Saturday, December 12, 2015

ABOUT TIME FOR A NEW OBSESSION

I recently became obsessed with scuba diving. I feel like I've found a 2nd home underwater, like an astronaut exploring a different world that few get to see beyond the scope of the discovery channel. The unique skills and inherit risks pertaining to the sport also never fails to give me that adrenaline/dopamine rush.

It only makes sense to try to capture this ethereal beauty through my lens. But remembering your breathing patterns, your equalization techniques, maintaining neutral buoyancy, checking your air supply and depth, keeping track of your buddy, the current and executing your dive plan, all while actually enjoying yourself and exploring and being on the lookout for dangerous wildlife or delicate ecosystems. It's a lot to think about if you're not a dive master where most of these things have become second nature.

So I took my Sealife Micro HD+ into the depths of Thailand's biggest shipwreck- the HTMS Chang and the National Marine Park off of the island of Koh Chang. With no zoom and no flash or external light, I felt the limits of my camera set-up right away, but the shots I did get have definitely encouraged me to continue and are already begging me for an equipment upgrade.

Note that right off the camera pictures can appear pretty dull and take a bit of contrast and color levels in post production to make look rich.

Example: Before