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Underwater photos a passion for Judge
Summary: Underwater photography is a passion for Hamilton County, Ohio Judge Robert Ruehlman. His diving expereince and his patience make him a formidable force down under.
 | | Photograph by Robert P. Ruehlman |
The judicial chamber, in Cincinnati, Ohio, of
Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert P. Ruehlman is covered with
photographs. Photos of stingrays, moray eels, sharks, Queen Angel fish,
Fairy Basslets, anemones and sea turtles.  | | The Judge with a faux palm tree in his chambers. |
Next to his desk is an
eight-foot faux palm tree, too, a gift from his children.
The photos are not gifts…they are his photos and his passion.
“I see a lot of misery here in my courtroom.
People with problems, criminals and folks with mental illness. It
can get to be too much,” said Ruehlman. “Underwater photography is
calming.”  | | Robert P. Ruehlman makes about 100 dives annually. |
Away from the courtroom, Ruehlman is a master diver
and makes over 100 dives annually. Ruehlman has dived internationally
and in the summer months dives in local quarries. As his diving
skills advanced, he picked up an interest in underwater
photography. An avid swimmer, Ruehlman cherishes his pre-dawn
daily swims followed by weightlifitng at a west side health club.
Says friend and frequent participant in many of
Ruehlman’s diving expeditions, Tom Heekin, “Every dive is the best dive
of Bob’s life. We were in Honduras once for a total lunar
eclipse. We gathered on the dock to watch and here’s Bob with a light
in hand heading for the water for a night dive instead of watching a
once in a lifetime event.”
A competitive swimmer for years, Ruehlman began free
diving using a mask and snorkel decades ago. His swimming ability and
natural curiosity led him to scuba diving in 1991. He took his
first photos underwater with a camera in 1997 on a North Carolina
expedition near Cape Fear.
“It was learning process.  | | Photograph by Robert P. Ruehlman |
You have to be a good
diver/swimmer to take underwater pictures, he said. I credit Louise
Weissner at Aquarius Dive in Cincinnati for good training. For
photography, there are ballast and buoyancy issues and it is important
to know about the fish and their characteristics and behavior. If you
study their actions and get to know them, that will help you with
photos.”  | | Photograph by Robert P. Ruehlman |
Ruehlman leads an annual courthouse pilgrimage to
Florida every March. Fellow judges, including retired judge Richard
Niehaus, prosecutors, defense attorneys and other courthouse workers
including some sheriff’s deputies.
“I take a group form here once a year. I
charter the boat, make the dive plans and decide on the (ship)wrecks
we’ll dive on, he said.
Heekin recalled a particular trip to Lake Cumberland years ago where a Ruehlman diving group rented houseboats for a weekend.  | | Photograph by Robert P. Ruehlman |
“I was diving along side William Welsh, who’s 6 feet
6 inches a real big guy. So we make our descent into the
lake. It so murky that Welsh is a foot away and I can’t see him,
“ explained Heekin. “We’re sinking in the mud and beer cans at the
bottom of the lake. We’re down there long enough to sink in the mud and
get back to the top. Ninety minutes later we see Bob emerge from
the shoreline after watching minnows and rocks and he declares it his
best dive ever. Me, I need a tetanus shot.”
A favorite diving location for Ruehlman is Cudjoe Key in Florida.
“I like to dive there, because the dive charter
companies don’t go there. It’s more fun, an adventure, to go where the
tourists don’t go, he explained. It’s not unusual for me to go down on
a dive for 90 minutes and just hang around in one place. If I’m
patient, I can get a good photo of the fish or coral. It takes time and
patience.”
His love of nature was evident as a kid. A
1974 Social Science graduate from the University of Cincinnati he was
accepted into UC’s law school.
“I could have chosen a lot of careers back then, but
I wasn’t good at math, said Ruehlman, in a reflective moment.
Displaying a photo with a large snake, he said his
love of nature led him to be an accomplished herpetologist. “I was
doing that when The Crocodile Hunter was in diapers,” he continued.
“Sometimes I use a magnifying glass and will
spend the entire dive just looking at the fish and coral. I like to get
close to the subjects, he said. When you are down there you see the
beauty that  | | Photograph by Robert P. Ruehlman |
God has created. I think that the calming effect on me
personally helps me to be a better judge. It helps you to try and see
the good in everyone and everything.”  | | In a photo Ruehlman's wife calls "heaven and hell" the detail inside fire coral reveals Mother Nature's artistic drama. |
Technology is an asset in underwater photography.
Advanced lighting techniques and cameras helped Ruehlman develop his
skills.
Starting with a Sealife camera and built-in flash in 1997, Ruehlman is making the transition to digital photography.
He borrowed a digital camera from friend Rick Lane
for a January 2007 trip to Curacao, a Caribbean Sea island off the west
coast of Venezuela.
“It was an Olympus SP-350
digital camera, he said. It was great to use, but it took a while for
me to get used to the viewing screen on the back of the camera.
You could shoot a picture, look at it right away and delete it if you
didn’t like it.”
The Olympus 350
is an 8 mega pixel camera with a 2.5 inch digital display and an
optical viewfinder. The camera uses an xD memory card system. Using it
underwater with a waterproof housing makes it difficult to use
the optical viewfinder. Ruehlman used a battery-powered light off
camera to illuminate his subjects at great depths and while diving at
night.
“You can’t shine a light directly on a fish without
scaring it. It will try to swim away, he explained. You can
position the light to one side of the subject and by anticipating the
reaction of the fish you can come away with some great shots.”
Ruehlman plans to buy a digital SLR (single lens
reflex) camera. The self-taught photographer has already mastered the
techniques necessary for great photos. Many of the prints
displayed on his office walls were printed using a Lexmark home
printer and he has an advanced archiving system for the photos as well.
Not all of Ruehlman’s memorable moments in the water have resulted in great photos.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Ruehlman was with a group of
divers in Curacao. When they surfaced, the charter operator told them
that they must head for the island.
“Before we left from the dive area, a school of
dolphins gathered by our boat. I dove in with just a mask on a free
dive. It was wonderful to swim with them. Baby dolphins, big dolphins
diving and swimming around, he recalled. I almost went too deep with
them but the experience was worth it.”
“They wouldn’t tell us why we needed head to port
ahead of schedule, he recalled. We thought it might be something with
one of our group or a family problem. When we got to shore they
explained that airliners had been flown into buildings in New York City
and Washington, D.C. They said the buildings looked alike and we
figured out it was the World Trade Center. We saw some television, but
it was all Dutch language and we couldn’t understand.”
The ensuing shut down of airports in the US forced the group to stay in Curacao for several days.
“We dove. We went out again to dive and there
was the same school of dolphins by our boat. Again, I dove in with just
a mask. It was like the dolphins were offering comfort. But, I forgot
to grab my camera as I dove in, “ he lamented.
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Good photographs begin with good light. In the digital photography world, the quality of light corresponds to the quality of the photograph. The dramatic light of the early morning and late afternoon can raise the quality of your images. In poorly lit situations use supplemental lighting from the camera's flash in the fill-flash mode.
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