UA Here's the three photos I entered into the Intermediate Macro Traditional category: I can never not photo a cooperative Cabezon:

The same is just about true for Lingcod as well:

Below are my three entrees to the Intermediate Macro Unlimited Category: A flatfish: flounder, sole, sand dab...

A really cool flat worm...not cool enough, evidently:

The beautiful face of a juvenile rockfish...

I had to hurridly edit and select my six photos and immediately depart for the Backscatter Social at their shop to submit, so below are some others I like nearly as well but, I don't think my outcome would have been any better. The judges really select by asking the question: "Would you like this picture blown up and mounted in your living room?" I understand the choices they made for awards, they were awesome. A beautiful small white sea anemone (I'm writing this blog at our Pacific Grove home and my sea life books are in Healdsburg). Below:

I kind of wish I'd chosen this Treefish Rockfish, maybe cropped down to just its face with those red lips, instead of submitting two lingcods...Below:

I was shooting macro, unusually for me, on all six dives. I usually shoot fish, with macro, it seems I usually shoot fish faces. Here's a Blue Rockfish face, below:

A couple of different sculpins, below:

I did photo a few nudibranchs. Below is a Monterey Dorid with a Blood Star:

Below: A San Diego Dorid (aka Leopard Nudibranch) with a Black Eyed Goby:

Last, but not least, a Kelp Rockfish unable to hide his scepticism of my choice:

I enjoyed the six dives, I ended up a tired puppy. It was fun seeing lots of the usual suspects at Backscatter's social and at the photo talks by Erin "Go Ask Erin:Artificial Intelligence for Good and Evil" and Mike Bartick of Black Water Photography fame.