I honestly don't know when it happened, but at some point, I became a cynical old man when it comes to the 4th of July. Maybe because my birthday is the 3rd of July, I've always felt like I was competing for my friends' "party time" with the whole country.

If I throw a birthday party on the 4th, well, then it's a 4th of July party, not a birthday party. So this year, I had a relaxing day of nothing on my birthday. I really just needed a day to sleep in and keep it mellow. Especially since Kendra and I grabbed a couple last minute spots on a dive trip to Point Lobos State Reserve in Carmel aboar the Beach Hopper 2.

Point Lobos is one of my favorite places to dive, and the day's itinerary involved a local boat charter shuttling divers out to various dive sites in the park. The dive conditions were near optimal with calm flat seas, mild temps topside, and decent visibility underwater. I decided to shoot macro for the first couple dives in order to take advantage of the calm conditions. I switched to wide angle for the final dive, but in the end, it was the close-ups that I enjoyed shooting the most.

I included a few other shots from the day to showcase the myriad of colors, shapes, and textures sen on a typical day of diving around these parts. So I don't have a fireworks shot for today, just some underwater "fireworks"! :)