Did two dives at the famed USAT Liberty Wreck in Bali, Indonesia last month. I’m a little jealous of the fact that the locals have easy access to one of the most beautiful wreck dives in modern history. A shore entry from the resort and a few meters down leads you to this humongous America cargo vessel that was sunk by a torpedo during WWII. There were no casualties as the ship was already parked. Years of current drifted this wreck to the nearby shore.
Like my click-bait title? I swear these types of headlines are annoying. So yeah the video is awesome. But what “I didn’t tell you” is that I didn’t use any artificial light for this. My only light source was the sun!
See what I did there? LOL.
Anyway, over the weekend, we got the Sony RX-100 Mark II wet! Yep, we bought a new camera system for underwater photography. Not that I’m totally ditching my old Canon 350D — but a circa 2006 camera w/ 5MP in it can be a bit frustrating to use. They say that the best camera is the camera you currently have, so I currently have a Sony DSC RX-100 Mark II, a follow up to 2012’s RX-100. I will do a full review of the camera out of water in a separate post.
Let’s watch!
UPDATE: Check out my RX-100 Mark II camera review
I got a chance to do a phone interview with renowned underwater photographer and videographer Valerie Taylor. You may not know her personally, but you’ve probably seen her works: she shot the underwater footage from Jaws, Orca and well, every teenager’s sizzling romantic film (in 1980) Blue Lagoon starring Brooke Shields.
October 2013, Mactan, Cebu, Philippines
Canon 350D
Tokina 10-17mm
f/8 1/100
ISO 100
I am floating on top of a lush green hill topped with a derelict boat that isn’t supposed to be here. As I glide, my lightness becomes apparent as the wind blows my little self to and fro, commanded by the thousand maestros of bladed grass moving in unison below. There are butterflies that look like fish fluttering about the aged motor boat and rocks that litter about that resemble corals.
The wind tastes salty.
I am near the ocean.
2013 was an awesome year for SCUBA Diving. And I don’t use the word awesome loosely. For one, I got to finally compete in an underwater photo shoot out in Cebu, flying there twice in a span of two weeks. Out of the several “memory card full” warnings, here are the 7 most memorable shots from last year. By memorable, I don’t necessarily mean the best — these are just the shots that left a lasting impression on my hobby.
All photos were taken using a trusty Canon 350D. Wide angle shots taken using a Tokina 10-17mm lens and macro shots were done with a 60mm Canon macro lens. I shoot with two YS-110 alpha strobes from Sea&Sea.