Underwater Photo Location: Monterey, California

by Stephen Ridolfi
Going Deep!

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by Morgan Ashton
Monterey. Taken with a Sea and Sea DX-1G with wide-angle lens.

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by Morgan Ashton
Decorator crab in Monterey Bay. Taken with a Sea and Sea DX-1G with 2 YS-110 strobes.

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by Morgan Ashton
Underwater Rorschach Test. Taken in Monterey, Ca. with a Sea and Sea DX-1G

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by Luc Rooman
sleeping rog

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by Joe Platko
neon shrimp/ common shrimp that was found at lovers point in monterey, ca. vis that day was only around 10 ft so the entire time i decided to shoot macro. shot with a canon a570is and inon close up lens, and a single inon d-2000 strobe

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by Joe Platko
Kelp beds This shot was taken near the Breakwater in monterey, ca. this was taken around 20 ft down as I was descending with a canon a570is w/o a strobe. I loved how the light changed to an eery green as you went down below the kelp.

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by Joe Platko
Found this small sculpin underneath a pipeline that ran out from the shoreline. I was suprised he actually let me get this close to get the shot

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by Joe Platko
ringed snail crawling over a bunch of little cup corals right next to the Breakwater at Monterey

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by Joe Platko
kelp beds of Monastery Beach at a time when there was finally almost no surge

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by Joe Platko
Moon Jelly being lighted by a sun ray coming through the kelp at Monastery Beach, just south Carmel, Ca. Used a single inon d-2000s strobe to light the jelly. Shot with a canon a570is

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by Joe Platko
Very curious seal that checked us out at the beginning of our dive at Monastery Beach, Ca. This was taken right past the break point so unfortunately there was a lot of seaweed and other debris floating around

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by Joe Platko
this was shot at monastery beach looking up through the kelp, then later I played with the levels and selective coloring in photoshop

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by Joe Platko
lingcod that was resting on the a rock during our dive of northern monastery beach, ca. i was actually sad to realize that my housing had fogged up after i took the shot, but it didnt blur it as bad as some of the other shots.

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by Joe Platko
Fish eating anemone that was found off of northern Monastery Beach, Ca. It amazing how big these things get!!

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by Morgan Ashton
This is an interesting, not good, picture. This was taken in Monterey. It's a half-eaten Mola Mola that was still alive when I found it. At first I thought "shark" but later found out the carnage was probably the work of sea lions.

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by Joe Platko
Close up of a jelly that almost landed straight on my face as I was ascending to take a picture of a sunburst through some kelp. Unfortunately I had the ISO at 200 so it came out a lot grainier than I would have liked, but at least it came out :)

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by Joe Platko
My friend checking out a rock wall near the Breakwater in Monterey, Ca. Despite the storm that had been hitting us for the past couple of days, the vis was around 50 ft., so I was excited to try out my new inon fisheye lens for the first time.

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by Joe Platko
Storm hitting Pacific Grove, Ca. Despite heavy western swells, the diving in Monterey that weekend was surprisingly good, with vis around 50 ft.

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by Joe Platko
wide angle shot of a nice stalk of kelp using my new inon ufl-165 lens. The vis on this day was supposed to only be around 10 ft, but we somehow got lucky and got around 30. this was taken off the known breakwater in Monterey

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by Joe Platko
Moon jelly floating in the kelp at south Monastery Beach, with Point Lobos in the background. This was my first ever dive at the south side, as well as my first over/under shot.

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by Joe Platko
Lone anemone on a boulder among the kelp forest of South Monastery Beach, Ca. I think this is my new favorite dive site, theres just so much different things to to explore while down there

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by Joe Platko
HOLY $#!& my friend getting extremely excited about finding a large lingcod at the end of our dive at south monastery. you can see his expression a little bit better when viewed large

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by Kip Nead
Just jumped off the boat, got ready to descend, and there it was just a few feet away. Great way to start a dive. Nikon D200, Sea & Sea housing, with YS-90 strobe

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by Joe Platko
very large sheep crab crawling about near the metridium fields at the breakwater, Monterey. I was angling for a different shot, but when i noticed my friend swimming by I changed positions to get him going by in the background

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by Kip Nead
A Rainbow nudi on the prowl!

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by Joe Platko
large, brightly colored fish eating anemone. Although these are known to only live on rocks, this massive guy was found on a sandy floor. After the dive I talked to one of the local dive shop owners, he told me that the anemone is around 200 yrs old

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by Joe Platko
rockfish resting vertically on a rock at Monastery Beach near Carmel, Ca. This place has to be my favorite dive site for the monterey area as the kelp forest is amazing here

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by Joe Platko
we had an amazing day at monastery beach today, with vis around 80 ft. this was as we were coming back from dropping down the canyon. it just so happens both divers ended up looking the way of the sunburst.

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by Joe Platko
Metridium fields near the Breakwater in Monterey, Ca. Although I have dove there many times, this was the first time I was able to get some photographs of the colonies of metridium anemones.

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by Morgan Ashton
Cabezon. Monterey. Sea and Sea DX-1G.

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by Morgan Ashton
Egg Yolk Jellyfish in Carmel.

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by Joe Platko
great dive at south monastery beach for the NCUPS 2009 competition. If you look closely you can see the silhouettes of tons of small fish in the left corner where the larger beam is. the only problem was the amount of surge.

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by Joe Platko
one of the countless hermissenda nudibranchs we found during our dive along the breakwater in monterey. there were literally hundreds of nudibranchs in one area where kelp was slowly being decomposed, which caused a lot of backscatter

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by Joe Platko
After 3 years of waiting I finally got to shoot a stinging nettle bloom in Monterey, although I wasn't able to get a backlit shot like i wanted due to weather issues. But it sure was fun diving with jellyfish all around you

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by Joe Platko
Sun star we found along the breakwater that was eating a sea nettle. I was able to get the shot right as a swell was passing to get a shot of the underside of its arms

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by Joe Platko
Shot of an anemone found off South Monastery Beach in Carmel, Ca. This was one of the better dives I've had there in awhile, with the vis around 40 ft. The shot was taken with a canon a570, single inon d-2000s strobe and inon fisheye lens

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by Joe Platko
aggressive cabezon I came across while diving at Monastery Beach in Carmel, Ca. I think he saw his reflection in the inon fisheye lens because rather than swim away from me he started sizing up the camera.

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by Joe Platko
One of the many curious seals that came to check us out on our dive at Point Lobos Marine Reserve. Although the visibility was pretty crappy, having these guys play around with us was really fun! taken w/ canon 7d, tokina fisheye, and inon strobe

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by Joe Platko
One of the large covered boulders located near the drop off at North Monastery Beach in Carmel, Ca. the image was taken with a canon 7D, tokina fisheye lens, and an inon d-2000s strobe

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by Morgan Ashton
Sculpin hiding by the anchor chain at a divesite called The Needle off Carmel.

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by Morgan Ashton
Sea Lion at the Coast Guard Jetty in Monterey.

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by Joe Platko
Shot taken last May at the metridium fields in Monterey, California. The visibility wasn't too great, but the bloom brought in the nettles making for some fun backgrounds. shot with a canon 7d, tokina 10-17mm lens, and 2 inon strobes

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by Morgan Ashton
Hydrocoral at Pinnacles. Monterey, ca.

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by Morgan Ashton
There is a crab in there somewhere. Taken with a Sea and Sea DX-2G in Monterey.

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by Morgan Ashton
Rock Crab in Monterey. Sea and Sea DX-2G.

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by Kip Nead
Tail and blow at once, a good day.

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by Morgan Ashton
Will you be my friend? Sea lion in full curiosity mode. Hopkins Reef, just off the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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by Craig Dietrich
Jump for Joy/ Shot in the Monterey Bay. Nikon D300 with the Nikon 70-200 Lens. They are called Risso's Dolphin and it was a magical day. NO PHOTOSHOP at all.

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by Leon Burda
Do not step on us

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by Will Boucher
Learning the basics with my first UW setup in Carmel, CA.

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by Morgan Ashton
Curious sea lion in Monterey.

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by Morgan Ashton
Doh!

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by Morgan Ashton
Metridium in Bloom. Monterey. Fisheye Lens.

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by Jason Knight
Flabellina iodinea

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by Morgan Ashton
Pelagic Red Crab in Monterey

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by Morgan Ashton
Rockfish etc. in Monterey

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by Morgan Ashton
Eric's Pinnacle, Monterey.

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by Morgan Ashton
Anchovies in Monterey.

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by Morgan Ashton
All the Monterey food groups: crab, starfish, anemone and urchin.

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by Morgan Ashton
That’s a lot of Sea Lions - Coast Guard Pier, Monterey

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by Morgan Ashton
Cloudbreak

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by Jon Anderson
Underneath the Kelp

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by Jon Anderson
East Pacific Red Octopus

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by Owen Palmer
Sea Clown Triopha Monterey Bay, California Panasonic LX 100 w/ Light & Motion Sola 9600 Shore Dive - 56F with low visibility & high surge

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