UwP 1

Aug/Sept2002

a web magazinea web magazine

Underwater PhotographyUnderwater Photography

Running with bullsPalau experienceOffshore BaliBaitball!Magic manateesPLACEBO helpDark thoughtsSubal CP5 reviewManual flashVisions in the Sea

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22 Baitball!

by John Collins

25 Magic manatees

by John Bobel

29 PLACEBO help

by Des Paroz

32 Dark thoughts

by Mark Webster

4 News & newproducts

7 Travel & events

9 Running with bulls

by Pete Atkinson

12 Palau experience

by Bernardo Sambra

17 Offshore Bali

with Jeff Mullins

Underwater PhotographyUnderwater Photographya web magazine

Aug/Sept 2002e mail uwp@uwpmag.co.uk

Contents

Cover shot byJohn Bobel

37 Subal CP5 review

by Peter Rowlands

45 Manual flash

by Alex Mustard

49 Visions in the Sea

57 Classifieds

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News & new products

The 40th AnnualInternational UnderwaterPhotographic Competition,sponsored by the Los AngelesUnderwater PhotographicSociety, is underway.

Entries are being acceptedin 10 print, slide and videocategories.

The rules for digital entrieshave been completely revisedand expanded offering excitingnew opportunities. The deadlinefor entry is September 28, 2002.

One of the oldest andlargest contests of its kind, lastyear’s competition receivedentries from contestantsrepresenting 15 countries and 25states. This contest is onlypossible due to the generosity ofour sponsors.

Invaluable support has been

provided by the Los AngelesNatural History Museum,Weldon Color Labs,Thermostatic Industries (TMO)and Art by Rogest. Best of showand first place awards haveincluded liveaboard and land-based vacations from sponsorssuch as Milne Bay Charters,Aquasports, Nai’a Cruises Fiji,Big Blue Explorer, BilikikiCruises Ltd., Fantasea Divers,Mike Ball Diving, UnderseaHunter, Exotic Caye BeachResort, Clavella Adventures,Optiquatics, Ed Robinson’sDiving Adventures and NautilusExplorer. Additional prizes areawarded to 4th place in eachcategory and have included avaluable array of SCUBA andphoto equipment donated fromkey sponsors including

Sea&Sea, TMO, PelicanProducts, American Diving,Dacor, Dive ‘N Surf, Darkroom,SubAquatic Camera Repair,Submersible Systems, Ultralight,Pelican, Zeagle Ikelite, DivingUnlimited Int., Backscatter,Ocean.com, Ron T. Karlsson,Discovery Video, Pauls Photo,Stan Waterman , Peace DiveBoat, Spectre Dive Boat andVisiting Catalina.com.

Entry forms, rules,information and a sponsor listare available from the Web siteat http://www.laups.org or fromthe booth at the Los AngelesSCUBA Show 2002.

Additional information canbe obtained by e-mail toinfo@LAUPS.org or by writingto LAUPS, P.O. Box 2401,Culver City, CA 90231.

LOS ANGELES UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETYANNOUNCES 40th ANNUAL INTERNATIONALCOMPETITION

The Northern CaliforniaUnderwater PhotographicSociety is announcing its 38thAnnual InternationalUnderwater-PhotographicCompetition, “SEA 2002 “ andthe “Bob Commer Award:Image of Excellence inUnderwater Photography.”

Entries are being acceptedfor SEA2002, an amateurcontest, which includes fiveprint, slide, and video categories

at three skill levels. Also beingaccepted are entries for the BobCommer Award, which is opento anyone including professionalphotographers.

The deadline for entries isSeptember 13, 2002. SEA 2002is one of the oldest contests forunderwater photographers. Lastyear’s competition receivedentries not only within the 50states of the U.S., but fivecountries internationally. This

The Northern California Underwater Photographic Society’s 38thAnnual International Underwater-Photographic Competition,“SEA 2002”

year our goal is to expandthroughout even more countries.Pass the word along to yourfriends, clubs, and dive partners.

Entry forms, rules,information and a sponsor listare available on our web site athttp://www.ncups.org, or pleasecontact: Mike Covolo, Directorof SEA 2002 atuwphotodiver@netscape.net.

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The VX-PC120 integratesthe advanced technology ofSony's new million-plus pixelDCR-PC120 digital videocamera with ease of use. Thenew infrared remote control gripfeatures zoom, record start/stop,and photo capture thumb-controlled buttons that respondto the most sensitive direction.Power and autofocus controls areergonomically located on theright side of the front case, easilyaccessed while holding the grip.The built-in xO.6 wideconversion lens lets you get up-close and personal with the sea'ssmallest creatures, and the highquality amphibious microphonelets you record every reef soundwith verity and clarity.Constructed of ABS resin andimpact-resistant polymers, the

Sea & Sea VX-PC120

Light & Motion Titan

Light & Motion continuesto move forward in UnderwaterDigital Photography with theintroduction of Titan, DigitalSLR Photo Housing. Titan is aprofessional housing that ushersin a new class of underwaterdigital photography. The Titanhousing provides full cameracontrol in a user friendly layout.

Housing provides access to boththe optical viewfinder as well asthe 1.8” LCD screen for instantfeedback and accurate subjectcomposition. Viewable datascreen provides the user with allcamera information. Flat port isstandard and optional lenses canbe changed underwater, so youwill never have the right subject

and the wrong lens again.Titan is designed for the

Olympus E-20n and E-10n SLRDigital Cameras. The OlympusE-20 is a 5 megapixel SLR thatincludes a 35-140mm lens, 4xoptical zoom and high speedauto focus. The E-20 supports

both Smart Media and CompactFlash which provide massivestorage capabilities that enablethe user to save hundreds of highresolution images.

www.uwimaging.com

VX-PC120 is lightweight anddemands minimal maintenance.With high-resolution, broadcast-quality images and the infinite

possibilities of digitalinterfacing, your only limitationis your imagination.

www.seaandsea.com

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BahamasTurks & CaicosTobagoBonaire, VenezuelaLittle Cayman, BelizeHonduras, ThailandSipadan, MabulLayang LayangDerawan & SangalakiBali, Komodo, Wakatobi,Manado, Kungkungan BayPalau, Yap, TrukAustralia's Coral SeaPapua New Guidea, SolomonsFiji, Hawaii, Sea of CortezRevillagigedo IslandsCocos Island, The GalapagosKelp Forests of California

DIVEQUEST The Ultimate in Underwater Photography Adventures ATOL Protected 2937

Telephone: 01254-826322 or e-mail divers@divequest.co.uk website: www.divequest.co.uk

Plus Underwater Photography Group Trips and Courses with leading photographers:

Martin Edge, Linda Dunk, Malcolm Hey, Charles Hood, Gavin Anderson

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July 7th-15th 2003

BahamasDolphin photographywith Linda Dunk

Martin EdgeTravels with my camera:Kungkungan bay

Friday 27th September - Sunday6th October 2002.

Linda will be leading agroup to photograph wilddolphins in the Bahamas onboard MV Shearwater

Join the Master Craftsmanof underwater photography on atrip to the world famous home ofweird and wonderful creatures:Kungkungan Bay

Charles HoodThe Channel Islands ofSouthern California

Saturday 14th September -Sunday 22nd September 2002

6 days diving includingboth boat diving around Catalinaitself and all day shark divingtrips out into the Pacific Ocean.

Divequest underwaterphotography trips

DIVEQUESTTelephone: 01254-826322 or e-mail divers@divequest.co.uk website: www.divequest.co.uk

Travel & events

Jim Breakell Tahiti talk atDive Show, Oct 12/13 2002

In September Jim Breakell of Scuba Safarisis going on a fact finding trip to the Pacific.

First off he’s going to Ryrutu for for a fewdays humpback whale watching, then a week onthe inaugural trip of the Tahiti Aggressor and thenon to Bora Bora (what a hard life he has!)

When he gets back he will be giving anillustrated talk about his trip at the Dive Show inBirmingham on October 12/13th 2002.

For more information contact ScubaSafaris, PO Box 8, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 7ZS.Tel 01342 851196.

www.scuba-safaris.com

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Define your imageDefine your image

Definitive workshops from the definitiveunderwater photography company.

Ocean Optics

Kurt Amsler is one of the elite few tomake a good living out of underwaterphotography. From natural historyphoto-essays to imaginativeadvertising shoots, Amsler’s imagesinfluence photographers all over theworld.

This world class photographer and teacher isnow set to share his successful techniques withclients of Ocean Optics.Kurt will host a one week workshop in SouthernFrance this September.Places are strictly limited. For full details callSteve, Andrew or AJ.

13 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AQTel 0207 930 8408 Fax 0207 839 6148http://www.oceanoptics.co.uk

13 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AQTel 0207 930 8408 Fax 0207 839 6148

http://www.oceanoptics.co.ukOcean Optics

Digital photography is a breakthrough for underwatersnapshooters.With user friendly automatic features not found on underwaterfilm cameras like autofocus and autoexposure, they are incrediblyeasy to shoot. LCD monitor screens let you see the image as itreally is without the parallax problems associated with budgetunderwater cameras. Zoom optics that focus down to a fewcentimetres let you dispense with the hassles and

costs of additional supplementary lenses. Instantplayback helps you learn as you go and you'll never

even have to pay for another roll of film!Now you can choose from no fewer than 13different Olympus digital cameras to takeunderwater.

You can be up and runningwith a camera and housingfor under £410.

The System That Fits in Your Pocket.Not empties it.

Underwater PhotographyRead all about digital in Issue 1 of

Underwater Photographymagazine www.uwpmag.co.uk

The future of underwater imaging is here. Where it's always been. At Ocean Optics.

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Readers’ discretion advised...Brandon Paige likes fish. The

bigger the better. This tall blondeSouth African ex-spearo has adultbull sharks for friends.

Beqa Lagoon in Fiji used to befamous for soft corals - the “softcoral capital of the world”. Yeah,right. Aquatrek’s 3D dive site willtake your mind off soft corals; forgood.

My brain was totally frizzledby a sea full of giant giant (no typo)trevally and seven species of sharks.Well we didn’t get the tigers orhammerheads which sometimes turnup.

There’s no secret to attractingall these sharks, you could do it in your swimming pool.You just need half a tonne of fish trash. No kidding!Two 240 litre wheelie bins, two dive-masters apiece andsome huge tubs of whole bonito and marlin steaks thesize of buckets, all chuck-outs from the Fiji Fishprocessing factory. No wonder there’s nothing left inthe sea except at Aquatrek 3D.

Brandon appears completely nonchalent about thewhole thing, hand-feeding 3 1/2m bull sharks a metrefrom my camera. It’s completely outrageous! Outsidegreat whites, I can’t imagine a more exciting shark feed,and of course there’s no cage. You can lie behind a lowcoral wall if you like. And pray.

I had an assignment to photograph the feed, so wewere feeding at 32m and doing 25 minutesdecompression twice a day. You can train bulls to feedon the surface, but Brandon wanted to avoid this as itmakes getting in the water in one piece somewhattricky. And getting out - forget it.

Even so, arriving at the dive site 4 miles west ofPacific Harbour on Fiji’s Coral Coast, a big drum ofbonito heads is poured in the water to quieten theexcited giant trevally. There’s about 150 between 20and 30kg at a guess. Imagine going for a dip amongststarving pirhanas... That’s what it looks and sounds like.The guys on their first open water dives change theirunderpants about now.

So the instructions are pretty clear; don’t point atanything on the way down since a trevally is likely tochomp a digit off. You want to pee inside your wetsuitfor the same reason if you’re a bloke. You’ll be hangingon tight to all orifices so it shouldn’t be an issue.

Brandon started the feed two and a half years agoon a derelict coral rubble wall on serendipitously named

Running of the Bullswith Pete Atkinson

Brandon Paige hand-feeding a 3m bull shark.18mm lens. f4, 1/125th Provia F. Nikon F4. 2SB-24 housed flash guns.Brandon Paige (on right) with some smallofferings to the Gods.Nikon F90. Velvia.

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Bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas.18mm lens. f4, 1/125th. Provia F. Nikon F4. 2 SB-24 flash guns.

Giant trevally, Caranx ignobilis. 24mm lens f5.6, 1/125th. Provia F.Subeye. Substrobe 200.

Shark Reef. The trick was to get thelocal village involved, give them anincome from every diver that visits,turn the area into a marine park andhope Wainiyabia village didn’t hosta Methodist Convention.

On a couple of dives,surrounded by 8 bulls between 2and 3m long, three big nurse sharks,a lemon, silver tip, and greys, blacktips and white tips, suddenlyeverything went quiet; the bullswithdrew from what Brandon calls“The Arena.”

And along the cliff waltz abunch of divers from DiveConnections at Pacific Harbour. Icouldn’t believe any operationcould be so discourteous. Brandonset the thing up, habituated theanimals, got Ron and Val Taylor andHoward and Michelle Hall there (atthe same time as tiger sharks) evenhired a Pommie stills photographer.And these guys simply gate-crashthe party, spoiling the experiencefor everyone. Brandon has noproblem with Dive Connectionstaking people there, but like anyperson with an IQ over 3, thinksthat the polite thing to do would beto dive there when Aquatrek don’thave people in the water. There arestill plenty of sharks in an unbaitedsituation.

Something special ishappening here and word has yet toget out. The only other place youcan see bull sharks hand-fed is inCuba, and if you’re Americanyou’re proably out of luck becauseBush needs the Florida vote.

The most lively time to bethere is just after the female bullsharks have pupped in the southernSummer and return ravenous. Bullsare interesting sharks. Third in theunholy trinity of eating people afterwhites and tigers, many fatalitiesare probably attributable to bullswhere there attacker is unknownand unseen. Turbid inshore water isa favourite habitat and they willeven penetrate freshwater rivers. InAfrica Carcharhinus leucas isknown as the Zambezi shark . Theyalso swim 60 miles up the San Juan

river to get into Lake Nicaragua.Historically, there were manyattacks in the freshwater rivers ofFiji; the bulls became fond of thescraps from long pig feasts.Missionaries and such. Years ago,when Castaway Resort used to turftheir rubbish outside the inner reefin the Mamanucas, bull sharkswould come to feed. That was myfirst experience in the water withbulls, and it was a soberingoccasion. The comparison betweengrey reef sharks and bulls was about

the same as a corgi compared with awolf. Rabid at that!

It’s amazing what the serenityof Brandon can do to the animals,even the divers; his quietconfidence more contagious thanthe plague. Even though this wasmy first extended encounter withbulls I felt completely safe (weweren’t behind any coral wall andprayers propagate about 5cmunderwater) even when a gianttrevally barrelled into the side ofBrandon’s head at full tilt. Lucky he

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Bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas. 24mm lens,f4 1/125th Provia F. Subeye. 2 IkeliteSubstrobe 200s

Giant trevally, Caranx ignobilis.Sea&Sea 15mm lens, Nikonos III, Velvia pushedone stop. 1/60th f8. Housed SB-26 flash gun.

wasn’t knocked out because I was just lining up agood shot.

From a photographic point of view, therewasn’t a hell of a lot of light, though we hadsunshine and 20m vis. I used Provia F or Velviapushed a stop, my old home-made Nikon F4 housingso I could have the benefit of a motordrive and fast,precise manual focus. With the housed Nikon SB-24son 1/4 or 1/8 power I could whizz off a sequence ofshots (7 frames was the longest) as the bull sharkopened its mouth to engulf a slab of fish, justmissing Brandon’s hand, protected with... agardening glove! Ha!

Sometimes the second dive is over in BeqaLagoon which is still beautiful diving in spite of theravages of coral bleaching which have affected someof Fiji’s coral. After my film was finished and I wasjust loitering on the surface, I had this biblical vision;Brandon, way way below, alone, with a slab ofmarlin, feeding in turn the fish along the reef. Theremust have been 5000 of them.

So before someone gets eaten, or Aquatrek’sinsurance gets out of hand, fly over to Fiji (whichtakes about the same time as downloading thismagazine in Fiji) and see this amazing event foryourself. Sundays and Wednesdays are feeding days,and on Fridays Brandon takes the guests of MarlinBay Resort on the island of Beqa there. Aquatrek isbased at the salubrious Centra Hotel in PacificHarbour which always has room, and there’s even abackpackers, Pacific Safari Lodge across the road.

I really hope no one gets bitten, because asalways there will be a big fuss, “biologists” will sayit upsets the ecology, FVB will say it’s bad fortourism. It’s about the most exciting thing happeningin all of Fiji and makes a meke - the traditional Fijiandance-fest - look like stamp collecting. If you reallywant to risk life and limb in Fiji just get in a taxi or amini-bus or, even better, go for a midnight swim inTaveuni.

Pete Atkinson

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The Palau experienceBy Bernardo Sambra

Over the past twelve years,my wife and I have diveintensely in the Caribbean andthe Pacific Coast of SouthAmerica. This time however wedecided to go to the other side ofthe world (we live in Peru); tothe coral seas. Not being able togo on such trips frequently it wasdifficult to decide where exactlyin the coral seas we wanted togo.

Over a period of severalmonths we set out to find theprecise spot. We were lookingfor unspoilt reefs, good weather,excellent visibility, few touristsand lots of marine life…adifficult task indeed.

Finally, we were left withthree stunning alternatives:Sulawesi, Papua New Guineaand Palau. The latter howeverhad an added incentive, duringMay (the time we had planned totravel); the Palau UnderwaterPhoto Festival. We contacted thePalau Visitors Authority and theorganizers, Tova Har-El andNavot Bornovski.

The opportunity couldn’t bebetter, imagine an UnderwaterPhoto Festival in paradise withbreathtaking reefs, being able todive with James Watt and TimRock and meet David Doubilet,Sammy Tanaka and StewartWestmorland.

We were left with nodoubts. This was a goldenopportunity to literally immerseourselves in the world ofunderwater photography, burnlots of rolls and talk photo jargon24 hours a day! We decided togo for three weeks, leaving thelast week to coincide with theFestival. This would allow us to

acclimatize with the location andof course to take tons of photos.

However, three weeks isvery little time to get to knowPalau’s underwater beauty and Icompletely agree with

Constantinos Petrinos when hesays “…you need to spend manyhours underwater to familiarizeyourself with the particularhabitat and the species present inorder to be able to capture

Jake FloatPlane. This plane is an AichiE13A or Jake typereconnaissance plane, one of the most intact plane wrecks inMicronesia. Nikonos V, 15mm fisheye lens, no strobes, Fuji Provia,Speed on Automatic@ 2.8.

Trumpetfish over red coral (Aulostumos chinensis) Nikon N90S,Nexus Master Housing, 60mm, YS120 + YS60 both at Full power,Fuji Velvia, f32@1/60.

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behavioural scenes on film”. Any way, such is life,time is never enough when you are doing what youlove.

The Republic of Palau lies east of ThePhilippines and north of Papua New Guinea, on thewestern extreme of the Caroline Archipielago. It ismade of nearly 350 islands distributed in sixclusters over 400 miles. Our location lies in thePalau cluster which’s made up of 200 islands, 8 ofwhich are inhabited. Few destines offer suchmixture of unequalled marine diversity with worldrenowned dive sites. Palau is also the youngestnation in the Pacific showing an incredible ethnicmix.

For the good fortune of visitors, this translatesitself to superb oriental cuisine ranging from Thaito Japanese. After a 40 hour journey we arrived atKoror, the capital of Palau. We where greeted bymembers of Sam’s Tours , our excellent divingoperator, whom agreed to meet the followingmorning.

During our first dive day, we met KevinDavison an excellent underwater photographerwho has been documenting Palau over the past fewyears. Meeting Kevin was undoubtedly a stroke ofluck which allowed us to understand underwaterphotography from literally a completely differentangle.

Every evening we would hand Kevin our rollsof film so that he would develop them and give usa constructive critic the following morning. After afortnight we had accumulated more than 2,000photos. We managed to compile a hugephotomontage that reflected, from a personal pointof view, Palau’s underwater beauty. We dived innearly 40 of the most spectacular sites: Blue Holes,the famous Blue Corner, Big Drop Off, PeleliuExpress, Ulong Channel, German Channel andmany more.

The variety of fishes and invertebrates wemanaged to shoot ranged from manta rays, white,black and silver tip sharks , bumpheads

Anemone Fish. (Amphiprion perideraion) at TurtleCove. Nikon N90S, Nexus Master Housing, 60mm,YS120 TTL, Fuji Velvia, f32@1/60.

Two divers in the base of the main gallery at BlueHoles. Nikon N90S, Nexus Master Housing, 20mm,no strobe, Fuji Provia, f2.8@1/250.

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David Doubilet during his talkThe organizer Navot Bornovski and Sammy Tanakagiving his speech.

parrotfishes, napoleon wrasses, anemone fishes,cuttlefishes, fire gobbies and dozens of corals. Thewaters around Palau are really an enormousunderwater photo studio with lots of willingmodels. This is due to the relatively short time thetourist industry has operated here and the care thatdive operators take looking after the sea bed.

Personally I never thought that any one placecould harbour such variety of marine life under andon the water. Each dive site contained andincredible array of marine flora and fauna. Themost astonishing thing was the sheer densitypresent. We did not find one or two sharks butseveral dozen in every dive. Hundreds of BlackBar Barracudas and schools of Bigeye Jacksfurnished, like metallic curtains the underwaterhorizon. Enormous coral structures formed virtualliving islands and infinity deep walls containedfantastic gardens under the sea.

The eleventh hour was finally upon us. Weshowed up very early at The Coral Reef Centrewhere Mr. Tommy Remengesau Jr., Palau’sPresident blew the starting whistle to the PhotoFestival.

By now, many of the judges (UWphotography photo pros) like James Watt, StewartWestmorland, Sammy Tanaka and Tim Rock hadarrived. We had from that moment on, six days inwhich to dive, take pictures and go to seminars.Our Sam’s Tours package include six day “all youcan dive”. We went in all day, every day, ourcomputers allowing. Using up three, four andsometimes five tanks a day. It was difficult pickingour dive sites especially considering that eachphotographer could submit a maximum of fourimages, one for each category: wreck, wide angle,macro and creative.

The second day was perhaps the most intense

Whitecap Shrimp (Periclemenes sp.) over a bubbleanemone founded at the entrance of ChandelierCave. Nikon N90S, Nexus Master Housing, 60mm,YS120 + YS60 both at Full power, Fuji Velvia,f22@1/60.

and interesting. Kevin invited James Watt and TimRock to dive with us. That morning’s dive was atthe Siaes’s Tunnel, the deepest dive we undertook,140 feet. This place is photographically speakingincredibly challenging. Light inside the cave ispractically inexistent, interesting shot angles arenumerous and we could only stay down there a

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maximum of seven minutes.I used up this first time in

the tunnel observing how Tim,James and Kevin analysed thesite, moving their strobes andshooting without stop. We hadto plan our dives and shots verycarefully so that at the end of thesix days of competition we couldhave at least one or twosatisfying images for eachcategory. One of the festival’shigh points was the opportunityeach diver had diving alone inthe famous Chandelier Cave litby the hugely expensive HMIlights. These were used by DavidDoubilet to shoot the cave for a2000 National Geographicarticles…what a chance!

On the third day it was ourturn to be in the marvellous cave.We used Fuji 400 film so that wecould take full advantage of theconditions inside the cave. It wasa good decision as this filmallowed us to capture thedramatic atmosphere inside thecave. The sour point, as always,was that we only had 30 minutesdive time and 36 shots.

Each evening we had torush back to the PPR (PalauPacific Resort) to attend talkseach on the judges would givethat night. I was personallyimpressed by three of the talks.Stewart Westmorland gave anexcellent exhibition on why wehad to surmount ourphotographic pre conceptions so

Chandelier Cave illuminatedwith HMI Lights during my short30 minutes opportunity. NikonN90S, Nexus Master Housing,20mm, no strobe, Fuji 400,f2.8@1/250.

that we can get optimum resultswhen experimenting with speed,light and developing. He showeda series of photographic printswhich resembled abstractpaintings.

Sammy Tanaka showedwhat he described as the best ofhis work and, by jolly, it was,drawing ooohhhs and aaahhsssfrom the crowd. All were wideangle shots and I have seldomseen such fine technique. Sammyis undoubtedly what I call aphoto engineer. As he said, heuse to spend 80% of his timeanalysing the scene and 20%taking the shot.

Last by definitely not least,David Doubilet brought, asexpected a breathtaking array ofimages from Tasmania,Indonesia, Cuba and Australiawhich showed what you canachieve when intelligentlyharnessing such uncontrollableelement as light.

The festival wining shotwas by the German JanAbadschieff, a spectacular 50/50image of the Chandelier Cavetitled “Chandelier Cave with amodel”.

Palau is a challenge for ourcapacity of abstraction. Thediverse seascapes, living things

and underwater geography canbe overwhelming. Undoubtedlystaging a Photo Festival in aplace like this sets off realfireworks.

Lets hope the authoritiescan keep the fragile equilibriumbetween this beautiful locationand the ever growing andsometimes threatening touristindustry.

For further info.:www.visit-palau.com/uwpalau.htmlwww.samstours.comwww.fishnfins.com

Diving & Snorkeling Palau.Lonely Planet 2000. Tim Rock/Francis Toribiong

Bernardo Sambra

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Lying just east of Bali, bangin the middle of the LombokStrait, are a group of threeislands that have long beenregarded as difficult for divers toaccess. Fierce and unpredictableocean currents combined withlong swells from the IndianOcean south of Bali, made boatjourneys to the islands, anadventurous if not risky affair.

The three islands, NusaLembongan, Nusa Ceningan andNusa Penida lie 20kms east ofSanur on Bali. Their mainattractions include stunningwhite sand beaches, world classsurfing, pristine coral reefs andquiet village atmosphere. Manyof the islands residents areseaweed farmers. The clearinshore waters of Nusa Penidaand Lembongan provide idealconditions for growing highquality seaweeds that areexported for use in themanufacture of foodpreservatives, and cosmetics.These same clear waters alsohost some of Indonesia’s richestcoral reefs, along with stunningmarine life.

I recently visited the islandsfor the first time in well over tenyears. Back then the onlytransport to the islands was ontraditional jukung's, canoes withtwin bamboo outrigger's. Tomake matters worse, overnightaccommodation at the island'swas at the very best, extremelybasic and not intended fortourists. Well I didn't stayovernight and the resulting lateafternoon boat trip back was inhorrendous sea conditions. Youdon't need to guess why I hadn't

Bali’s Offshore Islandsby Jeff Mullins

Lembongan FarmsSeaweed farms lie between Nusa Lembongan & Nusa Ceningan,villagers work the farms on low tide each day.

Lembongan Reef SceneBasslets explode from a soft coral coated bommie in Toyapakeh Bay.Nikonos 15mm, Seatite II with Aqua Sea 100 slave, Provia, f8 @1/60th.

returned for so long!For this trip we boarded

Bali Hai Cruises 30 metre luxuryhigh speed catamaran, Bali HaiII at Benoa Port on Bali. Thehour or so trip to Nusa

Lembongan was in totalarmchair comfort, sipping coffeeand watching an underwatervideo compiled at the islands.We also met the dive crew fromBali Hai Diving Adventures,

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who organise dives at the islandsto match each divers experiencelevel.

Bali Hai Diving Adventuresrun an 8 metre alloy dive boatSerendipity to reach the divesites spread around the islands.The dive boat meets Bali Hai IIthen travels directly to the firstdive site and returns for lunch.Afternoon dives are timed tomeet the return ferry or to yourovernight accommodation onLembongan.

Diving sites around theislands are quite varied, but acouple of attributes are commonto all sites; Currents on mostsites are moderate andsometimes strong, so drift divesare the normal procedure. Cool

water 'up-welling' from theLombok Strait keeps watertemperatures a few degreescooler than on mainland Bali(22-28 degrees Celcius)Underwater visibility is alsoconsistently better (from 15-40metres). The up-welling, nutrientrich cold water from deep downin the Lombok Strait, also bringspelagic visitors to relativelyshallow waters. Oceanic Sunfish(Mola Mola), Manta Rays,sharks and other pelagic fish arecommonly sighted around theislands. But the reefs also boastterrific hard and soft corals,sponges and reef fish.

The main dive sites arelocated off Nusa Penida with acouple off Nusa Lembongan and

Gorgonia & Sunburst. Big bommies in Crystal Bayhave Gorgonias growing on them in only 8 metresdeep. Nikonos 15mm, Aqua Sea 140&100 slave,Provia, f11 @1/60th.

Hai Tide Hut. Hai Tide Huts on Nusa Lembonganare Robinson Crusoe style, in Air Conditionedcomfort.

ClownfishA clownfish inhabits an unusualgreen anemone in the shallows atthe dive site S.D. Canon AE1P,Sigma 90mm macro, TusseyT300 extended flat port, AquaSea 140&100 slave, Velvia, f19@1/60th

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Nusa Ceningan. Toyapakeh – is abay on the north-west corner ofNusa Penida. It has large coraloutcrops along the edge of asteep rock drop-off in around 8-15 metres deep. The outcrops arecovered with many varieties ofhard corals, plus orange and pinksoft corals. Clouds of bassletsand anthias surround theoutcrops along with coral cod,butterfly fish, sea snakes andschools of sweetlips.

Cavelets and ledges on theoutcrops harbour angelfish,hawkfish, moray eels andscorpionfish. Deeper down on asteep rocky slope, are largerpelagic visitors, includingschools of jacks and regularsightings of sunfish (Mola-mola). Toyapakeh is one of thepremier dive-sites around theseislands and it is hard to describethe colour and shear variety ofmarine life found here.

Pura Ped – Is a reef offshorefrom a village temple. Thisstunning site has almost 100%hard coral coverage with raisedcoral bommies in depths from 6-18 metres deep along a steadyslope. From 18 metres the slopegets steeper and is almostvertical from 50 metres.

The reef is a kilometre-longstretch of coral bommies.Gorgonia fans sprout from someoutcrops and sponges grow atodd angles due to the strongcurrents here. Schools of unicornfish and surgeonfish swirl aroundin mid water, plus hoardes of fishsurround the reef, white tip reefsharks are regularly seen cruisingthe reef or resting below ledges.

S.D. – (short for SekolaDesar, Indonesian forElementary School). This reef isjust offshore from a school, and

is a continuation of Pura Ped(above) but has more soft coralgrowth on the bommies, plus lotsof big angelfish, basslets andcolourful anthias surround everyoutcrop of coral.

The deeper parts of this reefare good places to look out forsunfish being cleaned near thereef, I saw a pair driftingtogether on the edge at 50metres. Sharks often cruise pastincluding a large hammerheadthat is occasionally sighted. Thecurrents are often not as strong

Diver in CaveToyapakeh Bay has smallcavelets and ledges lined withsoft corals & gorgonias. Nikonos15mm, Seatite II with Aqua Sea100 slave, Provia, f5.6 @1/60th.

MolamolaThis huge Molamola approachedwhilst I was looking under aledge, my son took this photo justbefore it swam off. Nikonos 1VAand Sea& Sea 15mm, NaturalLight, Provia, f4 on Auto. Photoby Michael Mullins.

UwP 20

as at Pura Ped.Gamat Bay - is a small bay on the west coast

of Nusa Penida in the channel facing NusaCeningan, with minimal currents. The shallows areparticularly rich with big coral bommies and coralpatch reefs over a sand bottom at between 4 and 10metres deep. Crimson red gorgonia fans sprouthere and there from the reef, while orange andyellow soft corals hang from ledges and coraloutcrops. Around the bottom are lots of anemonescomplete with anemone fish and porcelain crabs.

Moray eels and camouflaged scorpionfishhide among the abundant sponges and corals.Many coral cod and large angelfish fin around thereefs, and turtles often feed in the bay. Deeper ataround 15-20 metres are some big rock outcrops ona steeply sloping rock bottom. On one dive here abig estuary cod watched us cautiously from a smallcave, inside were schools of soldier fish andsponges covered the ceiling, we also saw a largemaori wrasse cruising among these outcrops.

In the north corner of the bay at 30 metres wedrifted along a wide overhanging ledge where thebottom dropped almost vertically down into the

depths of the Ceningan Channel. This became asteady slope with small ledges in the shallows, herewe found several mantis shrimp, scorpionfish,nudibranchs and other smaller oddities.

Blue Corner - is outside the surf break on thenorth coast of Nusa Lembongan. The terrain ismostly rocky bottom with a series of low ledgesthat progressively descend down to 30 metres,where a steeper rock wall continues down into theabyss. Blue Corner has very strong currents andoften the visibility is blurred at some depths by themixing of warm surface waters and upwelling coldwaters.

The area is renown for big fish sightings;Nurse sharks, white tips, schooling tuna andtrevally, plus a high incidence of sunfish sightings.Coral is mostly in shallower depths at the southernend of the reef, where some huge porites bommiesand stronger hard corals flourish. Parrotfish,turtles, unicornfish and smaller tropical fishfrequent this area.

Manta Point - is on the south coast of NusaPenida, facing the Indian Ocean and its never-ending line of swells. The only attraction here aregroups of manta rays that regularly congregatearound an exposed rock outcrop. Corals are almostnon-existant; mostly barren limestone reef dropsoff into deep water from the rock. But the mantarays are reason enough for divers to be attractedhere, often groups of a dozen or more feed aroundthe rock. Surface conditions aren't always suitablefor diving, as large swells roll in here, but a goodday with plenty of mantas is a hard one to beat.

Crystal Bay - is on Nusa Penida, at thesouthern end of Toyapakeh Strait. The bay cutsdeeply back into the cliffs with a large exposedrock at the entrance, and a sandy beach at the headof the bay. The southern face of this rock has bigcoral bommies in only 8 metres of water along theedge of a sandy slope. This gradually becomes a

ScorpionfishBearded Scorpionfish lie around the reef at the reefoffshore from Pura Ped. Canon AE1P, Canon50mm macro, Tussey T300 flat port, Aqua Sea140&100 slave, Velvia, f16 @1/60th.

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steep wall covered in staghorncorals, towards the western tip ofthe rock. Huge plate coralscoloured in green or blue line theshallows, while yellow andorange soft corals hang fromcoral bommies along the edge ofthe wall.

Fish life is quite diversefrom tiny gobies and anemonefish, through to Tuna and aresident school of batfish.Hoardes of butterflyfish,flutemouth's, sweetlip andangelfish shelter around thebommies. Another site at thenorthern corner of the bay has acave that can be enteredunderwater, leading into the cliff.Divers surface inside abovewater, where the cave isoccupied by thousands of fruitbats. More coral outcrops arespread around the bottom outsideof the cave entrance plus a drop-off where strong currents offer agood possibility of seeingsunfish, sharks and largerpelagics.

Back on Nusa LembonganBali Hai Cruises have recentlybuilt a small group of 'huts'. HaiTide Huts are located right onthe beach, just above the hightide mark, all with views to thesea. The air-conditioned double

Leaf ScorpionThis leaf scorpionfish was foundjust below the dive boat inToyapakeh Bay. Canon AE1P,Canon 50mm macro, TusseyT300 flat port, Aqua Sea140&100 slave, Velvia, f16 @1/60th.

rooms are elevated on timberpoles, accessed via a ladder.Below each room is a shadedopen-air resting area, plusupstairs is a small verandahcomplete with a table and twochairs.

These are a great place tospend a few days relaxing,diving and just taking in thepeaceful beach scenery ofLembongan. Excellentsnorkelling sites are just off thebeach adjacent to the huts or innearby bays. In the evening thesun sets over the cliffs at the endof the bay and all is quiet, exceptthe lapping of waves on thebeach. Excellent meals areavailable on the timber deckoverhanging the beach, andinclude Indonesian and Westernfoods at very reasonable prices.

Other activities on theislands include tours ofLembongan Village, paddling awave ski around the bay,snorkelling or glass bottom boattrips around the offshore reefs.These activities are all organiseddaily from the Bali Hai BeachClub, adjacent to Hai Tide Huts.Surfing the superb reef breaks,walks around the island to meetthe very quiet villagers or toview seaweed farms can be

arranged by locals. Earlymorning or late afternoon walkson the long white beaches onLembongan will leave lastingimpressions.

For more informationcontact Michael at Bali HaiDiving Adventures by e-mail atdiverse@indosat.net.id or visitthe Bali Hai Cruises website atwww.balihaicruises.com/

Jeff Mullins

UwP 22

There are a couple ofmantra’s we are prone to hearingoften. ‘ Ah! You should havebeen here last week’ is mostcommonly heard from a kindcrew member on seeing youassemble your rig. They can’thelp it - a reflex reaction to thathousing and strobe appearing onthe camera table. You then hearabout the Whale Shark/Manta/Striped Marlin encounter lastweek - no picture was capturedof course. ‘One guy had aNikonos, but it was set up formacro’... What, then, to do to tryand get ahead of the Gods ofUnderwater photography, whosesense of humour, as we know isboundless.

On a recent trip to Cocos,where anything really ispossible, a dry bag on the chaseboat saved the day more thanonce. First, a flash blanking plugfor the housing and a sealablecap for the flashlead (keen crewmembers will put the flash in therinse tank later!) . This alongwith spare film allowed a snorkelwith a curious Mobula ray -spotted from the boat as it swamnear the surface - after the dive,of course. Next in the bag, anF80 with 28-105mm zoom andan oversized polariser, whichstayed pretty much in the baguntil the Last Hour of the LastDay. This, of course the othergreat chestnut in underwaterphotography - the bestopportunities will arise in thedying moments of the trip. Andso it was, en route to Dirty Rock,with 60mm macro and small Sea& Sea flash to shoot the onlymacro of the trip, that the chaseboat (‘Panga’) driver got excited

about the horizon on anapparently featureless sea. Adiscussion with the divemasterensued and we were given achoice. There was a lot of birdactivity out to sea - we could gothere and check it out OR go toDirty Rock, which we had dived

a couple of times already. It wasunanimous - ‘Take her to sea Mr.Murdock...’

After a few minutes, thebirds were clearly visible. Thenthe dolphins, and on closeapproach our hopes were realised- a bait ball. My first thought

Last Hour of the Last DayBy John Collins

Nikon F80 28-105mm zoom, Provia 400F. Divers observe the actionon a baitball from the surface, the shark activity so intense it wouldbe foolhardy to snorkel!

Nikon F100 in Subal N10 housing, 60mm lens, Provia F 400,available light. With perfect adaptation to the open ocean, the Silkyshark specialises in taking injured fish.

UwP 23

while kitting up was about myfriend and fellow UWPcontributor, Nigel Motyer whohad his hand slightly chewed injust such circumstances a fewyears ago. A roll over the side,grab housing and down we go,into the blue.

The sheer number of sharksattracted by all the activity isstaggering. And, having been inthe company of white tips and

The first clue to bait fish beingnear the surface is largenumbers of birds diving.

Nikon F100/Subal N10 24mm lens Fuji Provia 400F, availablelight. With patience, these smaller cousins of the Giant Manta Raycome within touching distance.

Nikon F80 28-105mm zoom, Provia 400F. Seen from the boat,the swirling mass of bait fish can be seen frantically trying to avoidpredators.

hammerheads during the week,we were not going to be worriedby this lot now, were we ? Well,I have to admit feeling the nitroxa bit drier than normal. In fact,my mouth felt it had shrank asize since the last dive. It wasn’tthe sharks per se, but their sheernumber and behaviour. The Silkysharks were most numerous,small enough, but cheeky. Theyapproach quickly and generally

turn away at the last second butwill occasionally brush or bumpto see what happens. Then thereare the black tips, bigger than Iexpected but at least not ascheeky.

Finally, a few silvertips tocomplete the cocktail. This is thelargest shark I had been close towithout the proctection of a cage.These are all open ocean sharks,busy and looking for a slice ofthe action. We deliberatelystayed about 20m off the baitballitself as the action there was alittle too frantic as we were toobserve from the boat later.Seeing the dolphins do all thework of systematically herdingthe bait ball was the mostamazing sight. Unlike the sharks,their movement seems busy butfocussed. They had created anice little smorgasbord but a lotof guests were showing up. Wewatched while the tuna started toshow in in numbers. Otherpredatory fish like the Dorada ordolphinfish were spotted too.

UwP 24

Back on the boat, thesurface activity was getting evenmore frantic. We manoevereddirectly on top of the bait balland watched tuna clear the wateras they shot in to feed. Theyreally are formula 1 fish,incredibly fast.

The sharks seemed to getmore frantic in trying to get theirshare, perhaps sensing that thetuna were going to do someserious feeding. There weresharks thrashing at the surface ingroups and the water was whitewith action for minutes at a time.

The second group of diversin another panga were called onthe radio to tell them about thebaitball and arrived on sitequickly. They had finished theirdive and were all kitted out forsnorkelling. We were shakingour heads thinking, not a goodidea, when the first diver wasover the side and in the water,metres from the centre of thebaitball. I did not think it waspossible to board a boat fasterthan you can roll over the side -but it is! This having sobered anythoughts of snorkelling the groupwere happy enough to dip

nothing more than a mask intothe water.

An hour or so after we hadfirst seen it, we estimated thebaitball had halved. A hugenumber of the immediateresidents had a good lunch andwe had the good fortune towitness it. And the Last Hour ofthe Last Day lived up to itsexpectation. Reassuring to knowthat the usual rules still apply.

John Collins.

KinsaleCo. Cork

john@kinsalepharmacy.comwww.kinsalepharmacy.com

Nikon F100 in Subal N10housing, 60mm lens, Provia F400, available light. Schools ofbottlenose dolphins are oftenresponsible for creating a ball ofsardines or anchovy type baitfish and herding it towards thesurface.

Nikon F100 in Subal N10housing, 60mm lens, Provia F400, available light. Tuna pickup signals of bait fishactivity and are among the firstto delve in for their share.

UwP 25

“We’re on reducedcircumstances.” These pitifulwords, lifted from Sense andSensibility were our mantra lastwinter as we planned ourvacation. We normally spend afew weeks in the Caribbean. Meswimming with the fishes andshe reading on the beach. But inthis year of the U.S. recession itwas not to be. It was I thatcooked up the scheme of a 2,000mile round trip driving vacationto Florida, ostensibly so wecould visit relatives and friends. Iwaxed poetic about thosewonderful warm Floridiannights, reunions with long lostrelatives and as an added bonusthere would be no paring downthe luggage the night beforedeparture. “Just think, you cantake all the shoes you want,darling”. Of course the rosypicture I painted had ulteriormotives dripping from everyword. I was finally going toswim with the manatees.

A search on the Internetrevealed several commercialmanatee tour companies. Whilethey all sounded sufficient infinding manatees and providingtransportation to them, I wasleery about casting my lot inwith a bunch of wide-eyedtourists. So I placed a phone callto my local dive shop who hadrun trips in the area and was toldabout an excellent hotel/marina/dive shop operation that couldprovide shelter, food, smallmotor launches, and even maps.This meant I could be captain ofmy own fate (and boat) and at aprice that fit nicely with ourreduced circumstances. Thishaven of independence, so

important for those of us whoseraison d’être in the water isphotography, is the Port Hoteland Marina in Crystal River,Florida.

The West Indian Manateewho has cousins in otherequatorial coastal waters aroundthe globe is normally a solitarycritter and according to theWorld Conservation Union is“vulnerable to extinction”throughout its distribution. Thegeology of northern Floridaprovides hundreds of warmwater springs that feed into thecoastal waters and has given riseto a unique manatee behavior.While all manatees will spendsome time in fresh or brackishwaters, Florida visitors willswim miles up fresh water riversto reach these warm springs towinter in relatively largecolonies. This activity is thereason many of these gentlegiants have scars on their backsas the area is also loaded withother mammals that drive boatsfor recreation. It is also thereason their persona appears oncountless coffee mugs, road

signs, logos and advertisements.Floridanians, to their credit, havedone a reasonable job of tryingto protect these delightfulcreatures, setting aside largeareas as no and low-wake zoneswith stiff fines for violators andno-go areas that allow totalprotection from humans. Few ofthe animals that I encounteredhad scars from boat propellersbut the jury is still out as towhether or not the West IndianManatee protection efforts canovercome the general decline ofthe population witnessed bymanatee observation teams allover the State. They are

Magical Manateesby John Bobel

Camera: N-90S in AquaticaHousingLens: Nikon 17-35 F/2.8 @ 28mmSettings Shutter Priority @ f/5.6,200th secFilm: ProviaFLighting: ambient light 8:27amEST plus Nikon SB 104 strobeset at 1/2 powerAtmospheric conditions: Killer,patchy clouds, 8 degrees C

UwP 26

vulnerable to very cold waterand poison created by “red tides”organisms as well as those boatdriving mammals.

Whether you rent a boat orsign on with a commercial tourcompany, you must first watch a10 minute video that has manyinteresting things to say but hasone operative concept. DON’TCHASE THE MANATEES,THEY ARE BETTERSWIMMERS THAN YOU ARE.Most of us learned long ago thesame concept for other seacreatures. There is, however, aninteresting twist to this advice:manatees are actually curiousand when you make eye contactwith one it may very well swimover to investigate.

My rosy image of ourFlorida vacation fell apart thefirst day in Crystal River astemperatures plummeted to near0C at night. In fact the entirefour days we spent there the airtemperature struggled to get intothe double digit’s. Sunrise thefirst morning was accompaniedby temperatures in the 2-3Crange and a delightfully stiffbreeze. After braving conditionsthat would make Sir EdmundHillary turn back, my heart sankas I found the first commercialbarge beat me to the site. Hisload of tourists had a hell-bent-for-leather attitude focused like alaser on one concept: GET THEMANATEES. Somehow themessage of “they will come to

you if you are calm” was missedduring the service of jellydoughnuts and hot chocolate. Itis surprising how muchparticulate two dozen humanscan suspend in a water columnby frantically thrashing aboutthen by standing upright andshuffling fins along the bottomwhen you are too tired to swimafter a hard morning of chasingmammals. In-water photographyis dodgy in near zero visibility.Within an hour I left, a beatenman. I was prevented from mygoal by two dozen tourists whoseonly crime that morning was ashort memory.

I arrived back at the marinaand complained to the dock handabout the stupid tourists. He toldme of a side spring called TheThree Sisters located down avery narrow canal near the site ofthe morning’s debacle that fewtourists try. I had noticed thislittle stream but the three verticalpilings sunk in the mouth of thestream looked to prohibit anyself-respecting 500kg beast frompassing. Reluctantly, I decided togive the same area a try on thefollowing day. But this time Iwould arise even earlier knowingfull well that I may arrive tooearly for ambient lightphotography. The next morning Ifound the outboard’s starter cablecovered with ice. Not a goodsign. But I countered by wearing

Camera: Nikonos VLens: Nikonos 20 mmSettings Auto @ f/5.6Film: ProviaFLighting: ambient light 10:04amEST plus Nikon SB 104 strobeset at 1/2 powerAtmospheric conditions: Mostlycloudy, 12 degrees C

UwP 27

my winter gloves and fashioningprotective head gear out of atowel from the hotel. After my15 minute boat ride found I wasbeaten again by the tourists (didthey spend the night??).Undaunted, I slipped over theside and my vacation began tochange. I discovered that 22 Cwater on skin recently subjectedto wind chills near absolute zerofeels like a hot tub. And thesetourists actually watched the

video. Collectively, we had aspiritual event with these wildcreatures.

After several rolls of film Iremembered the advice about theside channel leading to the ThreeSisters Spring. This meantswimming against a strongcurrent as there were threesprings, each pumping out plentyof water every minute. Loadedwith camera gear, the only wayto fight this current was crawling

Camera: N-90S in AquaticaHousingLens: Nikon 17-35 F/2.8 @ 24mmSettings Shutter Priority @ f/5.6,200th secFilm: ProviaFLighting100% ambient light9:14am ESTAtmospheric conditions: Killer,patchy clouds, 9 degrees C

along the side using my freehand for grabbing anythingimmobile. I asked my self how/why these seemingly lethargiccreatures would make itupstream. Certain I was told acruel joke, I thought of the dockhand, laughing in his beer thatevening as he would tell thestory of this, yet another, stupidtourist that fell for the “swim upthe Sisters Spring” story. After20 meters the stream widened,the force of water abated, Ifeasted on a sight so rich invisual intensity I can almost tasteit today.

Gone was the greenishwater with 8 meter visibility and

Camera: N-90S in AquaticaHousingLens: Nikon 17-35 F/2.8 @ 24mmSettings Shutter Priority @ f/5.6,200th secFilm: ProviaFLighting: ambient light 10:15amEST plus Nikon SB 104 strobeset at 1/2 powerAtmospheric conditions: Killer,patchy clouds, 13 degrees C

UwP 28

Camera: N-90S in AquaticaHousing. Lens: Nikon 17-35 F/2.8 @ 24 mmSettings Shutter Priority @ f/2.8,200th sec. Film: ProviaFLighting: ambient light 9:00ESTplus Nikon SB 104 strobe set at1/2 powerAtmospheric conditions: Killer,patchy clouds, 8 degreesFahrenheit

dozens of mammals, human andotherwise. Here was a body ofwater recently filtered by theFlorida limestone resulting inbeautiful blue water withvisibility closer to 30 meters.And there was just three of usmammals. One mother, one calfand me. Always the gentlecreature, mom and calf swamover to me to investigate andafter a few moments went abouttheir way swimming from oneend of this large area to the other.Each time passing by me andallowing five or morephotographs. No need to chasethem, they’d be back. Thisdivine opportunity lasted for oneroll of film in each of the housedcamera and Nikonos. Back to themain channel and my yacht for areload and it was not hard to finda solitary manatee or a motherand calf that would want tointeract with a diverunderstanding the protocol ofmanatee interaction.

I used ProviaF on auto-exposure with my strobe set at 1/2 power. I hardly know how touse my camera in auto-exposuremode but it seemed to be theright choice as no depth was

greater than one meter. This is anambient light situation with theflash just adding a pop of light toease the shadows. My housedNikon was fitted with a 17-35mm zoom lens, a lens I hadnever tried in-water before. Thiswill be a standard rig for me inlieu of my fixed focal length20mm. The only issue I havewith the Aquatica is that you losethe focus control for the zoomfeature. In theory you can lockfocus by partially holding downthe shutter release but I foundthis dicey since there is a clearloss of control through thehousing shutter releasemechanism. You just don’t havethe same tactile and acousticresponse when you’ve got thecamera body in a metal box in-water. Add to that the fact that itis hard to detect a slight changeof focus in a lens that hasinherently a great depth of fieldand I found it easy to take aphotograph focused on thebackground and not realize ituntil the slides are on the lighttable. The close focusing of the17-35mm was a blessing, as

these critters would swim rightup to the dome port. I hadseveral encounters where ananimal would swim toward me,then actually past the camera tonuzzle my arm or chest. Oneeven slipped his forelimb undermy arm and pulled me aroundfor a short ride.

The manatees of CrystalRiver, Florida offer anexperience unique for the in-water photographer. Be advisedthere is no night life short of thebar at the hotel, almost no townshort of U.S. Route 19 (that and40 minutes will get you toTampa), and certainly no local E-6 processing. But what you willfind is an incredible experiencewith aquatic mammals that outweigh you by a factor of ten.Animals that if left to their owndevices, will leave you thinkingyou are an interesting speciesworthy of some regard. What afine feeling that is indeed.

John Bobeljohn@bobels.com

UwP 29

One of the leading shoredives in Australia is known asHalifax Park, in Nelson Bay justnorth of Sydney. A spectaculardive renowned for nudibranchsand other small marine life,Halifax Park is a macro photog-raphers dream.

During one memorable divethere, I was using my trustyNikonos V, with a 1:1 extensiontube set-up. Although I foundplenty of nudis, all were largerspecimens and more suited to a1:2 ratio! Typical.

One nudi in particular -Aphelodoris varia - was found inlarge numbers. Although verycommon in south-eastern Austra-lia, not many great photos havebeen taken of this generallyplain, brown slug. Typicallymeasuring 5-15cm, this nudi isclearly too big for the 1:1 exten-sion. That day I got a great photoof A. varia!

What made this photospecial was the fact that thesubject and the equipment I hadwere not compatible for thenormal nudi photo. Instead ofignoring the subject, I elected tochange my composition to focuson an alternative angle thatwould work. Composing thenudi front on, with the nudiseemingly lunging towards thecamera from the left side of theframe, not only gave a pleasingcomposition, but one that impliesaction - no mean feat for anudibranch photo!

This dive reinforced e animportant lesson of underwaterphotography - the ability to getpleasing photographs depends

The PLACEBO Principleof Underwater PhotographyBy Des Paroz

"Mandarin fish" at Tufi's "The Muck". Made using a housed NikonF80 and a 60mm macro lens with dual strobes and KodakEktachrome 100 Extra Colour

"Grey Nurse Shark" shot made at Magic Point off Sydney, Australia.Nikonos V, 20mm lens, dual strobes using Fuji Sensia 100

little on the environment andyour equipment, and far more onyour approach to how you set-upyour photos. Putting thought intothis key step is vital in increasing

the ratio of photos you keep tothose you throw away.

Underwater photography isa complex activity, with a lot ofsteps to remember in order to get

UwP 30

"Ned the Nudi" - shot ofAphelodoris varia made atHalifax Park, Australia using aNikonos V, 1:1 macro and asingle strobe on Fuji Velvia

the best shot possible. Experi-enced photographers make thesesteps instinctively, but for newerphotographers this can be aconfusing and task orientedactivity. To remember thesesteps, I have developed and use asimple mnemonic - PLACEBO.

The PLACEBO PrincipleMeaning control in an experi-mental situation, the word PLA-CEBO is not only easy to re-member, but it also impliesexactly what we're aiming toachieve. Each of the letters in theword PLACEBO represents akey step in the quest to get betterphotos. ·

P - Positioning: Choose thebest position for the photograph.In underwater applications, wegenerally get low, get close andwhere possible shoot upwards.Take into consideration not onlythe subject, but also the back-ground and negative space. ·

L - Lighting: Consider thelighting needed for a good result,including natural light andartificial (strobe) light, and thedesired lighting effect. Ensurethe strobes have recycled fully,are correctly aimed, and have thecorrect power settings. Consider

also the likely shadows ·A - Aperture & Shutter:

Confirm the right settings ofthese important exposure vari-ables ·

C - Compose and Focus:Compose the shot (consideringall elements covered in position-ing), and ensure correct focus. ·

E - Expose the Film: Thismeans make the photo! Remem-ber to be steady as you press theshutter button - too much move-ment could blur the photo. ·

B - Bracket, Bracket andBracket Again: Rarely will thefirst shot you make of a subjectbe the perfect one. Bracket forexposure (aperture and / orshutter), bracket for lightingeffects and bracket for composi-tion. You may find yourselfusing an entire roll of film on asingle subject in some circum-stances · O - Organise yourthoughts for the next subject sothat you have your plan in place.

Applying PLACEBO inYour Dives Newer underwaterphotographers may wonder howexperienced photographers canapply all of the above steps(regardless of whether or notthey use the term PLACEBO to

remember them) and stillmanage to capture the action.

While sometimes there is nochoice to snap off the action as itoccurs, generally underwaterphotographers will have thoughtbefore the dive about the particu-lar objective for the dive, andwill then search out appropriatesubject matter and backgroundsituations.

Instinctively they willconsider positioning andlighting, and more often thannot, Aperture and Shuttersettings will be pre-set to a likelycombination - even if they aren'tright it will be a quick change toget them so.

On most wide angle dives Ido, I know that with my particu-lar combination of lens, strobesand film, the correct settings fora subject at a camera-to-subjectdistance of 1m is an aperture off/8. Accordingly, before I sub-merge my aperture is set, and theshutter speed is set to 1/90th. AsI descend, I start to set thestrobes up for approximatetargeting for the 1m range.

One of my best shark shotswas captured by having thiscombination setup. When the

UwP 31

"Pink anemonefish" shot made atSouth Ema Reef off Walindi,PNG, using a Nikonos V, 1:2macro and single strobe usingFuji Velvia

"Reef Scenic" shot made atStewarts Reef off Tufi, PNG.Made using a Nikonos V, 20mmlens and dual strobes on KodakEktachrome 100 Extra Colour.

shark came swimming towardsme, I could position myself lowand wait, knowing that mysettings were optimal. Bracket-ing is a natural activity forunderwater photographers - itsimply isn't always feasible to goback to get the shot if it wasmissed.

On one occasion diving offWalindi in PNG, I was fortunateto find a Pink anemone fish in agreen coloured anemone. Seeingthat it quite playful, I positionedmyself on a good angle andsnapped off many shots, chang-ing positioning of the cameraand lighting often.

I took 32 shots of that fish,

and although many are good, onein particular has received goodfeedback. It was the 28th shot.

After we've finished withthat subject, its time to organiseour thoughts - we think about thenext subject we might look for,check our strobes and pre-set ouraperture and shutter settings onceagain for the most likely combi-nation.

The whole cycle starts overonce again.

PLACEBO is an easy toremember and useful mnemonic,one that can be used by thenovice photographer and themore experienced ones alike.

By carefully considering the

steps in PLACEBO, we are wellon the way to making goodphotos, not just taking snapshots.

Des Paroz

Des Paroz is a scuba diver andinstructor living in Sydney,

Australia. Working full time inthe IT industry, Des can be

seen most weekends aroundthe dive sites of Sydney,

camera in hand, with hispartner and favourite dive

buddy, Belinda.

Drop by Des' website atwww.bluebeyond.com.au.

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Whether you choose to takeyour photographs on temperateor tropical reefs there is aseemingly endless selection ofmarine fauna and flora to record.However, if you choose to diveonly during daylight hours youare likely to see only half thestory as many of the reef’s mostsecretive and some might saymost interesting creatures remainhidden until the sun goes down.Diving at night is an excitingexperience if only because itfeels slightly unnatural, but forthe photographer it opens up awhole new range of subjects.Although the prospect ofmanaging your cameraequipment in the dark may seema little daunting at first don’t letthis put you off as a judiciouschoice of equipment andtechniques can make the taskvery simple.

Firstly you need to considerhow you are going to find yoursubjects. Effective lighting isessential, although it is a mistaketo work on the principle of “themore light the better” at night inorder to light as large an area aspossible. Many night creaturesare extremely sensitive to lightand using wide beam powerfultorches is more likely to disturbthem before you have had thechance to spot them. The bestchoice for photographers are thesmall powerful narrow beamtorches which are available fromseveral manufacturers which areboth effective for searchingsmall areas and to illuminate justthe picture area. Somephotographers even advocateputting a red filter over the torch

Dark Thoughtsby Mark Webster

Red prawn - you will see the glint from the eyes of dozens of prawnsas your torch passes over the reef. They will often remain frozen inthe beam which will allow you to make several exposures. Featherstars are host to a variety of crustaceans and fish. Nikon F90X,105mm, Subal, Inon quad flash, Velvia, f11 @ 125th.

Porcelain crab - some crustaceans are very sensitive to light and willdisappear quickly if you play your torch on them for too long. Onceyou have spotted the subject pre-focus the camera on an adjacentfeature before moving in quickly for the shot. Feather stars are hostto a variety of crustaceans and fish. Nikon F90X, 105mm, Subal,YS120 & YS30, Velvia, f11 @ 60th.

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(similar to the lighting on thebridge of a ship at night) whichin theory will disturb the nightvision of your subjects less.

Choosing how to mountyour torches is also an importantconsideration as it is essential tokeep your hands free foroperating the camera. A popularmethod is to mount the torchdirectly over the lens either onthe accessory shoe or on the portitself on an adjustable ball jointor bracket so that any subjectdirectly in front of the camerawill be lit. This method isparticularly useful when usingprods or framers and the flashposition is largely fixed. Another

option, or perhaps in addition tothe fixed torch, is to attach thetorches to your flash guns. Thismethod is well suited to housedcamera systems, so that youknow that when you see yoursubject is lit through theviewfinder your flash gun is alsopointing in the right direction.This also makes hand held flashshots easier, which might beneeded for subjects in deepcrevices and will also allow youto direct the torch at the cameracontrols and displays. It isimportant to try variouscombinations to discover what ismost comfortable for you, yourequipment and preferred

techniques. Whichever methodyou finally choose remember toalways carry at least one sparetorch and perhaps a strobeflasher - torches flood andbatteries run down and you mayneed these to signal to yoursurface cover at the end of thedive

Many night creature arequite small and given that yourvision is limited to the breadthand depth of your torch beamyou will find that aiming to takephotographs in the close up andmacro range will be mostproductive. It is not impossibleto use a wide angle lens at night,as there are certainly larger

Strawberry corals - most coralpolyps remain hidden during theday. Strawberry corals make anideal extension tube shot, but arevery light sensitive. Nikonos III,1:3 tube, Kodachrome 64, f22 @60th.

Sleeping puffer - barrel spongesare a perfect hiding place forseveral species of fish at night.Sharp nosed puffer fish inparticular seem to prefersponges at bedtime. Nikon F90X,105mm, Subal, Inon quad flash,Velvia, f11 @ 125th.

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predators around but you will rarely see themexcept perhaps fleetingly. Unless you have aspecific wide angle subject to record you are likelyto end your dive frustrated and wish that you hadopted for close up equipment.

For Nikonos or Sea and Sea users the choiceis between one of the available supplementaryclose up lenses or a set of extension tubes whichwill allow you to take extreme close ups orconcentrate on macro life. Framers or prods areused to indicate the focused distance and picturearea, but these can be a drawback in somecircumstances when subjects (such as sleepingfish) are found in cracks and crevices. For thesecircumstances you can try removing the frame/prods and measure the distance with a separatesingle prod or by using converging focusing lights.To mount these either fabricate a bracket yourselffor two small spotting torches (Mitylite or similar)

or buy one of the commercially available rigs.Either way, the operating principle is the same - thetorches are set to converge at the correct focuseddistance for your lens, and when the two beamsmeet as a single spot on your subject you know it isin focus and take the shot.

For housed SLR users the choice will be amacro lens in the 50mm to 105mm range orperhaps a zoom lens in the 24-100mm range whichhas a close up or macro setting. Auto focuscameras will work well provided there is enoughlight and it is directed at the main subject. Strongcontrasts or deep shadows cast by the edges ofrocks and crevices can upset the older systems andyou may need to resort to auto focus lock or switchto manual focusing. Having your torch mounted onthe flash gun, as described above, will help a greatdeal in these situations allowing you to light thesubject more directly.

Sleeping blenny - soft corals are a good place tofind the smaller reef species sleeping and canprovide a contrasting background to the mainsubject. Nikon F90X, 105mm, Subal, YS120 &YS30, Velvia, f11 @ 60th.

Parrot fish teeth - sleeping fish give you theopportunity to concentrate on feature which are allbut impossible to photography during the day.Nikon F90X, 105mm, Subal, Inon quad flash,Velvia, f11 @ 125th.

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Sleeping chromis - species which are difficult toapproach during the day are a cinch at night whenthey remain frozen in your torch beam. NikonF90X, 105mm, Subal, Inon quad flash, Velvia, f11@ 125th.

TTL flash works well at night as the subjectsgenerally fill the frame and there is no natural lightto upset the exposure - your torches will have noeffect. Manual guns are well suited to macro or theclose up kits for the Nikonos or Sea and Seacameras when the flash position is fixed. Tryrunning a test film to determine the optimumaperture and then simply bracket around thissetting.

Some nocturnal fish and invertebrates aremesmerised by the torch light and will freeze whencaught in the beam. This makes them particularlyeasy to approach, set up the camera, focus and takethe shot. However, many night feeding corals,anemones and invertebrates are very sensitive tolight and will retract quickly if a light is directed atthem for too long. For these subjects it is best to tryto spot them and then take the torch beam off the

subject whilst you prepare for the shot. It can helpto pre-focus on an adjacent piece of rock or coraland then pan onto the subject for final compositionand take the shot before it has time to react.

Sleeping fish are often encountered - wrassefor instance in temperate waters and parrot fish inthe tropics - but are often well protected by thecrevice they have chosen. Other species which hidefrom you during the day will pose happily at night- squat lobsters, decorator crabs, coral andporcelain crabs are all much more approachable.Your torch beam will reveal those tell tale specksof light reflected from the eyes of prawns, lobsters,crabs and even octopuses. Many will pose happilyas long as the torch beam is on them, but will bequickly gone once it leaves them. Whenphotographing a subject in a hole or crevice, pay

Lion fish eating a banded shrimp - some fish arespecialised nocturnal hunters. This lion fishsurprised me when he launched himself at mysubject, a banded shrimp, and promptly ate it!Nikon F90X, 105mm, Subal, YS120 & YS30, Velvia,f11 @ 60th.

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attention to the position of yourflash, as although your torch maybe illuminating the subject thebeam of the flash can easily beobstructed by rock or coral andcan cast a dense shadow overpart or all of your image.

In addition to small macrocreatures, try looking for abstractcolours, patterns and boldcontrasts which are often foundin the polyps of night feedingcorals, sea urchins, anemonesand sleeping fish. You can thenfill the frame with only thepattern which produce strikingphotographs. But remember it isnot environmentally friendly totouch or damage the delicatepolyps and coral structures ordistress the fish when usingprods or framers.

It is all too easy to shoot 36frames quickly on a night dive,but try to leave a few frames forthe end of your dive, especiallyin tropical waters, as the surfacelighting from your boat willoften attract squid and garfishlooking for an easy meal. Theywill generally drift around theedge of the pool of light but will

often remain immobile when atorch is directed at their eyes.

Although safe divingpractices advocate the buddysystem many photographersmake poor partners or theyprefer to dive solo. At night yourattention will be mostly focusedon what is within the torch beamand it becomes even moredifficult to maintain contact witha buddy. Even if you do dive as apair it is wise to recognise thatyou may well part, intentionallyor otherwise, and you shouldplan for separate ascents andreturn to the boat, shot or beach.A boat will normally be well litfor your return, but shot linesand dark beaches should also beequipped with a flasher orconstant light source to aidnavigation. It is also wise toagree with the beach or boatcover and your fellow divers amaximum duration of the dive sothat there is adequate warning ofanyone losing their way back orbeing caught by unexpectedcurrents.

Night photography issimple and enjoyable as long as

Twin spotdwarf lion fish- there areseveral speciesof lion fish thatyou will onlysee at night.They don’t likethe attention ofa torch, so youhave to workquickly oncethey arespotted. NikonF90X, 105mm,Subal, Inonquad flash,Velvia, f11 @125th.

you keep your equipment,techniques and objectivessimple. It is often difficult todrag yourself away from a warmsaloon and cold beer at the endof a long day of diving, but ifyou can tempt yourself once youwill keep coming back for more.

Mark Webster

Mark Webster hostsunderwater photography

workshops aboard the MYCoral Queen and in Indonesia.

He is also the author of ‘TheArt and Technique of

Underwater Photography’published by Fountain Press.

See Mark’s website forfurther details:

www.photec.co.uk

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The advent of the NikonCoolpix 5000 digital stillscamera marked a watershedchange from conventional film todigital photography and now,with the arrival of the Subal CP5housing that same watershednow applies to underwaterphotography.

The Nikon Coolpix 5000camera

The reason why theappearance of the Coolpix 5000is so important is that it providesa fully featured camera whichcan be operated totally inautomatic mode withprogramme, shutter or aperturepriorities or fully manual withcontrol over shutter speed andaperture. This places it one stepup from the “point and shoot”digital cameras such as theexcellent Olympus rangecomplimented by the PT rangeof underwater housings.

The 5000 is not in thesame league as the Nikon D1type digital SLR cameras but, ataround £850 it is a fraction of the

cost of these SLR cameras whichis around £4000!

The final plus factor isthe availability of two accessorylenses -the FC-E8 fisheyeadaptor and the WC-E68 wideangle adaptor. The formerprovides either a circular fisheyepicture when the camera iszoomed out or a full framefisheye (like the 16mm Nikkoron a conventional SLR) when itis zoomed in. The latter increasesthe focal length by x.68converting it to the 35mm SLRequivalent of a 19-60mm zoomwith full macro capability. It’seasy to see why such versatilityis attractive especially when thelenses are only around the £200mark.

The first impressions ofthe 5000 camera is that it is sosmall and light, weighing in ataround 500gms yet is bristlingwith buttons and wheels whichwill force you to read theinstruction manual to find outwhat they all do! Most of thecontrols are menu driven so youwill have to sit down with aCoolpix 5000 for some time to

familiarise youself with all of it’sfeatures.

From an underwaterpoint of view a big attraction ofthe 5000 is the fold out LCDscreen which can be placed at45° for the ideal viewingposition and Subal’s CP5housing takes full advantage ofthis allowing you to choosebetween the 45° angle or thefully folded back position wherethe screen is directly behind thecamera. I’ll discuss the CP5housing later.

Another attractive featureof the 5000 is the ability totrigger external TTL flashgunssuch as their SB land range andalso the Nikonos TTL flashgunswhich are used with Nikonos andhoused Nikon land cameras. Istruggled to get the TTL to workinitially scrolling through menusto change settings but then itstarted to click and the cameragave excellent TTL performanceonce I had adjusted to tounderexpose by one stop as theinitial results were too bright.The camera detects the TTLflash when it is plugged into the

Subal CP5 housing for Nikon Coolpix 5000A review by Peter Rowlands

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hotshoe once you have set thecamera to “Seedlight Control” -“Auto” in the camera’s set upmenu.

The camera can be set upwith no fewer than four sets ofuser settings which makes iteasier to switch from one modeto another without having to setthe camera up again. As usualwith all such complicated andcapable cameras, I ended upusing just one set of settings forautomatic exposures on land and,funnily enough, underwater, Iactually preferred to use themanual setting - adjusting theaperture and shutter speed toachieve the desired result. Thismay seem a little odd not usingthe cameras automatic functionsbut when you can see yourresults instantly it is easy tomake any neccessary changesand then take another shot.

A good example of thisactually blew me awayunderwater when I was shootingbalanced light shots. For the firsttime I could see instantly howthe shutter speed controlled the

background exposure and theaperture controlled theforeground exposure from theflash. Anyone who has haddifficulty in the past with thistechnique will see instantly what

The shot above was taken by available light using the manual whitebalance setting which can add red to compensate for waters strongblue cast.The camera is a snug fit with the camera secured on a baseplatewhich slides into the front. The LCD screen can be used tilted at 45°as shown here and also folded back behind the camera but the 45°position is by far the most comfortable

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controls what and have youproducing superb balanced lightshots in no time at all.Groundbreaking stuff indeed.

Yet another capability ofthe camera is the ability tomanually set the white balance.This is not possible withconventional cameras withoutadding filters but the 5000 can be“manually white balanced”underwater and it will add redcolour to compensate for theexcess blue cast. This has alwaysbeen available to video userswith great success but it can nowbe used with still cameras suchas the 5000. I have yet to explorethe full capabilities of thecameras white balancing butinitial trials give good colour

correction down to about 30 feet.The process is a bit fiddly havingto go through menus and set thebalance but it well worthmastering as this function alonewill improve the quality of yourunderwater shots significantly.

The battery life of digitalstills cameras has always beendisappointing but the 5000 isbetter than most giving a good90 minutes before needing to berecharged. This may not seemmuch but it’s plenty enough for afull dive but I would stronglyadvise the purchase of a secondbattery to be charging while youuse the first one. That way ifthere is some exciting actionhappening you can quicklychange batteries and get back in

the water.The 5000 comes with a

32mb memory card which willhold about 25 good qualityimages but I would recommendbuying a larger card such as 128or 256mb which would hold wellover 100 images. That may seema bit excessive if you have beenused to the conventional 36 shotson 35mm film but, in practice, itwas not unusual for me to finishan hours dive having taken over50 shots! Always remember youcan sort out the good shots onceyou get back to the boat or onshore because, once you havegone digital, your “film” costsyou absolutely nothing.

That last point leads meto the final difference between

Subals port was not available for either the FC-E8 fisheye adaptor and the WC-E68 wide angle adaptorbut I made one for my Red Sea trip. This was taken with the FC-E8 fullframe fisheye. These two lensesshould be considered as essential accessories if you are to get the best out of the system.

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conventional and digital stillsand that is that you really need tothink of a digital stills as asystem which includes a laptopcomputer to download and saveyour shots after every dive. Ifyou don’t have one you wouldneed to consider purchasingextra memory cards which is abit excessive. As a long time fanof laptops, I already have one(Apple Mac, of course!) and Iconsider it as a vital part of thesystem. Add the advantage ofbeing able to watch DVDs andlisten to my music cataloguestored on the hard disk and Ihave the ideal travellingcompanion.

The final, vital, piece ofequipment in my digital stillsoutfit has to be the excellent

Pelican laptop computer casewhich is O ring sealed andwaterproof. It keeps the laptopsafe and dry and the advantageof such a case was drilled hometo me as I tried to wade out to atransfer boat in the dark on anuneven seabed with my laptop ina conventional non-waterproofbriefcase. One slip of the feetand the case would have beenunderwater and the trip wouldhave been a total write-off.Those who were there at the timewere amused to hear me lose myrag in a very British sort of away but the thought of losing alaptop was more than I couldcontemplate so I consider thePelican case as an absoulteessential.

In terms of image quality,

the 5000 can be used a variousresolutions but the ideal one forme was the “Fine” setting whichproduces images around 1.5mband these can be used to printgood quality photo qualityimages well in excess of A4 sizebut not quite A3 and that wasmore than enough for mypurposes. The quality andsmoothness of the prints is verypleasing - even just on economicphoto quality inkjet paper. Iimagine they will look stunningon the more expensive GlossyPhoto paper.

The final differencebetween the 5000 andconventional stills cameras is theshutter delay. This is aneccessary evil one has to put upwith and is only solved by

Another available light using manual white balance and the standard lens. I doubt if you could get suchcolours with conventional film. Digital stills cameras are similar to video in their colour capabilities.

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buying the Nikon D1 type SLRdigital stills cameras for around£4000 (before you buy ahousing!). The reason for thedelay is to give the camera timeto set the autofocus and exposuresettings and it makes fishphotography feel like you havebecome a spearfisherman allover again - trying to anticipatewhere it will be in about oneseconds time. In practice it’sactually quite fun having thedelay and it seems to put a bit of“sport” back into underwaterphotography. No doubt, in time,the shutter delay will becomeinstant as these cameras aredeveloped but I am happy toaccept the limitations for the

time being.In conclusion, the only

way to appreciate the digitalstills “experience” is to try it. Ona recent trip I loaned my pointand shoot housed Olympus C1 toa fellow underwaterphotographer who wassnorkelling and he producedsome excellent results but whatreally knocked him out was theability to see the results straightaway on a computer screen. Theresult is that he has been bittenby the digital “revelation” so, bewarned, if you want to stick toconventional photography don’t,whatever you do, try digital. Itwill blow your mind.

The Subal CP5 housing for theNikon Coolpix 5000

As I said at the beginningof this article, I believe the SubalCP5 is a significant contributorto this watershed in underwaterphotography. There are otherhousings available, which I havenot tried, but from what I haveseen from their specificationsand pictures of them is that theyall, to my knowledge, lack theability to take advantage of theswivelling LCD screen and thisis a major difficiency.

The Subal CP5 weighsjust 2.2kg and is machined froma solid block of aluminium. Addthe camera at 0.5kg and you

The 5000 offers TTL flash metering which works well but, strangely enough, I found myself prefering themanual power settings of the Inon Z220 as I could see the results straightaway and make any adjustmentsbefore taking the next shot. What a luxury!

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have a system which can travelwith you as hand luggage withweight to spare. That in itself is amajor breakthrough.

There are no fewer than23 push button and dial controlswhich give you total control ofthe cameras functions whicheverposition you have the LCDscreen in. The positioning of thecamera is extremely precise froma screw-in base tray which slotsinto two accurate guide posts inthe front of the housing. Thepositioning and rigidity is veryimportant as the camera controlbuttons and dials are small butthe Subal CP5 makes controllingthe camera extremely easy and Iwould go so far as to say that itis easier to operate the camera

underwater than it is on land -and that is someting I have neversaid before.

Underwater the CP5 isneutrally buoyant with thestandard lens and flat port andthe right hand strap handlepositions your hand perfectly foraccess to the main controls. It iseasy to change to anotherfunction mode despite having tohold down a button and turn awheel at the same time and theshutter release button is sosensitive you can feel the cameraand get it to a halfway positionwhich sets the focus andexposure before you finally takethe picture. This significantlyreduces the shutter delay andwhich is a major advantage.

Subals’ wide angle portsfor the fisheye and wide angleadaptors weren’t available whenI tested my housing in the RedSea so I hastily made up anextension ring to fit their DP64bdome port and this producedsome excellent results. I wouldgo so far as to say that the WC-E68 wide angle adaptor produceseven sharper results than thestandard lens and the FC-E8fisheye adaptor is similaralthough I have not had a chanceto use Subals’ specific ports. Bythe end of a week long test theWC-E68 became the lens ofchoice for almost all shotschanging only to the FC-E8 forwreck shots and the standardlens for really close up shots.

There are no fewer than 23 pushbutton and dial controls whichgive you total control of thecameras functions. The straphandle on the left positions yourhand to get easy access to mostof these

The 45° viewing option is apleasure to use, espceially forthose low angle shots which haveimproved impact.The screen is quite small butentirely adequate but I diddecide to get some lenses in mymask as my close focus eyesightis not what it used to be!

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The most impressivefeature of the CP5 is the 45°viewing on the LCD screen. Thismakes seabed level shots abreeze and the position of thehousing in relation to your bodyis very natural and does notproduce any wrist strain whichwould be the case with thebehind the camera viewing. Ican’t imagine using the LCDscreen in any other way than the45° option. The only exceptionwould be if you want to shoot alot of verticals - in which casethe behind the camera set upwould be better.

The CP5 is fitted with astandard flash arm shoe but thiscould be replaced with anUltralight base shoe which

would open it up to a much moreversatile arm system. As far asI’m concerned the soonerhousing manufacturersstandardise on Ultralight armsthe sooner they can allconcentrate on housing designand accept that Ultralight is thebest arm system on the market.

I used the CP5 with theInon Z220 digital strobe and theYS30 but I found the manualcontrols available on the Z220 tobe ideal as I liked to use the5000/CP5 combo in manualexposure mode because it was soquick and easy to changeexposure if the previous shotwasn’t quite right. I know itseems weird in this day and ageof electronic automation to

prefer using manual but I felt itgave me much more control overthe eventual image. Theautomatic modes work extremelywell for both available light andTTL flash so this system will suitalmost anyones requirements.

The build quality anddesign have Subal’s traditionalfeel providing a housing which isboth functional yet warm (astrange word to describe ahousing but it’s true) and thecombination of the camera’scapabilities and versatility withthe housings ergonomic designmake this duo a team to bereckoned with.

The basic camera costsaround £850 and the CP5housing is £1499 so you are

This low level shot would have been very difficult had it not been for the 45° viewfinder screen. Theadditional light was from the Z220 flash on manual but don’t ask me whch power as it has no fewer than11 (yes eleven) settings!

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looking at a significantinvestment. It’s certainly a bigstep up from an Olympus digitalpoint and shoot but it doesprovide so much more. I can’thelp you decide whether it’sworth jumping into this level ofdigital photography - all I cansay is that I’m hooked andenjoying it very much.

The Subal CP5 housingis available from Ocean Opticsbut supplies are expected tooutstrip demand for a while. TheNikon Coolpix 5000 is availablefrom most good camera storesbut I would recommend LondonCamera Exchange in London’sStrand with whom Ocean Opticshave a good relationship foradvice and prices.

Rather like videocameras when they weredeveloping rapidly, the cameraprices will fall as newer models

come to the market but I believethe Coolpix 5000 and CP5combination is one which willprovide the quality of imageswhich will keep me happy for along time to come.

One thing’s for sure. I don’t

think underwater stillsphotography will ever be thesame again. Enjoy and have anice dive.

Peter Rowlandspeter@uwpmag.co.uk

13 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AQTel 0207 930 8408 Fax 0207 839 6148

Web sitehttp://www.oceanoptics.co.uk

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Subtronic. Simply awesome.

Ocean Optics

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The year is 1984,and while the worldworries whether "BigBrother is watching", Iam splashing aboutfilling my first rolls offilm with the out offocus underwaterscenery that wascommonplace in thosedays. Meanwhile, eventsof far more consequenceto the world ofunderwater photographyare occurring: Nikon areintroducing the NikonosV. The Nikonos V wasmore than an evolutionof the IVa it replaced; itwas a technologicalrevolution. Most notablythe Nikonos V madeThrough-The-Lens(TTL) flash meteringavailable to all us proles!

Eighteen years onand TTL works well. Sowell in fact, that we arethat we are inclined toforget there is anotherway to use a flash. I am,perhaps, the worstculprit; indeed my currentSubtronic strobes have neverbeen set on anything other thanTTL since they were new.

Imagine then my horrorwhen I started using myHasselblad underwater anddiscovered that, with a camerathat lacks electronics, TTLmetering was no longer anoption! Although at first Ithought I had been dispatched toRoom 101, in retrospect beingforced to switch my flashgun tothe previously dreaded manualpowers, not only freed several

How well do you know your flashgun?by Alexander Mustard

species of incrusting marine life,but also liberated mephotographically.

With a bit of dedication, Iwas able to produce bothcorrectly exposed pictures andcontrol artificial light levels atwill. Was I in danger ofbecoming a better photographer?This article is about makingfriends with your flash, or inmore Orwellian language,becoming fluent in strobespeak.

The most importantquestion to ask your flashgun is

how powerful it is. Although thisis a straightforward question, aswe ask about we will find thatwe are offered several answers.Choosing the right one is thedifference between success andfailure. But more about that in aminute.

Photographers typicallyquantify the power of a flashgunin terms of the requirements for acorrect exposure. The resultingvalue is the Guide Number, or ifyou want to impress your friendsthe GN. Two factors control the

Lionfish, the Alternatives, Red Sea. Hasselblad 500C/M with Zeiss 80mm and0.5 Proxar close-up lens. Sea and Sea YS 120 flash on FULL power. 1/250th @f11 on Fuji Velvia. Even though the lionfish was shot at the same distance asthe pool shots, the best exposure was at f11, because of the lack of reflection ofthe flash light in the sea compared with the pool.

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their websites. So we can usethis information to get correctexposures, right? Well no,actually! First of all mostpublished GNs are determinedon land and secondmanufacturers are undulyoptimistic about their progeny! Itseems to me that manymanufacturers have calculatedtheir GNs on a "typicalreflectivity" scene such as apolar bear drinking a glass ofmilk in the snow! A good rule ofthumb is to overexpose themanufacture's land guide numberby two stops underwater.However, if we want to really getto know our flash properly weshould bite the bullet, or at leastthe mouthpiece, and get it intothe water and find out a bit aboutit for ourselves.

Now the most accurateplace to calibrate a flash is in theenvironment that we plan to useit. Easy! I wanted to use myHasselblad to photographlionfish in the Red Sea. So all Ihad to do was hop on a plane toSharm do my calibration shotsand then I would be ready for myholiday to the Red SeaSˇ aaah.So for practical reasons we areoften forced to do our calibrationin more accessible water - thelocal pool.

Unfortunately swimmingpools are not an idealrepresentation of the Red Sea! Ifwe were to specify conditionsthat would falsely elevate theamount to light reaching asubject from a flash, two of thecriteria would be a small body ofwater and reflective walls. Apretty accurate description of apool! But nonetheless they areoften the best option for gettingintimate with our strobes. Theprocedure is pretty simple: firstfind a subject of average

An example of a calibration film,Southampton, UK. Hasselblad500C/M with Zeiss 80mm and0.5 Proxar close-up lens. Seaand Sea YS 120 flash on FULLpower. All exposures at 1/250thon Fuji Velvia. Apertures fromtop f8, f11, f16, f22, with f16producing the best exposure.

amount of light seen by acamera, when a flashgunilluminates a subject. The first isthe distance between theflashgun and the subject and thesecond is the aperture set on thelens. (The duration of a flash isinsignificantly short (about 1/10000th sec) for the exposuretime to have any effect on flashexposure, once it is below theflash synchronisation speed.)The GN is simply the product ofthe distance and the lensaperture.

I think that it is easiest wayto understand guide numberswith an example: my flash givesa correct exposure at 10 feet withmy lens at f8, so the GN is 80(8x10). Now the attentive amongyou will have noticed that thereare two problems with thatstatement. First, the amount oflight needed for a correctexposure will also depend on thespeed (light sensitivity) of thefilm stock. And so, a GN shouldalways be quoted with a filmspeed (usually, but notnecessarily, 100 ISO/ASA). Thesecond problem is one of units:what if I had measured the flashto subject distance in meters? 10feet is about 3 metres so myflash also has a GN of 24 (3x8)!Of course, I should have statedoriginally that the GN of myflash was 80 (feet) at ISO 100.

Once we have the GN wecan use it to calculate exposures.To determine the correct apertureat a given distance, we simplydivide the GN by the distance: at3.5 feet my flash requires anaperture of f22 (80/3.5), while at20 feet in needs an aperture off4.

Nearly all flashmanufacturers publish GNs intheir instruction manuals,specification sheets and/or on

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reflectivity, place it in the pool as far from thesurface, walls and floor as possible, and snapaway at it from different distances. At eachdistance shoot at a range of apertures (themanufacturer's GN is a useful guide here) andkeep notes! The processed film will thenreveal the correct aperture for each distanceand let us calculate the GN. But do we reallywant the GN?

Here is the final twist to the tale: guidenumber theory was developed on land andunderwater there is an important difference.In air, light attenuation is not significant overflash photography distances and its effect onthe GN can be ignored. Underwater, light isabsorbed and scattered much more rapidly and theGN will reduce with distance from the camera asthe light attenuates! In practice, attenuation is not aproblem with distances of less than a metre, but ifwe commonly shoot through at least a metre ofwater then an exposure table will be more helpfulthan a GN.

In air an exposure table is simply a long handGN - a table with the correct apertures calculatedand written out for different shooting distances.This may sound like Doublethink, but anunderwater exposure table is not just a longhandGN. If we test out our flash at each distance in theUW exposure table, the table will automaticallycompensate for light attenuation. Tables are alsoeasier to use than stumbling through GN arithmeticwhile under pressure!

The most important point to remember aboutexposure tables and GNs is that they are onlyGUIDES (the clue is in the name). Pool GNs andtables will usually cause an underexposure of abouta stop in the sea. But by keeping notes as we shootin the field we can continue to refine ourexposures. Another factor is that underwatersubjects are not all of average reflectivity! Thedifference in flash reflectivity between a silverybarracuda and a light sucking black grouper can bea couple of stops or more. The bottom line is thatour exposures still need to be bracketed. When I

The Hasselblad and Alex. Photo by Giles Shaxted.Olympus 3040 in Light and Motion Tetra 3030housing. SB 105 flash.

first tried bracketing it seemed like an incrediblewaste of film and time, but each time I get theexposure I wanted on one of the bracketed shots,my addiction grows!

Making friends with my flashgun has not onlybeen a benefit with manual settings, but it has alsohelped me get the most out of TTL. TTL is still myweapon of choice most of the time, but getting toknow my strobe has liberated me from towing theTTL Party line and let me go my own way when Iwant to. Now that's what I call photographicfreedom.

Alexander Mustard

I would also like to thank, my friend, DanMayor for his help with the flash calibration.

Alex is a speaker at this year'sVisions in the Sea conference,

on 16th/17th November, Imperial College,London. Contact Ocean Optics for more details.

Visions in the Sea 2002November 16/17th 2002

Make sure you don’t miss out on this years best underwater photography conference.See page 48 for full details and page 55 for a booking form

UwP 48

I ordered the video and it arrived last Monday. I've only had a chance to view it today. I wasso profoundly moved (and I am a hard bitten first world war historian) that I had to email you.I was impressed with virtually all aspects. I thought the balance between interviewees, divingfootage and historical context was spot on. This is something not always achieved indocumentaries - I know because I used to make them. The interviews with the survivors threwthe whole affair into stark relief. I cannot praise this video highly enough. And I thank you foryour web site.

Warm regardsPamela Armstrong12/1/02

HMS Royal Oak video

The wreck of HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow is a designated war grave and alldiving is prohibited but in 2000 a special permission was granted for the wreck to be filmedas a moving tribute to all those who lost their lives.

This new professionally produced 50 minute video includes underwater images ofthe wreck which have never been seen before and there are interviews with survivors andOrcadian Sandy Robertson who was the first diver to go on the wreck the day after shesank. Also included is coverage of another unique event when the ashes of DorothyGolding, wife of Bandsman Arthur Golding, who went down with the ship, were taken downby her grandson, Christopher Kilford, and placed in the wreck to reunite the couple.

The finale is the unfurling of a battle ensign on the upturned hull by a Royal Navydiver on the anniversary of her sinking and the final credits include the names of all thosewho died in the tradgedy.

Running time 50 minutes. Narrated by Tom Fleming. Produced by Ocean OpticsLtd. Directed by Peter Rowlands

The video costs £16.95 (+£2.50 UK postage). Total £19.45. Please send chequespayable to Peter Rowlands and send them to: Royal Oak Video, 13 Langley Avenue,Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6QN. Credit card tel & fax 020 8399 5709

http://www.hmsroyaloak.co.uk

“a workmanlike, professionalproduction, and worth viewing”

John Bantin, Diver magazine

UwP 49

Visions in the Sea 2002A highly talented cast of internationally renowned underwater

photographers and cameramen make up the bill for the sixth annualtwo-day conference, Visions in the Sea at Imperial College, SouthLondon on the weekend of November 16/17.

They and their fellow speakers will be sharing the secrets of theirsuccess with the delegates at this popular and established event stagedannually by Ocean Optics, the specialist suppliers of underwaterphotographic equipment who are based in central London.

Several of the speakers first trained as professional photographersand gained experience in the photographic industry before turning theirfull attention to underwater photography so they have special skills andknowledge to share.

The speakers will be Kurt Amsler, Gavin Newman, Tony White,Alex Mustard, John Collins, Kevin Capon, Mark Walker and GeorgetteDouwma.In addition there will be short talks by Andrew Pugsley andhopefully Wild Insight.

As well as the speakers, Paul Kay and Linda Dunk will be onhand to review your slides.

The highlightof the weekendmust be An eveningwith Peter Scoonesfollowed by thechance to havedinner with thespeakers.

UwP 50

The photographers are:

Kurt Amsler

Swiss-born photographerKurt Amsler, author of manyquality books and articles ondiving and underwaterphotography will speak each day.So competitive and specialist isthe medium of underwaterphotography that only a smallhandful of people manage tomake a full time income from it.

Kurt is one of the very fewto achieve this status. Thousandsof hours have been spentunderwater to produce aweinspiring images. This in turnkeeps Kurt one step ahead of thecompetition. To help facilitatethis drive he takes time outbetween assignments to teachpeople his own hard- earnedskills.

Delegates from Visions2000 were gifted some of these‘tricks of the trade’. With twosessions allocated this year thiswill allow more time to get theinformation hammered across. Apassionate campaigner for theprotection of turtles, Kurt willdescribe techniques to takepictures without harming themarine environment and alsorecount some of his recentphotographic assignments.

Gavin Newman

Intrepid cave diver andaction photographer GavinNewman learned to dive at theage of 18 and took up caving asan interest. Working as a cavelighting specialist on severaltelevision films prompted amove towards film and videowork, which now constitutes toup 75% of his current work.

Pushing the envelope toobtain stunning images from thedark bowels of the earth requiresGavin to modify or designequipment for particular jobs. Amajor part of this work over thelast couple of years has been forthe environmental groupGreenpeace which has led to awhole range of new adventuresincluding diving on Nuclearwaste pipelines, camping on thefrozen arctic sea ice and chasingpirate fishing vessels across thesouthern ocean.

Tony White

Tony White was trained as aland photographer in the RoyalNavy some 27 years ago. His jobtook him around the worldcovering many diverse aspects ofphotography from highly criticalengineering work, aerial and PR.He left the Royal Navy 18 yearsago to pursue a career incommercial and industrialphotography which he did for afurther four years.

14 years ago he left thephotographic industry to start anew career within the printindustry, involved heavily withFuji Graphics supporting variousprint related companies at atechnical level. He nowcontributes to major nature anddive magazines worldwideincluding the BBC WildlifeMagazine, and Nature’s Best inthe USA. His initial decision toconcentrate on the more unusualdive locations around the worldhas paid off not only in articles,but the diversity of tours andworkshops he now offers.

His company Sea ofDreams Ltd is now the biggestprovider of underwater images tothe public Aquarium Industry inthe UK and this is now beingextended abroad. He has wonnumerous awards both at homeand internationally including agold medal at Image 2001, andIst prize in the prestigiousAfrican Wildlife awards 2001.

Visions in the Sea 2002

UwP 51

Alex Mustard

Marine biologist AlexMustard is one of the mostimaginative and creativephotographers in the water today.He is no newcomer, taking hisfirst pictures in the sea at the ageof nine. What sets Alex apartfrom his photographic peers isthat he has a PhD and works as amarine biologist at SouthamptonOceanography Centre, givinghim a much better understandingof the subjects he photographs.His approach to underwaterphotography is stronglyinfluenced by his scientificbackground. Concentrating oncoral reefs, he strives to produceimages that are informativeabout the goings on of thecommunity. Recently, he has hadarticles and/or pictures publishedin Amateur Photographer, Diver,Dive, The Sunday Times ,Oceans Illustrated , UnderwaterPhotography Magazine, theBritish Society of UnderwaterPhotographer’s In Focus, andWhat’s Hot Magazine (GrandCayman). He won BSoUP’s bestshot of 2001and that same yearwon a round of the AmateurPhotographer of the Yearcompetition, and received a goldmedal. He has already won theWrecks Online Competition for2002. He will reveal the ideasand background to some of hislatest experimental work andencourage his audience to bemore adventurous with their ownshots.

John Collins

Irish photographer JohnCollins, who works mostly in theemerald green waterssurrounding his homeland, willexplain how he tackles theproblems of obtaining eye-catching shots in low visibility.Since 1990 John has providedphotostories for Sport Diver,Diver, Scuba World, Sub Sea andDive International along withproviding features to moregeneral publications. John is oneof the most experienced low viz,low light photographers andpromises a presentation that willprovide you with skills you cantake away from Visions andapply in your own challengingconditions. He is particularlywell qualified having taken thefirst ever images of U260 whichsank off Cork and lies in simplyappaling conditions. He’ll showyou that you don’t have to packup and go home just because theviz is low. John will alsoshowcase his work withmonochrome, a much neglectedaspect of underwaterphotography. When theconditions are against you John’stips will enable you to exploit thepossibilities to the max.

Kevin Capon

Media Ops photographerKevin Capon travels the worldcapturing images of the ArmedForces at work and at play.Underwater he specialises inshooting wide angle vistas andhe is an exponent of usingmanual flash settings to subtlylight his subjects. As a full timeprofessional photographer whoseassignments range from coveringthe Army’s work on the foot andmouth crisis to joint servicesexpeditions exploring the wrecksof Bikini, you can be sure Kevinwill provide a fascinatingglimpse of what it takes to carryoff exacting military briefs timeand again. Expect Kevin to offera more disciplined and creativeway to getting pictures that sell.

Mark Walker

Mark Walker started divingin 1989 and a few years later in1994 became obsessed with theart of underwater (u/w)photography. Mark has travelledto many of the worlds top divingdestinations over the past 12years. During his travels he hasbuilt up an extensivephotographic library of qualityimages. Having only recentlydecided to enter into the world ofinternational photographiccompetition Mark has won 6medals at the “DIVER” IMAGE

UwP 52

2001, plus a special BSoUPaward for the most promisingunderwater photographer of thefestival. Mark has had hisarticles and photographspublished in various diving andphotography magazines and hasgiven lectures and slidepresentations to diving andphotographic groups in the UK.Mark is particularly keen on theartistic appeal of his work and isalways experimenting with newtechniques and ideas. This is tosure inspire delegates with thevariety and originality of hisimages.

Georgette Douwma

In addition, there will be a“live” demonstration of thewonders of Photoshop, the imagemanipulation computer software,by Georgette Douwma, who isparticularly adept at exploitingthe benefits of this widely usedprogramme to enhance hernatural history images and tocreate ones with even greaterimpact. Georgette is one of theUnited Kingdoms mostsuccessful underwaterphotographers. Her work ismarketed internationally and asstills photographer and partner to“Blue Planet” cameraman PeterScoones her life as a professionalis full of adventure, opportunityand frustration!

Short talks

This year sees theconference being expanded toinclude a few short sharppresentations of general interestto increase the value of theweekend still further.

There will be thumbnailguides on where to go and whoto dive with from veterans whoare fully familiar with the uniquedifficulties underwaterphotographers face at manydestinations. You’ll get the lowdown on who to use and who toavoid and we’re sure this willspark lively input from theaudience. The insiders view willprove invaluable for helping youget the standard of service, safetyand flexibility you need.

Young UnderwaterPhotographersGroup

The newly formed Internetsociety called the YoungUnderwater PhotographersGroup will be profiled byfounding member Andrew (AJ)Pugsley. The objectives are toencourage more young peopleinto underwater photography andto put young photographers incontact with each other. It hasmembers in many parts of theworld. It’s the nature of youth tochallenge the Establishment andYUP is already attracting a lot ofattention. YUP members willhave a strong presence at theconference.

We’re also hoping for ashort talk from Wild Insight thespecialist designers of camerasand tracking equipment used tolearn about animals naturalbehaviour. This team is

responsible for developing deepwater crittercams for monitoringsperm whales and seals. Not onlywill they describe theirfascinating work, they may alsobe persuaded to talk about a newconsumer product of greatinterest to recreationalunderwater photographers...

The RegularFavourites

Slide clinics

Slide clinics will take on anew format, with photographershaving the opportunity tointroduce some of their ownwork as well as to benefit fromadvice from experts like authorPaul Kay, the professionalunderwater photographer wholives in North Wales has been afreelance photographer for over11 years. He works in industrialand illustrative photography,produces stock landscape,environmental and underwaterimages and writes illustratedarticles. Paul also runsunderwater photography coursesand workshops with an emphasison the understanding of the basicphotographic techniques relatingto underwater photography. Paulhas agreed to come along just tohelp advise delegates over theweekend.

Past BSoUP chairmanLinda Dunk, winner of

UwP 53

‘Underwater photographer of theyear’ in 1997 by DIVERmagazine, will be on hand tohelp out with slide clinics. Lindahas been a regular speaker atVisions and is well known forher images published inmagazines, books and travelbrochures. As a three timeconsecutive gold medal winnerin the prestigious BSoUP “OpenPortfolio Competition” delegateswill largely benefit fromcritiques on slides presented.

As usual our panel ofspeakers will also take their turnon the lightboxes. This is a vitalpart of the Visions weekend.Nowhere else can you receivethe wisdom of such an illustriouspanel of experts so conveniently.Take full advantage. Rememberdon’t just bring your best work -you’ll learn more from yourmistakes. And don’t be shy. If itis your first time at Visionsyou’ll find it’s full of friendly,likeminded people.

Competitons

There will be a printcompetition where delegates getto vote for their favourite image.Once again London CameraExchange will be supportingVisions with a generous prize(last year they provided a Nikondigital camera). They’ll also bemini prizes for delegates whosework is chosen to be projectedby the slide clinic panel.

Equipment

There will be plenty ofequipment to lust over includingthe latest housing from Subal forthe Nikon Coolpix 5000, thecamera seen as the breakthroughmodel for taking digital into theserious underwater electronicshooting arena. There’ll be thenew strobes from Inon alongwith their famous Quad Flash,

Subal housings for 35mm SLRs,the bespoke Subtronicunderwater and topside lightingsystem and a few other goodies.You’ll be able to handle the kitand discuss it with the Opticsteam. Andrew, Steve and AJ canusually find a number ofspeakers or delegates tointroduce you to if you’d like tochat with an owner of an item ofequipment you are consideringadding to your arsenal. There’salso a bring and buy table formoving on the kit you’veoutgrown but which may beexactly what another delegate issearching for.

London Camera Exchangestaffers will also be on hand toanswer your in depth questionson the land equipment so oftenchosen for housing by seriousplayers. LCEs productknowledge is second to none andyou’ll find them veryapproachable.

The Book Shop

As always we’ll have thelatest titles and some of theclassics for sale at Visions. Thisis an easy way to pick up thosecoffee table books like theexcellent Antibes winner SilentSymphony, Realm of the PygmySeahorse or useful identificationguides from the Helmut Debeliusstable. There will also be a fineselection of travel guides to helpyou plan your next adventure.Kurt Amsler will be available tosign books. You don’t have topurchase at Visions to get hissignature - if you already havehis books just bring them along.

UwP 54

Special EventsAn Evening With Peter Scoones

Evening Dinner with the speakers

At previous Visions conferences there has been a private dinner for speakers and their partners andthe Optics crew. For the first time we’re offering places at the meal to all delegates. This takes place onthe saturday after Peter Scoones’ evening presentation. Seating is strictly limited - one reason that theevent has had to be kept private in the past. Now that we have been able to organise more spaceapproximately 35 - 40 places will be available. The restaurant is Italian and can cater for vegetarians.We’ve organised a set price to include starter, main course, desert, coffee and a bottle of wine betweentwo. There’s a cash bar for any extra drinks. Please go along with our non smoking request.

If you really want to make a full weekend at “Visions in the Sea” think very seriously about sharingthe evening with us and the presenters.

Attendence is by ticket only and we regret that we will have to enforce this rule rigidly! So if youwant to come along, tick the box and get your booking form in NOW. Strictly first come, first served.

In just six years, Visions has become the premier conference in Europe for underwater photographerskeen to learn how to improve their own work while mixing and talking with other enthusiasts from as farafield as Scandinavia, Italy and Greece. Be there!

Last year we introduced aspecial “An Audience With.....”event after the main conferenceclosed on the saturday evening.The larger than life personalityConstantionos Petrinos gave awonderful and humorous accountof the trials and tribulations ofgetting his first book “Realm ofthe Pygmy Seahorse” fromconcept to reality. This year weare delighted to offer an eveningwith Peter Scoones. Peter isundoubtedly one of the mostartistic of underwaterphotographers.

His stellar career has included BBC Natural History classics ReefWatch, Sea Trek, Land of the Tiger,Life in the Freezer, Great White Shark and numerous Wildlife on One specials. Peter was also the manbehind the lens for much of the footage screened on the groundbreaking Blue Planet series.

Peter is also co founder, with Colin Doeg, of BSoUP, a much published author of underwaterphotographer articles and the developer of some of the most specialised underwater camera equipment inthe world. Peter is a superb presenter and extremely generous with his advice. This is a wonderfulopportunity to be captivated by one of the worlds very best underwater image makers. The event will beheld at the Holland Club at Imperial College and the entrance fee will include a glass of wine.

Entrance is by pre-paid ticket only.

UwP 55

Visions In The Sea 2002 Booking Form

Imperial College, London, on the weekend of November 16/17, 2002.

Two day Visions conference, including morning coffee and afternoon tea eachday, as well as a lunch buffet — £99.50

A social evening with Peter Scoones in the Holland Club, Imperial College,from 18:30 to 20:30, after which a cash bar will remain open for delegates whowish to remain. - £15.00 includes two glasses of wine.

Speakers’ Dinner, to include starter, main course, desert, coffee and a bottle ofwine between two. — £20.00

No ofPlaces

Visions @ £99.50 each.............Total £..................

Peter Scoones @ £15.00 each............Total £..................

Dinner @ £20.00 each............Total £.................. Grand total £..................

Please supply name(s) of delegates, and also list any special dietary requirements:

Name of delegate(s):................. .................................... .......................................................Address:............................. .................................... ................................................................................................... .................................... ......................................................................Daytime tel: .................................... E-mail: ............................. ..........................................Dietry requirements................................................................................................................

For payment by Visa or Mastercard (please circle as appropriate), please give thefollowing details:Card number: __________ __________ __________ __________Expiry date: ________ / ________

OR Please make cheques payable to Ocean Optics

Bookings can be made by phoning the conference hotline - 020 7930 8408Ocean Optics, 13 Northumberland Avenue, London, WC2N 5AQ

UwP 56

Guidelines for contributorsThe response to UwP has been nothing short of fantastic. We are looking for interesting,

well illustrated articles about underwater photography. We are looking for work from existingnames but would also like to discover some of the new talent out there and that could be you!

The type of articles we’re looking for fall into five main categories:

Uw photo techniques -Balanced light, composition, wreck photography etc

Locations -Photo friendly dive sites, countries or liveaboards

SubjectsAnything from whale sharks to nudibranchs in full detail

Equipment reviews -Detailed appraisals of the latest equipment

PersonalitiesInterviews with leading underwater photographers

If you have an idea for an article,contact me first before putting pen to paper.

My e mail is peter@uwpmag.co.uk

How to submit articlesTo keep UwP simple and financially viable to produce we can only accept submissions by e mail

and they need to be done in the following way:

1. The text for the article should be saved as a TEXT file and attached to the e mail2. Images must be “attached” to the e mail and they need to be:Resolution - 144dpiSize - Maximum length 15cm i.e. horizontal pictures would be 15 cm wide and verticals would be

15cm.File type - Save your image as a JPG file and set the compression to “Medium” qualityThis should result in images no larger than about 120k which can be transmitted quickly. If we want

larger sizes we will contact you.3. Captions - Each and every image MUST have full photographic details including camera,

housing, lens, lighting, film, aperture, shutter speed and exposure mode. These must also be copied andpasted into the body of the e mail.

We pay a flat fee of £50 (+VAT if invoiced).I look forward to hearing from you.

a web magazinea web magazine

Underwater PhotographyUnderwater Photography

UwP 57

ClassifiedsPhoto courses

Book a classified in UwP

A classified advert in UwP will be downloaded over 35,000 times by underwater photographers worldwide. Youcan sell or buy your equipment for a flat fee of just £5 (or £10 with a coloured box surround or £15 with apicture) payable by Visa, Mastercard or cheque.Your advert can include up to 50 words and will be read by over 35,000 underwater photographers.

No other magazine can offer such a concentrated circulation.

We recommend that you use e mail as your contact address.E mail the text of your advert to classifieds@uwpmag.co.uk. You can include your credit card number and expirydate or fax it to 020 8399 5709 or send a cheque payable to:Ocean Optics Ltd, 13 Langley Avenue, Surbiton, Surrey KT6 6QN

For saleNikkor 20-35mm £650 incVATContact Peter Rowlands020 8399 5709 (UK) or e mailpeter@uwpmag.co.uk

For SaleSeaCam Pro housing

Canon EOS5, double strobeconnection,moisture detector,SeaCam SeaFlash 350TTL, allconnectors,gears, arm, chargers,cleaning kit, spares; 3 domeports, carry case. SLR availableif required £2,500. Contact:julie.howell@hp.com

For sale & wantedSecondhand housings for

sale and wanted. Secondhand AFhousings bought,sold, servicedand repaired. Especially NikonF601/801/60/70 fit and reducedfunction types. Photocourses inIreland/Scotland.

For details contact Paul Kayon 01248 681361 or emailpaul@marinewildlife.co.uk

Underwater PhotographicCourses With Martin Edge

Are you a Beginner?Yet to fulfil your Potential?Like to obtain better

Images?Difficulty with a particular

Technique?Planning for a Photo-Trip?Would you like to join the

Winners?If the answer is “Yes” then

give me a call. My weekend U WPhoto Courses are designed andstructured to suit your ownindividual needs.

Weekend Photo Course19th –20th October 2002Nikon SLR & Housing

Course 2nd – 3rd November 2002For information on courses

and expeditions:Phone Martin or Sylvia on -

01202 887611e-mail

Martin.Edge@btinternet.com

For SaleSubal 801s housing comes

with Nikon 801s body, Sea andSea base plate and two Sea andSea Flexi arms £850-00+postage

Contact Pete HorsleyPHORS@AOL.COMNewcastle Upon TyneUnited Kingdom

For sale

Hasseblad SWC housing,Ivanoff glass corrector port, EO,Nik III/IV/V flash connector.Camera with A24 and 70mmbacks. £2400 OVNO. For moredetails contact David Nardini on

d_nardini@btconnect.com

UwP 58

Improve your imageSubtronic

Subal

Offering the most versatile macro system in the world

today, Nexus make possible extreme close up photographyunavailable from any other housing line.

BonicaThe Snapper builds into a neat system

capable of creative pictures down to 150 ft,even in low visibility. It’s so simple to use and,with prices starting at just £129, it’s stunningvalue for money. This really is a breakthroughin price and performance. There’s no betterintroduction to underwater photography.

The legendary housing of choice formany of the worlds top underwater imagemakers.

Now available for the Nikon F100. These are the ultimate strobes. With fast 2second recycling, optional laser aiming light andcolour temperature control, prices start at just £749.

NexusNikonos

The classic underwater camera.We stock the range and have a fullyNikon authorised workshop facility.

Ocean Optics13 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AQTel 020 7930 8408 Fax 020 7839 6148

Visit our web site for the latest news and special deals

http://www.oceanoptics.co.uk

Our aim at Ocean Optics isto keep you shooting.

That’s why we provide afull servicing facility in our

own workshops for allNikonos, Nexus and Subal

equipment we import.We even have loan

equipment for thoseimpossible deadlines!

If you choose to bean Ocean Optics client,you will benefit from the

best support in thebusiness