Jim Knowlton / Blue Ocean Productions' Web Log

White Jellyfish

2010-03-13T07:23:00Z

I shot these underwater scenes near La Paz Mexico in the Sea of Cortez. The white jellyfish is illuminated by natural sunlight. Pacific creolfish school near the surface. Cortez rainbow wrasse are broadcast spawning - where they swim up in unison and throw a milky cloud of eggs and sperm into the water.

When I returned from my dive trip to La Paz I viewed the video of the jellyfish it reminded me of the plastic bag that twirls in the wind in the movie American Beauty. When I heard the music track by Soundprank I thought it would work well with the jellyfish video to create this relaxing, thought-provoking video. Enjoy!

Music by soundprank - Phosphor (thewhitecube).
http://ccmixter.org/files/soundprank/...

The White Cube Remix project is best described here:
http://thewhitecube.info/

Goleta Outfall Video

2010-03-12T07:11:00Z

Years ago, Hillary Hauser and Jeff Maassen of Heal the Ocean and I dived the Goleta outfall to see what was coming out of the waste water treatment plant's pipeline. I made this video and Jeff and Hillary played it at a Water Board hearing that was held to decide whether Goleta Sanitary District would get a renewal of their 5 year waiver on the need to comply with the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act requires full secondary treatment of sewage before discharging into the ocean. This video was a deciding factor in the Board's decision to deny a continuation of the waiver and thereby forcing Goleta Sanitary District to upgrade their facility to secondary treatment. Construction will begin in 2010 to upgrade the treatment plant and full secondary treatment of sewage will begin in 2014.

Hopefully then our ocean water won't be so green!

Heal the Ocean is one of the most effective grass roots organization in California. They reduce ocean pollution one source at a time. www.healtheocean.org
For more information:
www.blueoceanproductions.com/
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LIFE IN THE SEA

2009-12-28T23:10:00Z

I recently added a video to my YouTube page that I edited about 12 years ago, titled, LIFE IN THE SEA.

Its an underwater musical adventure edited to Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusic and Symphony No 40 in G minor. I shot the scenes in this film while working on the Truth Aquatics dive boats in Santa Barbara in the early 1990's. And I edited it at Thomas Horton Jr's house in Ojai, California. He had an Avid editing system in his garage that he allowed me to use for a week in exchange for an underwater housing that I had that also happened to fit his video camera. Back then it was very hard to find available time on an editing system since before Final Cut Pro was invented, all systems cost a bunch of money. So I was lucky to be able to work on Tom's system and he was really helpful during the edit.

The film first played in Ed Stetson's Santa Barbara Underwater Film Festival in 1997. Back then, people were amazed to see scenes of giant sea bass, also known as black sea bass, since they were rarely seen due to overfishing. But, in the mid 1990's, I began filming them on the back side of Santa Cruz Island and at Eagle's nest off Santa Rosa Island. These fish have made a comeback because they are protected and because gill-netting was banned in State waters and within a mile of the Channel Islands. Now, you can find them regularly during fall at their favorite sites at the Islands.

For more information:
www.blueoceanproductions.com/
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Cover Photo for The Science of Marine Reserves booklet

2008-01-03T06:15:00Z

My photograph of a sheephead in a healthy kelp forest is on the cover of PISCO's updated booklet, The Science of Marine Reserves. You can download a copy with the link in the previous sentence or to get a hard copy contact Kirsten Grorud-Colvert or Satie Airame.

In 2007, PISCO updated The Science of Marine Reserves booklet, originally published in 2002. The booklet is now presented in two versions: a U.S. version in English and an international version in English. The booklets are accompanied by a 15-minute video first released in 2002. These resources provide the latest scientific information about reserves in an understandable and accessible format. They are designed to be used by natural resource managers, government officials, scientists, and the interested public.

Marine reserves are one of the best tools to help ensure that healthy oceans are preserved for future generations.

Cover photo of a sheephead in a healthy kelp forest by Jim Knowlton.

Sony HVR-V1U HDV 1080i camcorder

2007-12-23T00:40:00Z

Last September, I purchased a Sony V1U camcorder and an Amphibico Endeavor underwater video housing. The V1U can shoot 60i as well as 24p/30p video and records in HDV format on Mini-DV sized tapes. My Endeavor Housing has a dome port that covers 94° with full zoom through focus capability. It allows control of camera functions including white balance, gain, shutter speed, iris and manual focus. It also has a 3.5" Standard Definition LCD rear viewfinder. The V1U allows up to six different picture-tonal settings to be saved and recalled as picture profile data and the Endeavor housing allows me to select these profiles underwater. In my different profiles, I have different settings for knee point so that I change my setting depending upon the conditions of where I am shooting - such as low knee for situations where highlights need to be contained, such as close to the surface, near white-wash or splashing animals. I use settings similar to those used by Drew Wong during his review of the Endeavor housing for Wetpixel.

I customized my housing for my video lights and went on a three day dive trip with Truth Aquatics to Catalina Island and Santa Cruz Island off California during September 20-22, 07. Though there was a large swell rolling past, we had pretty clear visibility. At Catalina, I shot amazing kelp forest video with teeming schools of blacksmith perch, anchovie and others. At Santa Cruz Island, I captured an electric ray, a harbor seal, and a rock pile located in a marine reserve that was full of rock fish. I was amazed at the number of fish in the marine reserve that I don't think would have been there if fishing was allowed. The following images are reduced size frame grabs from my HDV 30p video.

Blacksmith perch at Ship Rock, Catalina Island.

Blacksmith perch at Rock Quarry, Catalina Island.

Spiny Lobster at Catalina Island.

Anchovy in kelp at Catalina Island.

Anchovy close-up at Catalina Island.

Anchovy at Catalina Island.

Electric ray at Santa Cruz Island

Moon jelly at Santa Cruz Island.

A cave full of rockfish & sheephead in a marine preserve at Santa Cruz Island.

Harbor seal at Santa Cruz Island.

My Amphibico Endeavor Housing with my Sony V1U HDV 30p camera. I added the ABS tubing for buoyancy to counteract the weight of my lead cell battery. A machinist made my base from black Delron plastic. The camera is just slightly negative underwater.

For more information:
www.blueoceanproductions.com/
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Santa Barbara Ocean Film Festival

2007-10-19T06:22:00Z

Ocean lovers! Two Blue Ocean Productions films will play in the Santa Barbara Ocean Film Festival, October 19-21, 2007. The Festival will be held at the Arlington Theatre in downtown Santa Barbara on Friday night and Saturday and at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum on Sunday. Grassroots for the Ocean, a short film made for Santa Barbara non-profit Heal the Ocean, will play during the Ocean Respect film category that begins at noon on Saturday. Healthy Oceans PSA, a public service announcement made for the City of Santa Barbara Creeks Division, will play during the Main Event & Awards session beginning at 7:30 pm on Saturday night. For more information and schedules of other films, check out the www.sboff.org website.

The Santa Barbara Ocean Film Festival is a competitive filmmaking event developed to bring the finest ocean films from around the world to Santa Barbara for screenings. At its core, the festival is a visually stunning event, capturing the beauty, the power and the grace of the sea and its inhabitants. Adrenaline junkies, SCUBA divers, sailors, fishermen—all will find inspiration and education on the screen at the Santa Barbara Ocean Film Festival.

Storm Water Runoff Public Service Announcements

2007-09-12T05:21:00Z

Blue Ocean Productions, in conjunction with the City of Santa Barbara Creeks Division, and Santa Barbara Project Clean Water, has produced four public service announcements (PSAs) that explain how runoff from houses and streets end up in storm drains that lead directly to the ocean. Whereas water in our houses from sinks and toilets go to water treatment facilities before entering the ocean. The message is that we can improve our local ocean water quality by reducing or eliminating the use of pollutants in our front yards because they end up in the ocean.

Here is a link to a Spanish PSA currently playing on Spanish TV:
Storm Drain vs. Sewer PSA

Here is a link to the English PSA currently playing on Cox Cable:
Healty Oceans PSA

Typical household pollutants that enter our gutters and lead to the ocean include fertilizer, motor oil, soap, pesticides, trash and yard debris. To reduce pollutants that can enter the streets, dont overwater lawns after fertilizing because the overwatering allows the fertilizer to enter the street. We can also pick up pet waste, trash and yard debris rather than hosing them into the gutter. Consider using pesticide free pest control, such as insecticial soap instead of harmful pesticides. Take your car to a car wash facility that treats and recycles soapy water rather than wash your car in your driveway. And never clean paint brushes and rollers in the gutter. Because a healthy ocean starts in our front yards!

The PSAs were written by Jessica Scheeter of the Santa Barbara Creeks Division, Candice Constantine, formerly with Santa Barbara Project Clean Water, and Rocio Lozano-Knowlton, bilingual outreach specialist and consultant with the Santa Barbara Creeks Division. The PSAs were directed and edited by Jim Knowlton of Blue Ocean Productions. Credits include Paul Mathieu, Director of Photography, audio mixing by Emmet Seargent of Beagle Studios, narration by Rocio Lozano-Knowlton and Sonia Groves, Acting by Lourdes Uribe, Osiris Castaneda, Mike Romo, Luis Perez, Eva Perez, Dahlia Zarate, and underwater video by Jim Knowlton.

Three of the PSAs are in Spanish, and will play on Spanish TV in Santa Barbara County. Each PSA will play for approximately 4 months each during the next year. One of the PSAs, Healthy Oceans, was made in English and currently plays on Cox TV.

Bullseye electric ray

2007-06-21T05:52:00Z

While photographing at Los Islotes, a small islet in the Sea of Cortez, near La Paz, Baja California Sur, Jim recently photographed a bullseye electric ray (Diplbatus ommata). Bullseye electric rays grow to about 10 inches long, and get their name from the conspicuous eyespot on their back. Like other electric rays, this species has a pair of organs capable of producing electric discharge that it uses to stun or kill its prey.

"I've been trying to get a shot of one of these rays for years. Whenever I saw one, I always had a Nikonos V with a 15mm wide angle lens, which is not the best lens to use to get an animal thats only 10 inches long. But now with my Fuji S2 digital SLR in an Aquatica housing, I can use a variety of lenses that allow me to capture smaller animals. This ray posed for me at about 60 feet deep on a cobble stone bottom."

Art Exhibit in the Oaks Mall

2007-05-25T06:03:00Z

Two underwater photographs of nudibranchs by Jim Knowlton will be exhibited along with other nature related art in an exhibit at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks, CA. The exhibition, titled, Nature Observed: Painting, Sculpture, Photography & Prints will open Saturday, May 26 and run through Monday, September 3, 2007. The exhibition is presented by the Museum of Ventura County at their satellite location in The Oaks Mall at 402-B Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360. Call 805-496-7460 for more information.

Jim photographed the two nudibranchs while diving in February 2006 near Santa Rosa Island, located within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of California. During the two-day trip, he photographed 12 species of nudibranchs, all of which are about and inch or two long.

Nudibranchs are essentially snails without shells, and their name literally means “naked gill.” In most species, the gills are prominently displayed on their dorsal surface. Their bright coloration is believed to warn potential predators that nudibranchs are strongly scented and can have stinging cells called nematocysts stored in their finger shaped gills. Nudibranchs have a pair of tentacles located on top of their heads, which biologists believe are used as sensory organs to assist in finding food and seeking a mate.

Jim used a Fuji S2 digital camera in an Aquatica underwater housing, a Nikon 60mm macro lens, and two Nikonos 105 strobes to capture these images.

Grassroots for the Ocean.

2007-05-08T05:44:00Z

Grassroots for the Ocean, a short video about people that clean up and protect the ocean, was selected as a finalist and will screen at the 30th International Wildlife Film Festival in Missoula, Montana on May 15th, 2007, at 12:30 pm. This Blue Ocean Productions film originally screened at the Heal the Ocean 2nd Annual Benefit concert on September 29th, 2006 at QAD in Montecito, CA.

Grassroots for the Ocean
Produced by Hillary Hauser, written and edited by Jim Knowlton, Narrated by Sam Chew, footage courtesy of Greg Huglin, Mike DeGruy, Greenpeace, The Ocean Conservancy, KEYT, Jim Knowlton, Jeff Maassen and The California Coastal Records Project, music by Randy Tico, audio mixing by Emmet Sargeant, narration recording by Steve Gordon and DVD design by Michelle Perry of Graphic Traffic. Special thanks to Geopark for funding this film. Run time 4:15.

Welcome

2007-05-03T06:13:01Z

Hi, Welcome to my blog. I’m creating this blog to provide information about my photography and video productions. I’m going to use this blog for both my websites. At www.jimknowlton.com, I display my ocean related photos taken over the last twenty years while diving, traveling, working and exploring the oceans. When I am diving with my cameras, I feel like I am exploring a different world, where I can soar through deep canyons, swim through forests of giant kelp and see beautiful and strange creatures. I enjoy taking photos during my dives and I hope they inspire others to appreciate and protect the underwater world. On www.jimknowlton.com, you can see some of my photos. It’s only a small fraction of my library, though I regularly add more to the stock photo section.

At www.blueoceanproductions.com I provide information about projects that I am creating with others. It’s an exciting time right now because the Internet and technology revolutions are allowing people to use media to inspire environmental education and protection of their favorite places. Non-profit organizations, government agencies and cretive people are using sites like YouTube.com to post their short films and PSAs to get their message out. Computers and software now give people the tools to create their message and to prepare them to play on the internet or on self produced DVDs.

In my photography and videos, I like to combine my interests in the ocean, photography, video production with environmental protection and education. In this blog I plan on posting photos from my latest adventures and links to my recent projects. Feel free to send an email to me if you like one of my blogs or if you have ideas you want to share.

Cheers,
Jim