Brian Sevald Creative

Keys Bound

So I finally received word from FSB a couple weeks ago. Looks like I will be heading back with Katie after all! It was a long awaited confirmation, but a welcome one. I sent in my application in October, a little early maybe lol…

As of two days ago I have finished Edition II of Florida Sea Base Reef Fish Identification. It is a book that contains the common Keys fish one may encounter while diving in the FLorida Keys. I sorted through literally thousands of photos I had taken over a 6 year period of on and off working in the Keys for summer or christmas seasons. I then sorted them by common name and type of fish, and began writing and formatting a book for use as a reference guide for scouts and scouters at Sea Base to use during their week adventure at the base. I have spent the last few months editing and putting the final touches on it. Its’ aim is to give the scouts and scouters of the Florida Sea Base a basic reference guide and basic information of the common Keys fish. Edition two might be complete, but I am not done yet. This summer I hope to collaborate with other staff members to collectively write, photograph and edit for a third more complete edition and valuable, original resource to leave behind for future generations of scouts.

Life at the casino is still good. Surveillance is more or less interesting. I would much rather be diving every day, but I can’t do that my whole life. I told my managers that I would most likely be leaving in May. It wasn’t a good feeling to tell them I was jumping ship, but they understand I think. I like my job at the casino… but I love the Keys.

I recently got to shoot both Katie’s and one of her friend’s graduation photos. I am not new to shooting portraits, but shooting graduation or senior photos is a little different. It is always a learning experience every time I shoot, so I was glad to get a little more experience. We went to a few spots on the Oklahoma State campus, and Katie was happy with the results. She has already mailed out invitations to her grad party. She hand made them, such a crafty girl 🙂

I am looking forward to another great summer, and have many plans for the scuba classes I will teach, as well as the ongoing Reef Fish Identification Project.

Check out two new albums I just posted on my Facebook, one from the Oklahoma Aquarium featuring images I captured there.. and one from the Fort Worth Zoo. My Facebook Photography Page

That is all for now my friends.

Brian Sevald
Photographer
Scuba Instructor
Stillwater, Oklahoma

Missing the Keys

Today I find myself missing the Florida Keys with a passion. I called and talked to the Scuba Commissioner at the Florida Sea Base, Laura Kuras. I asked her if she had heard anything about how the hiring process was going for the summer. She said she believes Im hired, unless Capt. Steve makes any last minute decisions. I can’t wait to get back to the Keys. I miss diving, I miss the wildlife, I miss all the kids, and the people I work with. I really miss having endless amounts of things that I wanted to photograph too. It is so easy to find interesting, and challenging things to take photos of. The dolphin photograph to the right was taken laying on the swim platform of the dive boat. It is one of a series of about 50 images.
This was the only good one. It was not common to have the dolphins following the boat, but it happened often enough that I kept my gear accessible in case they decided to show up. A photograph by another staff member by the name of Alex Lipsky, inspired me to capture images of the dolphins in mid air behind the boat, in the wild. The Captain of the boat has to know what the dolphins like, in order for them to follow the boat for a period of time. Capt. Carol Chapman, knows the exact RPMs that the boat should be set at in order to let the dolphins continue to play in the wake. The other photo was an experiment with half in, and half out of the water shots. Not the spectacular image I thought it was going to be, but interesting none the less. Anyway, images like these demonstrate exactly why I want to spend another summer in the Florida Keys, getting paid to teach scuba diving, and diving in the beautiful waters off the coast of Islamorada every day. I want to go diving now… right now…

-Brian
Photographer
Scuba Instructor
Stillwater, OK

Late Night Photography

Laying on my hood under the stars — Shutter Speed: 30 sec, ISO: 400, F Stop: 8.0 (To try and keep everything in focus in the low light). It ended up being an ok image but I want to work on it a little more.

A couple nights ago I tried some long exposures. I was able to get one ok image. It was a partly cloudy night, and the stars were somewhat blocked by the clouds. There is also a streetlight close to where I was shooting that made it hard to capture natural light and keep the white balance set correctly since I had light coming from the moon and the street light. I would like to try it again on a clear night. It has also inspired me to look for other locations that would have the same desired look, but with a more natural background. Hopefully in the next few days I’ll have some better images for you. I still haven’t recieved a hire email from Sea Base, or any indication otherwise. Capt. Steve did say on his blog yesterday “Some of you who have applied for summer have received contract information from Cheryl Ferreri. Don’t panic if you haven’t. I am working feverishly to get through the applications and references and will be contacting you soon – either way. If you have not received an email or phone call saying you are NOT being hired then you are still under consideration.” www.floridaseabasenews.com So that is relatively good news, though a hire letter would make me feel alot better since Katie has been hired already. Today he notes on his blog that ” I spent two hours on the phone being interviewed by a PADI Educational Consultant for my Course Director application process. The remainder of the day was spent on summer staff hiring.” So that is hopefully some evidence that I will be recieving some communication soon. I could just call and ask him. But he has specifically asked on his blog to not call or email with questions related to summer hiring saying that it will only delay the process further. So I will be controlling myself. My good friend Nathaniel Erwin recieved a call from the base yesterday asking if he could arrive at the base one day earlier. This was only a question, and he was not yet hired, still only being considered. So we will see what happens soon enough I suppose. Damn I miss the Keys. Thats all for now.

-Brian Sevald
Photographer
Scuba Instructor
Stillwater, OK

Learn Something New Every Day

Today I learned how to install a screen protector the right way 😉 For a long time I was buying 3 packs of screen protectors and going through 2 or 3 of them immediately trying to install one without bubbles. Well needless to say it was frustrating. So in my researching online, I found a post saying that if you do it right, even the cheaper screen protectors can be installed without bubbles. Heres how.

You Need:

A spray bottle with water and a little bit of dish soap.

Your screen protector

Your phone

This may sound crazy, but all you have to do, is peel the protective coating off the screen protector, and spray the water onto the side of the screen protector you are going to install onto the phone. Don’t spray the phone. Then apply it to the phone. Use the card provided with the protector, or use a credit card to smooth out the bubbles. The water and soap allow any dust trapped under the plastic to be squeezed out rather than sticking to the protector. I would recommend being careful how much you spray on the film, as too much water could damage your phone. As you smooth out the bubbles, the water also slides out, be careful around any buttons or openings on the phone. It worked just like a charm for me on my iphone 4. Gonna be doing it this way from now on. Hope this helps anyone who’s had trouble in the past with screen protectors like I have. 🙂

Our cat Harley makes every day interesting. Shes still a kitten at heart and loves to tear up paper for some reason. But after a long day of play, shes all tuckered out. I’m anxiously awaiting hopefully a email from Captain Steve on Friday saying that I’ve been hired for the summer. We’ll see what happens with that. Thats all for now folks. Goodnight from Stillwater.

-Brian Sevald
Photographer
Scuba Instructor
Stillwater, OK

Missing the Keys

I dont know if I mentioned before that when I moved here to Oklahoma that I got a job working surveillance at a casino. Your basic job description as a surveillance observer is to observe the actions of the employees and customers of the casino, know the policies and procedures of each department, and report any violations by creating a report including photos and video of the incident. It can be interesting and it can be a little boring at times. Once a week we have to go across the street to a smaller casino and work it by ourselves. It can get boring over here. There arent a lot of people in the casino, there are usually actually more people in the restaurant next door than in the casino. The day shift can be slow though. I read Captain Steve’s blog this morning, and he has been working on summer hiring. I hope that I will find out soon if I am hired or not, because I am seriously starting to have withdrawls from diving. Katie got hired in Florida a long time ago, and it would be nice to know that I was hired as well… I will nevertheless wait until Friday when Captain Steve said he would be sending out the first set of hire emails. I hope I will recieve one. All in all surveillance isnt a bad job. When stuff is going on, and there are actions to watch, it is much more interesting. But I miss working outside, the ocean, and the mountains. I guess I have to grow up sometime right… Hopefully I will be able to spend one more summer in Florida with my love Katie Jo and then figure out what the heck I want to do with my life. The inevitable question that I never know the answer to. But all I can think about right now is diving, and giving a new group of kids the summer of their lifetime, even if its only a week at a time. You never truly realize how much it means to you until you don’t have it anymore. I have been working dilligently on a project that hopefully I will get to use this summer. Over the three summers I have worked at Seabase I have collected quite a few photographs. I now have almost finished a reef fish identification presentation that covers all the basic and most common fish species in the keys. I have over 50 slides and even more types of fish in the presentation. Hopefully I will get hired and will be able to use it this summer. So I guess I should get back to work 😉 Hopefully good news will be coming this way soon, I would welcome a hire email from Captain Steve any day! I need to find something to photograph this afternoon. I havent taken any pictures in a while 😦 I need to make some time to take some photos. It is something that always makes me feel good. Maybe I’ll take some photos of the moon and stars tonight if its clear. I need to get some better shots of the moon and the stars. The last time I took shots of the stars I formatted the card without thinking a couple days later and lost them all… what an idiot I know…

Frostbite By Air Duster

So I learned from a friend this week that you shouldn’t take a can of the propelled air duster used for computer keyboards and other electronics, and turn it upside down and spray yourself with it. The gas that propels the air out of the can will freeze your skin, and give you a second or third degree burn in the form of frostbite. Unfortunately my friend was drunk and thought it would be funny to spray themself. The above photos demonstrate the consequences of such actions. You have been warned! I wont be spraying any cans propelled by a gas near myself ever again. It makes me reconsider using Axe body spray lol.

Future Plans

Since the end of the summer, all I can think about is going back to seabase. I truly miss working with the kids, teaching diving, and the people of seabase. I have sent in my application and confirmed that Captain Steve received it. Hopefully both Katie and I will both be hired for the summer. That would make me more than happy.

Since I have started working at seabase, I have either been a divemaster, or was a divemaster working as a boat mate. Both are fun jobs, But obviously one you get to take the kids diving every day, and one you don’t. If I had my choice, I would choose to be underwater. Being a mate on the boat however is not less fun, it is just different.

Sometime last winter I realized that I hated my job as a private investigator, and decided to go through and finally do my IDC. It was probably the best choice I could have made. I was very unhappy spending every day in my van by myself, videotaping people, writing reports, or just waiting, for hours. I realized that I love interacting with people. At seabase it is the best kind of interaction. I get to share my passion for the underwater world with a new generation of scouts that will hopefully have some of the same passion. Teaching diving however is much different than supervising diving. It is a whole new level of responsibility, as well as a completely new challenge. People come to you, and expect to be certified, all types of people, people that feel at home underwater, and also people that get extremely anxious and nervous underwater. This doesn’t necessarily mean that one person can dive, and the other can’t. It just means your job as an instructor will be different with each student. The comfortable one you should be helping to fine tune their skills to be the best diver they can be. The anxious one needs to take it at a slower pace, before they can finetune their skills, they need to be comfortable in the water. This can indeed be a challenge. But it is more than worth it.

Moving from the keys to Oklahoma has been exciting. Meeting new people and living in a new part of the country. I was able to procure a good job at a casino in the area. It is surveillance related, if I told you more I’d have to kill you. Just kidding. I like my job, but I like teaching diving more. From how I look at it, one more summer at seabase is only more likely to help me than hurt me. It will give me a chance to pass on to another group of scouts something that I feel very strongly about, and give them a skill that hopefully will allow them to explore worlds they wouldn’t have otherwise explored.

I know I have to grow up eventually. I keep finding myself say, not yet, one more summer, one more summer. Who knows what the future holds, but I would like to make the venture down to the Keys at least one more time this summer. Maybe when Katie and I are retired we can volunteer our time at seabase. I find myself not wanting to get my hopes up, but also that I can’t help for one more summer of teaching, diving, and the sun.

So now we will play the waiting game until we are hopefully hired, or hear back otherwise. Either way, there is one thing for sure. I am with the woman that I love, and I don’t want to go anywhere without her. So whatever happens I will be happy.

-Brian

Glass Mountains Road Trip

Oklahoma Lightning — Lightning, image caught east of Enid Oklahoma

This past weekend Katie and I went on a road trip to the glass mountains. It was amazing, the scenery was beautiful. There was a thunderstorm coming that made for some interesting shots, and a chance to photograph lightning later on the drive home. Thanks to Katie for making me stop and try and photograph it. I am looking forward to the next time a thunderstorm rolls through so I can try again. It was a blast. The image to the right was captured using a 30 second exposure, F 8.0 and iso 400. I wish the bolt was more centered in the frame, but such is life. I’ll just have to try again next time. So here was not my first attempt at capturing lightning, but my first more lucrative attempt at capturing lightning.

-Brian