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HomeScholarships Internships Sponsors Gallery Contact Us Get Involved Backscatter Digital Shootout Event 2 Replies My dive instructor gifted me my first underwater camera setup a little over two years ago when he retired. During those two years, with the help of the backscatter staff in Monterey, I saw my photography slowly get better and better. However, during my time at the digital shootout, I saw my photography skills increase more in two weeks than in those entire two years. Not only that but I got the chance to learn videography surrounded by experts. I had never approached videography before but one of my professional goals is to work in wildlife filmmaking so I knew this was my chance to get started. Something that would have taken me months to learn, such as post-production skills, took me days to get the hang of with the help of the shootout staff. Not only did I get to learn and improve my technical skills in both photography and videography, but I was able to work on my creative skills as well. With the help of wildlife filmmaker Cristian Dimitrius, I learned how to follow and capture marine life in a way that tells a story to the audience. I was taught how to connect viewers to the underwater world and elicit an emotional response to the stories these animals are telling us. By the end of the shootout, I had produced some of my best wide angle and macro photos and completed my first short film titled Rosie the Jawfish”. Another massive learning experience was the equipment. Between the Backscatter, Isotta, and Nauticam crew, there was an impressive array of cameras, accessories, lights, and pretty much anything a photographer’s heart desires. As someone who had been working in stills up until now, it was incredible to get to try out some top-notch video rigs. I got the chance to try different operating systems, video lighting setups, tripods, different housing brands, and even some professional cinema gear such as external monitors. All these experiences allowed me to understand the behind-the-scenes of what it really takes to produce a good video. These experiences also helped me to realize my own preferences in terms of gear. Often times as photographers and videographers we will spend days or even months researching the best gear. But what works for one person might not work for another. Getting the chance to try out an array of professional equipment is a rare opportunity and something very special to the Digital Shootout. Using what I learned from trying many different setups I will be able to tailor my next rig to exactly fit my own needs. I dove, I attended classes, I edited, I had the time of my life and after two weeks, it was time to say goodbye to Little Cayman. I was devastated to leave. If I could stay there floating in those turquoise waters forever, I would. Reflecting on how the Digital Shootout has changed me, before this experience I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I was scared to approach topics like video because of the steep learning curve and I just didnt know where to start. I had no idea how to get started with different types of gear systems, post production, storytelling, and advanced photography techniques. But thanks to the support of the Shootout staff I gained confidence in my own ability to learn. Through the classes, one on one support, and encouragement of those around me I now feel like I posses the tools needed to continue to advance my photography and videography skills outside of the digital shootout. The shootout gave me the determination to continue on with my learning and to not be scared of trying something new. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn from some of the best photographers and filmmakers in the industry, meet some incredible people, and have been given the honor of carrying on the legacy of Paul L. Schutt as the first Paul L. Schutt Underwater photography intern. I intend to continue on with my ambitions to become a wildlife filmmaker through more training, experimentation, and hard work. I would like to extend a huge thank you to the Backscatter crew for not only putting on such an incredible event but for inviting me into their community, and supporting the next generation of photographers and filmmakers through this internship. This entry was posted in 2023 Schutt , Current Internships , Internship Journeys on February 17, 2024 by Rose Dalrymple - 2023 Schutt . Channel Islands National Park Leave a reply I’m happy to be back on the West Coast. I am in Ventura, California to join the Kelp Forest Monitoring (KFM) team at Channel Islands National Park for one of their 5-day kelp cruises. As one of the parks I hoped to visit most during my internship, I’m very excited to get the opportunity to dive here. 1/3 of southern California’s kelp forests are found within the Channel Islands National Park and Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The southern California coastline is one of the most productive on Earth and the islands are located at a confluence of currents; experiencing a mixing of both warm-water currents from the south and cold-water currents from the north supporting an incredible abundance and diversity of marine life. The Channel Islands National Park is made up of 5 of the 8 Channel Islands that sit off the southern California coast. It’s crazy to me that the park is one of the lesser visited parks in the country despite its proximity to one of the largest metropolitan areas in the US. Despite its low visitorship, Channel Islands is not immune to the many anthropogenic impacts on the marine world, one of the largest here being the pressure of commercial and sport fishing. Channel Islands has been monitoring the kelp forest ecosystem since 1982. The long-term dataset helps determine the status and health of the Channel Islands kelp forests, document the types of changes occurring in the marine environment, and develop management strategies to protect the kelp forest ecosystem. Sea otters were eradicated from the Channel Islands long before the park existed, but since the inception of the park, data has shown the population of abalone, rockfish, and spiny lobsters declining dramatically from overfishing. More recently, sunflower stars have all but disappeared from California due to sea star wasting syndrome. The loss of these species has a cascading effect on the whole ecosystem, disrupting the balance. All of this can be seen from the data collected by the Kelp Forest Monitoring crew over the last few decades. One of the most significant changes is the boom in purple sea urchin populations because of the loss of keystone predators like sea otters, sunflower stars, lobsters, and California sheephead. The out-of-check populations of urchins can overgraze a kelp forest easily, leading to urchin barren sites with relatively low species diversity and low biomass. I mention all of this just to prove how important a long-term monitoring dataset can be. Using data from the parks, California closed the commercial abalone fishery in 1997. Information collected by KFM was instrumental in establishing marine reserves in 2003, placing nearly 20% of park waters into state marine protected areas thus granting complete protection from fishing and extractive activities. A 2008 review of data demonstrated positive trends in these new marine reserves including greater overall biomass and larger body size of species like the spiny lobster. All goes to show that data is needed to hold humans accountable for our out-of-proportion impact on the planet and our obligation to protect the places we have set aside as national parks. Giant kelp. California sheephead. Harbor seal. I’ve come a few days early to Ventura so Kelly Moore was kind enough to set me up to stay with Dave Begun, a retired NPS ranger and diver for the live dive program at Channel Islands. Dave gives me a full tour of the area with bike rides to tacos, a trip to Santa Barbara, and a cruise on Island...