The shoot out
I finally decided to take a course in digital underwater photography. I opted for the Digital Shoot Out in Bonaire. This is primarily put on by Backscatter Underwater Video & Photo, Wet Pixel, and Light and Motion. I cannot say enough good things about this event. I learned so much about taking photos, and processing, it was a humbling experience.
The primary teachers were Berkley White of Backscatter, Eric Chang, and Jim Watt. Dan Baldocchi of Light and Motion was instrumental in organizing the entire event. For those interested in getting into underwater photography, note that Dan and Berkley came equated with lots of demo gear and tons of support staff for helping people out with their equipment issues. Each of the teachers had their "specialty" areas. Berkley showed us how to use Photoshop to some of it's capabilities, or at least the correct way of using it's abilities. THANK YOU!! I finally am getting it. Jim, a highly successful commercial photographer, enlightened us to proper composition. I look at all my old photos and realize why now I was not happy with them. Eric, the techno guru master of the computer, baffled most with he classes on sharing and printing. Fortunately, I understood almost all of what he was taking about and am able to use the information to lighten my work load for processing and vastly improve my printing. In all they all were helpful for any question one had.
Again, I cannot stress enough how much each has taught me. I can't wait to take the coarse again for the information, for the inspiration, and for the company. For any underwater photographers this is an amazing coarse or experience.
The Island of Bonaire
The island of Bonaire is part of the Dutch Antilles off of the coast of Venezuela. It's sister islands are Aruba and Curacao. Unlike Curacao, this island one of the friendliest I have been too. I really enjoyed the locals and the overall feel of the island. The island it self is one big dive site. Every where you look there is diving off the coast. It is by far the easiest diving I have seen--accessibility, current, and topography. This is just a great island for beginners and advanced divers. The sea life can be summed up with two word: MACRO HEAVEN! This place had tons of small stuff. I only had my wide on for a few dives.
The resort, Divi Flamingo, was quit enjoyable. The food was decent and the access to town was great. There were a lot of non divers there for there was much to do: a beach, two swimming pools and lots of activities for all. The dive shop had a great set up. Lockers were out on the dock over the water. All one had to do was strap on a tank and step in. The dive boats pulled right up to the dock as well. I would highly recommend this resort. Especially for couples where only one is a diver.
Click below to see photos
This site was last updated 07/09/07