adventurechik

I was there last year diving with Borneo Divers as well as running a workshop there in February. I was there in September for 2 weeks and then again in October for another week. We always did 4 dives a day at Sipidan Island and it was also possible to book a dawn dive there. Borneo Divers also have the policy that out of a 5 day 4 night stay that one day would be guaranteed at Sipidan, but on both occasions guests were going once every two days and sometimes every day. They didn't have enough guests to fill the slots. I don't know how it will be this year, but I know that Seaventures guarantees one day out of every 3 days diving if you stay there I think. And if you go on the Celebes Explorer, there are more opportunities to explore Sipidan. Hope that this helps a bit, I really was blown away by how brilliantly Borneo Divers organised everything.

Hi again, I'm so pleased that the plastic turtle shots helped a little, I felt a bit shy about posting them instead of real subjects. Have a really super time and look forward to hearing how you get on. All the best, maria

Hi Joe, You have such a great camera with the Canon S100 and have already taken some beautiful photos with it, I loved looking through your gallery. My course guest yesterday had exactly the same thought as she had never used either the camera or the wide angle lens before. She was amazed at the difference and it will definitely help you to take sharper photos of larger subjects like caves, wrecks and reef scenes as you will be able to get so much closer to your subject. I've attached 2 different photos from yesterday showing one picture taken just using the camera's built-in flash and then another showing what can be achieved with the wide angle lens. It is also super useful for split-level shots too. Hope this helps, have fun, you have a great eye for photos already and look forward to seeing more. All the best, maria

These are absolutely inspirational ... even that is an understatement. Beautiful work Shawn .... maria

Hey Tim, How are you ... hope that you are having a lovely day ... Practice, not really, I took some nice pics too when I started with my little Cybershot helping the Shark Trust in 2002 with a little UR Pro filter .... it's a lot easier now that the shutter button is so much faster to grab that moment when it is in front of you ... Look forward to seeing your pics too and hope to see you soon at EMUP or BSoUP. All the best, maria

If I was in your shoes, I would be looking at either Canon's S95 or S100. I used to shoot with and absolutely adore a Fuji F30/F31 and am so happy using my Canon S95 with a FIX housing and still being able to use the same INON wet lenses as I did for the Fuji. I have a step adaptor which Ryan from ReefPhoto advised that I could use with the FIX and shoot with my INON UFL-165 AD lens. There are so many to choose from, but the beauty of the FIX housing is that the whole set-up stays nice and small. Best of luck and look forward to hearing how you get on. maria

Hi EG, I had the same dilemma when I was helping the Reef Environmental Education Foundation years ago and I still remember it being completely mind boggling even back in 2004. So, I would highly recommend a nice easy point and shoot camera. Either Canon's S95 or S100 are absolutely fabulous choices. There is an underwater setting which I use frequently, you can find it in the White Balance menu just next to the Custom White Balance button - it has the lovely Fish Symbol. This will help to replace red which you lose quickly in 15 ft and will be absolutely adequate to get fabulous shots with ease. No need for filters or strobes. All you will need to do is keep your ISO setting on either 80 for a super still subject, or choose 100 or maybe 160 for a faster moving one. Hope that this helps. I would prefer the S100 over the S95 for what you are going to do purely because it has a slightly wider angle of view, which is essential for fitting in all of those wonderful reefs and fish that you are going to see. Have a brilliant time and if you need any more help or advice, just let me know. Here is a picture I took last year just using a Canon S95 in it's housing, no lenses or strobes, just the underwater mode helped to bring out this Mimic Octopus' colours Good luck. maria

Hi Danny, Thanks for your post and sorry that I haven't been able to reply sooner. I used to shoot with a Canon Ixus 980 with an INON UFL-165 AD Fisheye Lens and absolutely loved it. Here is one of the photos taken with it whilst in Raja Ampat last year at The Passage. If you need any more help, just let me know. Best of luck, Maria

Really lovely shots ... well done and like the others, look forward to seeing more!

Hi there, You've got a lovely set-up there and you will be able to get some super shots with this system. When you are using the strobe, it is best to get started on AV mode (Aperture Priority). First make sure that you choose a low ISO of 80/100 if you are shooting a still subject or 200 if you are shooting a faster one. If you are taking pictures of macro subjects and want as much depth-of-field to your subject as possible, then choose an aperture of f8. If you'd like to have a shallower depth-of-field then choose maybe f5.6. An example of this would be if you have a little blenny and would like the area around it to be not as sharp so that the blenny stands out. You can then use your Exposure Compensation dial to darken the background by using it's minus setting. For completely black backgrounds to your macro subjects, choose an ISO 80/100, f8 and a fast shutter speed such as 1/500th sec. Hope that this helps. Best of luck and if you need any more help with settings, then just let me know. Maria "Helping Compact Camera Users take beautiful underwater photographs since 2006"

Hi there, Just in case anyone is thinking of doing a compact camera photo workshop aboard a Red Sea Liveaboard this year, I'll be running three trips with blue o two on the following dates: 29 June - 6 July Red Sea - Tiran aboard Blue Horizon 17 August - 24 August - Red Sea - North aboard Blue Melody 26 October - 2 November - Red Sea - South aboard Blue Voyager These trips are aimed for beginners or for the more advanced compact camera user looking to develop their skills and I promise that you will come home with a portfolio of photographs to be proud of just like my other 15 prize winning compact camera guests. The price for 7 nights including flights from London, accommodation and diving is £1,149. Visit blue o two's website for more information or email me at maria@oceanvisions.co.uk. I'll also be doing a shore based one with Emperor Divers to their beautiful house reef at Nuweiba, more details will be coming soon. Best Wishes, Maria Munn Ocean Visions Photography Courses