It has been a very productive few weeks, with a lot of diving but still less then I would like.  I have been out to 2 wreck sights and might have found a third one.  I have been backed up editing photos and continuing to do research on new wreck sights.  The Kickstarter project was a success and I Big Thank You to all who contributed.  I plan on using that funding for printing and framing the show as well as fixing some dive gear that is in need of some TLC.The final show for the project is set for Friday may 27th at the Dorr Museum of natural history on the College of the Atlantic campus.   I will post more details about the opening as they come up.    

This weekend I got the camera in the water and started taking pictures of the underwater world.  I did some diving from shore and off the boat, in shallow water just to test the camera out.  I got some vice shots and the camera works great, still need some practices with the buttons on the back but that will come with time.  This week I am planing on heading out to Mount Desert Rock to look at some wreck sites as well as see some seals. I hope this trip off shore will be the first chance to start getting some photos of wrecks.  More updates to come soon.

I got back to Bar Harbor on Sunday and have been getting moved in and setting up for the term.  I got the strobe I had ordered today, a Sea&Sea YS-17, which will let me bring back the color in my photographs.  So far testing the strobe on land it works great, I want to replace the arm it came with at some point soon for one that is flexible.  Now that I have to camera set up and research well underway its time to get in the water.  I will be diving some time this week and will upload underwater photos next time.

On Tuesday I got to Backscatter East and got a Olympus Pen -PL2 and a housing for it.  Fred Doin who runs Backscatter East, also fixed a focus light up for me while I was there, which will make taking picture in the murky waters of Maine much easier.
I also have a strobe in the mail from a lucky Ebay win over the weekend.  With the strobe I feel like I have a camera system that will work very well for the project at hand, and be a door way to new projects in the future.

I have the project up on Kick Starter as well, while I have the camera all set I still have a lot of cost to print and frame photographs as well as keep all the scuba gear up and running.  So please take a look and if you can spare a few dollars it all helps, plus you can get some prints out of it.  Thanks a lot.


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/740324117/exploring-the-shipwrecks-of-mount-desert-island

On Friday the 18th I went to the National Archives in Boston to look at the wreck reports for Frenchman Bay and Cranberry Island. I spent all day going through old hand written records from 1880 to 1918. I came back with a list of 41 wrecks that happened off of MDI or the nearby islands. Not all these wrecks are news for me; I need to compare them to the list I have from the Bar Harbor Historical Society that I compiled back in September. Getting a chance to see the original log book where the wrecks were recorded by the people who were there much like seeing a shipwreck for yourself for the first time. With this list of wrecks and with what I have already gathered, I am feeling good about being able to find wreck sites and have a fair chance at identifying them.

On the other front, I am going to go to Backscatter East this week and get a camera so I can start taking picture as soon as I get back to Maine. I am still a bit short on the cost so I might have to do with out a flash at first but we shall see. Also I have started a Kick Starter project that will be up soon so you can help the project and get some prints in return.

Over this year I have been doing research about shipwrecks around Mount Desert Island.  This spring I will start photographing the wreck sites both on land and underwater.  Before I start taking pictures there is still some more research and I need to secure an underwater camera. I am in Boston for two weeks and will be doing more research at the national archives in Boston and getting a underwater camera.