In year 2008, I took a trip from the clear blue waters in Bunaken to the very much talked about Lembeh Straits. According to my then housemate, “every single foot you move, there’ll be something moving”. I had a great trip back then and had been planning a return trip. So this was it.

Having had some good experiences with Two Fish Divers in the last trip, I decided to go with them again. A couple of email exchanges and the trip was fixed. Before I know it, I was back in that familiar port of Bitung and hopped onto the little boat that ferried me across the straits to the resort. The place had since changed abit, most noticeably the new restaurant/dining area, refurbished office areas plus some tidy landscaping. Nothing too posh nor fanciful about it, but that’s the way I like it, feels like home.

The underwater landscape of Lembeh straits is a little like Hongkong. Rustic, compact and you need a good local guide to seek out the “delicacies” you are looking for. The guides are unbelievably good at finding these well camouflaged creatures in the murky waters, at times, no bigger than a centimeter in length. We often joked that they must’ve had an aquarium somewhere and they’ll put the creatures in their pockets before the dives.

On the first day, I decided I should take the Nitrox course, so I could stay a little longer underwater without going into decompression when there’s a need to. It was a relatively straightforward 1 day course that was conducted by Helen, the resident dive instructor. This was also a good preparation for the coming dive in Malapascua in Philippines, where we might be staying a little longer and deeper to wait for the Thresher sharks.

The best part about traveling alone is you tend to mix with the other travelers instead of keeping to your own group. During my stay, people come and go, some heading to Bunaken, many others returning to Lembeh after spending a few days in Bunaken. Don’t get me wrong, Bunaken is beautiful, but once you get hooked on muck diving in Lembeh, it’s really hard to turn back. These guys completed my trip. We had fun discussing our diving experiences, photography down to which team is going to win the World Cup. The lovely staffs from the resort were extremely friendly too. Felt like I’ve never left home.

Here are some images from the trip:)

Click to view slideshow

Final day of diving was spent at Padang Bai. And it’s on one of those fishing boats that I have seen so often but never got the chance to ride on. It’s a really narrow boat with enough space to fit a single file of “not too oversized” people.

Visiblity was pretty bad with strong underwater surges due to the full moon as was told. It seems like there’s alot happening when it comes to full moon here. Saw some interesting critters and also a small school of squids. They look really “spacey” in those cloudy waters, moving in perfect unison. Calamari will never look the same again on my dinner table.

Not wanting to spend too much on hotel stay this time round, I put up at Kelapa Mas at Candidasa at a discounted rate given to me by the dive operator. It was a clean, no frills cottage along the main street of Candidasa, right in front of the beach and breakwater. I was recommended to this Restaurant Rendevous by the money changer. It’s a really cosy restaurant right by the beach with a spectacular view of the waves breaking lit by the full moon. From there, I could see the waves crashing onto the breakwater right outside my hotel. It’s like a symphony of waves, looks something like a digital equalizer on the radio. I stood there for a good 5-10mins, mesmerized by the combined work of man and nature. If only it’s bright enough for images… too bad, it’s not and it’s kinda dangerous (not worried about dying, more worried about getting wet and having to take a shower again) too.

The following day, I took a fishing trip out to sea before checking out of the hotel. Minutes after we left the shore, a huge 5kg red snapper got hooked and I was thrilled!! But watching the fish die after that wasn’t that great a feeling. I had to decline lunch with that fish on the menu offered by the fisherman. I was kinda glad it was the only catch of the trip. Now I have to figure out how I’m going to handle the spear fishing trip.

Some images for the two days.

Agung and beyond

The classic photographer’s self portrait. Tried to kill my shadow by putting it in the middle of the road. Didn’t quite work.

The cute little bugger. Still trying to ID it. We had fun playing hide and seek… for awhile.

Trumpet fish (me thinks)

“We come in peace… please don’t put us in the deep fryer!” Don’t they look like alien spacecrafts? How different when deep fried… better alive than dead really.

And they decided to come into my “photo booth”.

School of yellowtails (I think… based on visuals) fighting the current. I was swept all over the place. It was nature’s rollercoaster ride. One word, FUN!

The breakwater in front of the hotel. A few hours after this was taken, the crashing waves went up like 5 meters when they hit the breakwater. Amazing amazing sight! (ok, maybe I come from land of swaku, but you get the idea…)

Hope: the name of the fishing boat. Not the one I went out with though:P

Made (pronounced as Mar-day, means 2nd child of the family) with his 5kg red snapper!

The Kuta dog. This time, a rottweiler. These so called “dangerous dogs” (in Singapore) roam freely on their crowded beaches. Maybe maybe if you walk them enough everyday, they aren’t that dangerous. Geddit?

My favourite ship. Where are you sailing today? Gets more dramatic everytime I see it.

Sharks: a type of fish usually seen on the dinner tables at chinese weddings.

I couldn’t hide my excitement when I saw them about 30m at Coral garden on my 2nd dive. The first one was playing with the remoras when we spotted them. I was told they were the resident Black Tip sharks at the Drop Off (even though I’ve never seen them there). I was in a happy daze after that… floating around till my tank went empty. And I meant 0 bar.

Earlier in the day, Ziggy and Powell, both whom I met at the dive at Nusa Penida arrived at Tulamben after taking a day off diving at Kuta. Ziggy have been sharing alot about diving in Bali since he has 10 years experience diving on this island. Two days ago, he told me the deepest he went to was 102m. I asked, “so what did you see at 102m?”. “My dive comp.” was his reply. Very honest and very funny.

The tide was very high as we approached full moon. Ziggy and Powell had left for a village to watch the full moon celebrations. I know I’m having a date with Z monster after all that diving. Nitrogen makes one sleep I think. As I sat at the restaurant, I can’t help but wonder, when will I be back again. Strange feeling since this is the 3rd time this year that I’ve been here. Soon I hope.

Here are some images from the day.

When I stepped out of my room, half asleep, clad in my sleeping clothes and lugging the camera along… I thought I was in jail. Beautiful lighting nonetheless:)

Sunrise at the Drop Off. Fishing boats out for their early catch.

I felt it, so I took it.

The resident barracuda staking outside the wreck. Visibility was pretty bad, good thing I didn’t run into it. It won’t be pretty.

I was taking the picture of the cleaner shrimp (below) and when I turned around, I saw this fella watching me. I pointed the camera at it and it flared it’s fins before swimming away while eyeballing me.

The cleaner shrimp doing it’s work at the cleaning station. It’s quite interesting to watch them work.

Red or Blue? The two Harlequin shrimps fighting over a piece of starfish. Red one won the fight.

The resident black tip shark at the Drop Off. They swam past the Coral Garden… lucky bump there!:D

I am now sitting in front of the beachside restaurant of Paradise Resort with my laptop and a cup of hot honey ginger lemon tea. The horizon is still visible at this hour as we are approaching full moon on a cloudless night. If I haven’t had a good 2 hour nap earlier, I’d have fallen asleep right here with the cool sea breeze. Just about more than a month ago, I was in this same spot. Not a bad spot to be in really:)

The trip had been rather nice so far. Sure, there were some screw ups here and there, but nothing mood dampening. There’s no internet, so I am forced to enjoy the cool sea breeze out there instead of facebooking in the hotel room. I’m not here with anyone else, so I am forced to talk to other people and found out interesting experiences that they went through. I was bored to tears on my long journeys to the dive sites so I managed to put in some thoughts on my photography. So far, the flip sides have been rather good, at least the way I see them.

On the 3 hour ride to Seraya, I spoke to Steve, an aussie who’s heading for Tulamben for a day dive.He used to be a dive instructor for quite a number of years around the world before moving on to something else. He shared the same enthusiasm as me about diving when we started. At that point, it wasn’t the fishes nor the colorful reefs that got us hooked. It was just the sensation of being weightless, freedom in another dimension. It’s an indescribable feeling to a non-diver. Alot of my diver friends would agree to that feeling. He gave up on expanding the career in the industry when his wife got pregnant. Same old story. The world revolves around the family, the Mafia knows best. I don’t need to remind myself how many times I heard “it’s a life changing experience”.

The dive at Seraya was good. Saw two Harlequin shrimps towards the end of the dive. It seems there are some people that kept moving them around and building “houses” for them. The dive guide would usually consult the locals who will tell them their “last location” (eg. Today it’s at 9m near the rope). According to my diveguide, some dive operators move them so they will have the exclusitivity of their locations. Can’t imagine moving houses every other day. Even moving between hotels is a pain, let alone a house.

2nd dive was at Coral garden at Tulamben. Nice little gem situated between the more famous sites (USS Liberty wreck and Drop Off). Saw a couple of ribbon eels, coral crabs, shrimps, the usual suspects.

Here are some images for the day.

Double #1: The ornamental Harlequin shrimps.

Double #2: Anemone shrimp with baby

Double #3: Nudibranchs

Moray eel living within a huge colony of shrimps.

Blue ribbon eel.

“stargazing”

“one voice”

Had a rather good night’s sleep at Mutiara Villas at Nusa Lembongan. The entire restaurant had only one set of cutleries prepared on the table, which convinced me that I am indeed the only guest in the house! I very much prefer Tanis Villas which I stayed in the last time round.

The day’s dives were alright, nothing quite worth the photography effort as both were drift dives. First at Pat, second at SD. Nothing quite as fast as Lembongan point which we did yesterday, but still an effortless drift through the reefs.

Checked back at Kuta because of some logistics mix up on the dive center’s part. It’s ok, as long I get my internet access. Tomorrow, I’ll be heading Seraya and Coral garden at Tulamben after some recommendation by a fellow diver. Let’s hope we get something good tomorrow.

Here are some images I got today.

A lone surfer catching the morning waves at Nusa Lembongan against the backdrop of Mount Agung.

That’s approxmately 40m worth of bubbles.

The night’s sleep wasn’t too good. Dozed off in front of my computer before waking at at 3am in the morning to have my stuff packed and got my gears ready. Managed to nap another 2 more hours before the day began. I took a little time off to take some pictures of the resort villa again under the much softer morning light. That way, I was able to get a proper reflection off the pool.

The guys from Pro Dive Bali picked me up and together with a group of spanish divers, we headed towards Nusa Penida. Water conditions were good, nothing like that rogue waves we encountered the last time round.

The trip there was pretty quiet for me as I literally concussed at the back of the boat from the lack of sleep. Once on site, we wasted no time to get into the water, only to find ourselves immersed in murky green water. Visibility was at best 5 meters.

The thing about low visibility was thaat everything seem to happen very quickly. The huge manta rays literally appear out of nowhere right in front of me, often catching me by surprise. Nonetheless, it was still a good dive.

After lunch, we headed towards Lembongan point for some kickass drift diving. The current was nice, fast and predictable. There was hardly any way I could stop to take any pictures, so I did some videos instead. Looks like fast and furious underwater. I will have to wait till I get back to Singapore before I can post them up. It’s quite an amazing dive I thought.. .

By the time I reached the resort, I was totally spent. Took a shower, had a quick snack and napped for a good 3 hours before waking up for dinner again. And I seem to be the only occupant in the entire resort. No kidding. I wonder why.

Here are some images from the day.

Reflection of the villa.

The small cottage that I actually booked, but 2 of them were being renovated and were not updated on the website.

I really love the cottage by the pool. But I’m not complaining about the upgrade:)

The only pair of mantas on this trip. They seem to be larger than the ones I’ve seen the last time round.

They appeared right before me from nowhere, crossing my path as I struggled to get both in frame and in focus.

At times, they’ll come straight at the divers.

Snorklers hovering on top of the cleaning station. I wonder how’s the view up there.

The white stripe of bubbles were formed by the waves which crashed against the cliff.

It’s been two crazy weeks since I returned from Bali. Granted, I had a little fun in Batam, but it was still crazy. Now that the dust has sort of settled (into a huge pile of images), the image making machine begins to warm up.

Besides diving in Bali and trying out some underwater shots, we did a Pre-Wedding for James and Melissa as well. Shooting underwater requires so much logistics it’s not even funny to list them down. One of the major pre-requisites is the models themselves. It was physically taxing on both parties. But end of it all, it was fun and we found out tricks and all to make things easier. Can’t wait to try it again though:)

After my “epic” dive with the jacks at Tulamben, I met James and Melissa the day after and stayed at the beautiful Karma Kandara Resort with Melissa’s brother and CJ. The shoot was scheduled for the next day and we headed out to Uluwatu, then to Dreamland (where we were made to pay “fees” to access the beach) before moving out to Tanah Lot in the evening.

And… let’s just say that… I wanna go out now and I’ll leave the images to speak for themselves?

The fifth trip to Bali has officially ended. Easily, my best trip there yet. There was no rush, no pressure, no obligations, no fear that things will turn out wrong. Perhaps because, there were no expectations. I allowed the flow of things to take over. I was overwhelmed by calmness. Sometimes, I wonder how I do it. In the words of the fat-barrel; kan cheong is not an option.

Out of this entire trip, my favourite moment would be the one where I was swimming with the jacks. It’s the first time I have spent such a long time on a subject. The experience was so surreal. I wish I could do more of such dives. When I travel, I always believe in spending enough time at a place to appreciate it. But I have never imagine that to happen underwater as most of times, we will be grouped and it’s a little like guided tours where you touch and go. Finally, I got what I wanted and I will definitely be planning my dives like this. That said, I’m planning more trips soon and very likely, a nitrox course as well. Let’s see how it all pans out once I get my schedule sorted out.

It’s almost exactly 6 years since that dive that broke my eardrum. That was pretty much a turning point in my life. The event that led me to the world of photography. Because of that accident, I picked up my first DSLR and somehow, got started in wedding photography and had never looked back since. The money that was used to buy that DSLR was actually for an underwater camera that I have been saving up for months after I got addicted to underwater world. Being able to do this all over again is like redemption to me. And yes, it was worth the wait.

Here’s a slideshow I put up for the Bali trip.

Click to view slideshow

Norman and Amy arrived the night before, just in time for late dinner together. It feels really good having dinner by the sea with the cool breeze and listening to the waves crashing into the rocks. We chatted till late before heading for bed in preparation for a long day ahead.

 The day started slow while we waited for our DM, Kadek, to come from Kuta. Before that, we decided to do some underwater shots at a calmer spot near our resort. It was crazily difficult, both for the models and the photographer. We spent a good 2 hours sorting out problems and trying out stuff. It was fun, but tiring too. I realized not everyone sinks like a rock like me.

As Norman hasn’t dived for years. We took it easy and went down the wreck again while Amy was “watched over us” while snorkeling. This time round, I replaced my macro port with a dome port for the wide angle stuff. There are still plenty of creatures to see, but with a dome port, the photo opportunity is limited for a place known for it’s macro stuff. Still, I love the wide angle for a change.

We spent the later part of the afternoon perfecting some underwater shots of Norman and Amy. My head was swirling from the underwater surges. I have to say they were as eager to get the shots as I do. But the level of difficulty in doing things underwater is nowhere close to what we do on the surface. We kept trying till our bodies decided, it’s time to rest. Had an extremely heavy dinner and for the first time in more than a week, I had 7 hours of sleep.

We did exactly the same dives as the previously 2 days. Liberty -> Drop Off -> Liberty (dawn) -> Seraya. This is what I love about staying at a place for a long time when I travel. Same place, different time, different things.

The dawn dive was especially rewarding. We managed to set off before 7am, which was an extremely good move as we didn’t see many divers there. Before the dive, I told Kadek that I would love to photograph the school of jacks, which I’ve always seen from a distance. 5 mins into the dive, she pointed them out to me and I signaled to her that I will be up there for the rest of the dive. Depth, 3-5m. I spent an hour swimming with the jacks with minimal visual on other divers. Even if they passed, they didn’t seem interested with the jacks. To me, one jack is nothing, a school of them makes them interesting. That was one of my favourite dive. We all surfaced happy with the dives. Norman got to see the Pygmy seahorsea among other stuff. I hope my dives in future will be like this, spending more time with the animals, so I can watch them rather than “touch and go” or “shoot and go”.

2^nd dive at Seraya was equally good to complete a day of fantastic diving. Before the dive, a couple from Hongkong spotted the elusive and prized Harlequin Shrimp and told us a rough location. And that was good enough. After about 20mins of searching, an excited Kadek signaled that she found something. I knew it’s going to be something good as she rarely got that excited. As I approach, I kept telling myself, go slow and not kick up a storm. And there it was, the beautiful Harlequin shrimp. It was tiny, about a centimeter or less. I spent a good 10mins photographing it. And that’s when I realized, why people take underwater photographs. With your naked eyes, you can hardly make out the details on these beautiful but tiny creatures. When we surfaced, Kadek told me it’s the first time she saw a Harlequin shrimp, which explains why she was so excited. I guess, everyone got something out of that dive.

We packed up and left tulamben. That’s where I realized I haven’t booked a hotel for the night’s stay in town. Luckily the dive center helped me booked one that’s right in the middle of Kuta. I said, “internet availability” is utmost priority. The dive is over, at least the shore dives. Looking forward to the shoot and then diving with the Mola Molas and Mantas again. May the luck be with us, like it has always been.

 Enough talking, here are the images.

I haven’t had enough sleep for the past few days because of work, travel and my obsession with my new laptop. Gadgets, they keep you up all night:D And that’s the reason why you are seeing pictures on the blog now.

 I was told that the pick up to Tulamben will be at 7am. Not the best time really. I dread snoozing the alarm over 30 times. In no time, I was on my way to Tulamben, fast dozing off on the ride, missing out on the sights along the way. I woke up just in time to view the magnificent Mount Agung with the trail of destruction following the 1963 eruption. I love it so much that I visited it the next day, walking through the landscape formed by volcanic rocks.

 At the beach resort at Tulamben, a burly man called out to me as I was walking to my room, “hey! I know you!” It was Ketuk, a DM with the dive shop that I met during my last trip. I remember him because he asked me alot of questions about photography and he too, is very interested in it. Also, he shared alot about what to see at the dive sites. He offered to lead the dive which I happily accepted, knowing that I’ll be in good hands.

 I was grouped with 6 divers from Malaysia. Really nice and funny people. Some of them were into underwater photography too, which created a common topic for that two days we were together. As usual, first dive was at USS Liberty wreck followed by the Drop Off and a chilling night dive at the wreck again. Pygmy seahorse, box shrimps, octopuses, nudis, among other stuff. Overall, a very satisfying first day.

 The 2^nd day started with a “relatively late” dawn dive. But it was still good enough for some good “catches” and avoiding the day trip divers that usually arrive around 10am. That was followed by a little muck diving at Seraya. Lots of interesting looking nudis, ghost pipefish, anemone crab and shrimps, garden eels, seahorse, the great barracuda and lots more. Some were way too small that I could hardly make out with naked eyes, not to mention through that tiny viewfinder. Awesome day.

 Here are some images for that two days. More will be posted when I’m back in Singapore:)

It’s interesting how we give advice like it’s “so easy”.  Many years back, a friend told me, “you made it sound like it’s so easy, wait till it happens to you.” I told him, “when it happens to me, I hope you will be the one who will remind me of what I said.” Sometimes, the mind is clearer when you are looking from the third party point of view.

Anyway, this relates to my dive experience in Bali. I remembered very clearly during my first dive in Perhentian (Malaysia), the dive guide said before the dive, “no gloves, no knives”. Being a newbie, I didn’t know what the fuss was about. Then I learned that is to prevent divers from picking up things, touching delicate corals and disturbing wildlife. During my dive trip in Manado last year, I was a little shocked when the dive guide pulled the shark’s tail so that it’d turn towards us for a picture. I took the picture, it was nice. But everytime I look at the picture, the only think I can remember was his actions. Not exactly memorable.  This is just one of the many examples.

I don’t think I’ll be very happy if my tail got pulled

During my trip to Bali, I was assigned this young dive guide. He was ok in general, but I was a little unhappy with his lack of knowledge about the dive sites and marine life (if someone tells me a Titan triggerfish is a Frogfish, something is very wrong). I was there to take some underwater pictures, so I told him to let me know if he finds something interesting. During one of the dives, he found a Moray eel between the rocks and signaled to me. As I approach, the eel turned away and went into the rocks.  So I waited for it to reappear. But he used a metal rod to dig into the rocks so that the eel came out of hiding. I wasn’t happy and signaled him to move on. How would you feel if someone ransack your house just to get a picture of you?

After the dive, I told him off. I told him that the reef is his livelihood, if he can’t protect it, once it’s dead, people will not come back anymore. I start to appreciate what the dive guide in Perhentian did. To a customer, they “might” want him to get the fish out for a better angle, but I feel he’ll earn more respect by saying “no”. And probably a more sustainable business model in the long run.

It was only during this trip that I felt stronger against this practice. And when I look at someone else doing it, I reflect. And that reflection, isn’t pretty. When I view a photograph, I’m not just looking at the picture, I’m looking at what is beyond the photograph, the experience and what the photographer is trying to express. If capturing the moment is going to cause discomfort, why do it?

I’ve always felt that the memories behind an image means alot more than the aesthetics.

This is my fourth time to Bali. The first being 2 months after the 2nd bombing. The impression I have of Bali is still the same, friendly people, beautiful sunsets and amazing artists. This is my first time diving in Bali. Although it wasn’t all that fantastic compared to my Manado trip, but the manta experience more than make up for the general disappointment. The rest of the trip was spent lazing around. For once, photography took the backseat.

During the early drive to Sanur where we took our boat ride to Manta point, I witness some of the most breathtaking scenes I’ve seen for a long time. Beautiful pre-dawn padi field setting with a fogged veiled Mount Agung as the backdrop. I watched in awe as my camera lay in the heavily padded bag. I thought, let’s for once, enjoy the scene. And I knew, that day was going to be special.

click image to go to slideshow

I have heard so much about them. The Manta Rays. I’ve even heard of people who saw them on their first dive! This time round, it’s another encounter by chance. I never expect to see a manta ray in Bali, until someone told me that just days before I left. So I changed my itinerary and made a trip to Nusa Penida. The dive operator said they do not guarantee a trip to manta point unless they get more than 2 divers going. I was alone, therefore it was abit of a gamble. The night before, the dive guide said, “you’ll be going to manta point tomorrow”. I was thrilled!

The waters between Bali and Nusa Penida was really choppy and I had a hard time trying to keep the dinner from the day before within the walls of my stomach. After a horrible hour of boat ride + waiting, we finally reached the dive site Manta Point. After a short briefing, we were all in the water and going down about 25m. From there, we headed towards the rock where the mantas usually hang out (the cleaning station). 5 mins into the dive, I heard clanking of tanks and my buddy started pointing out to me something far (but big) out there. Visibility was less than ideal (probably 10m max). I saw a faint trace of a huge animal with wings flapping in a distance. Then more commotion among the divers, people pointing at different directions. I saw, one, two, three of them… and then they disappeared as soon they appeared. I regain my composure and remembered to breathe again. Things were happening a little too quickly.

Our diveguide then got us to focus and headed for the cleaning station. As we approached, we were joined with a few other group of divers. All in all, I’ll say it’s probably between 25-30 divers. I admit I was a little disappointed to see so many of them. But when I looked up, I nearly spat my regulator out. There were two manta rays right in front of my eyes, circling the rocks, swaying to the rhythm of the strong underwater surges and flirting with the divers. It was such a surreal feeling. Then I started shooting, alternating between stills and video. At one point in time, one of them came right at me and swam right over my head. That moment is what I call an underwater eclipse.

We stayed down for about an 45minutes until someone ran out of air. Although I was really thrilled by the experience, the choppy waters made me real sick and I started puking soon after. Still, one of the most beautiful underwater experiences I’ve had. Hopefully, the first of many to come.

The graceful manta rays at Manta Point (Nusa Penida, Bali)

And to start off, I’ll show you what made me really happy during the trip. I’ve seen them on TV documentaries and pictures friends show me after their dive trips, but nothing beats swimming in the same waters as these magnificent animals. Sure, I made fish food twice and had recurring headaches over the past few days, but pain is temporary, the experience last forever. I’ll post more in the coming days. Gotta get down to business first:D

Finally, the images for the trip. This has to be one of the best trips ever. My first dive trip after almost 3 years. It’s also a confirmation trip for my recontstructed eardrum. Not forgetting, the very nice people at Two Fish Divers  who gave me a little birthday surprise (complete with a delicious chocolate which Tina, the owner, baked herself). Traveling alone sucks, but celebrating my birthday with a whole bunch of strangers rox!:D

The trip was split into two parts, one at Bunaken marine park and the other at Lembeh Straits. Bunaken has some of the best wall diving in the world. One can walk through waist deep water for about 300m and suddenly drop a few hundred meters into the the blue ocean. Wall diving at it’s best. The current also provide some really good drift diving. Photography was a challenge tho.

After 3 days at Bunaken, I headed for Lembeh for some serious muck diving. The creatures underwater look somewhat odd and scary. Alot of them walk and hop rather than swim. As my housemate put it, “it’s a dumping ground for god’s creations gone wrong…” And it’s a paradise for underwater photographers.

Here are the photos. The land photos were taken with a Canon 20D and 17-40mm lens. Underwater photos were taken with an Olympus C5060.

click photograph to view slideshow