the JOHN HARDING

The octopus have not killed anyone lately – which is a wonder. It was almost an annual event years ago.  A common resident of Sydney Harbour these tiny octopus will kill a man with their bite.  The ‘victim’ dies quickly.  It is obviously very unwise to handle a live Blue Ring octopus.

The rings glow bright blue on the legs as a series of tiny disc-shaped circles rather than rings around the entire leg.

A science-themed story is contained in our FATHOM magazine No.3

http://fathomoz.com/archives/1101

Here’s a mixture of pictures selected by PIX (a weekly picture-news magazine in Australia) editors.  Once selected I’d be asked to tell a staff reporter like Syd King, Ben Mitchell or later, Jim Oram what it was all about.  The magazine paid sufficiently.  They were a good crew.  Editor Bob Nelson especially.  Meanwhile I was shooting 16mm film footage for my future project, a documentary that would enable travel as well as an income.  It was a good plan but eventually there was home video which made cinema films expensive for families.  (click to enlarge pages).

FATHOM magazine was compiled by divers.  For the first time in Australia, dramatic pictures and stories kept accurate by the people who wrote and published the material.  All original pages now online for students of the sea.  A benchmark to help understand the slow but steady changes occurring in the marine world. From shark hunting of 1963 to the beautiful underwater photo images of today.

http://fathomoz.wordpress.com

There was an era when underwater photography was rare, unusual and novel.  I purchased a Calypso-phot camera in 1963 and on a memorable safari north with friends, asked Ron Taylor to take a single picture of me with a crayfish.  This was North West Island in July 1963.  When the film was processed I saw for the first time what I looked like as a diver, underwater.  No big deal today but back then it was a real thrill.

The Late John LeBrun pictured

John LeBrun (a professional camera equipment salesman and diver) taught us a couple of points about photography he had learned from his service in the air force.

“When you focus on an object, the area that is actually in focus (also called depth of field)  is 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the point that you’ve focused on”.

You can use this knowledge to some advantage at times.

Generally we were all self-taught photographers.  The most difficult part in the learning days was getting a good exposure, especially underwater.  Most divers tended to over-expose pictures.

Today the camera’s are automatic in this respect but sometimes adjustments make a nice difference.  Sunsets are better if the exposure is make darker, for example.

Vic Ley was filmed by me  spearing this Black Cod in 1969 at Fish Rock, South West Rocks – now a sanctuary. The sequence appeared in my first film Aquarius – People and Wildlife of the Sea but was dropped from later editions.  Today it should be of interest to environmentalists.  Vic Ley remembers how prolific marine life use to be at this now famous scuba location.  New South Wales mid north coast.
Brian Davies was a professional fisherman, surfer and free diver who lived is a cabin at Seal Rocks, New South Wales.  His father was a local pioneer professional fisherman – a true man of the sea as was Brian.  Brian took a job in Japan which involved working with toxic chemicals.  A few years later, back in Australia his liver packed up and Brian passed away – just a short time after his father.

The young fellow takes a Rock Blackfish ashore for his father, Geoff ‘Boots’ Towner, our long term friend.

Conditions for ‘rock hopping’ are not ideal, as the picture illustrates.  A strong NE sea breeze has made the water choppy.

Early morning’s are a better bet for calm conditions although during bthe summer, the NE breeze starts early too.

(click for large view)