September 2012

And....all of a sudden, it's September again.  Honduran Independence Day, the West End Carnival and the Roatan Fishing Tournament are all out of the way - and now we're quiet again.

New road and fishing tournament stage

If you're considering a dive vacation with generally good weather at a quiet time of year, late August and early September are an excellent time to come.  It's considered "shoulder season" with lower flight prices, and as we usually get bypassed by most hurricane tracks, the risk is fairly low.  Just ask our "August/September posse" of return customers: The Kearneys from California, Emily (no Janice this year) from California, Steve from Florida, Carin from Chicago, Alex and Ron from Baltimore...Calm water, hot weather, so much stuff to see in the water - what more could you ask for??  Recent sightings (and this is just the surface!) have included  whale sharks, a silke shark and pods of dolphins!!

In other Coconut Tree/West End news, the infamous never-ending road project has ended, the road has been paved and will be "officially opened" on the 29th of this month.  Island Concrete actually did a nice job, and the road looks much better than anyone thought it would.

Long time instructor Jose Silva has also left our shores in search of new dive sites out in Hawaii (no worries for the Jose fans, he'll be back at some point!).  DSAT Tec and Sidemount Intstructor Monty Graham is currently lowering his body temperature in Canada, and set to return in the new year (so hold off on your Tec until then!).  A return addition to our team is Matt Howell, who has returned from construction and riding motorbikes in Florida.

We also have a new addition to the Coconut Tree Jr family, with Christine and Marco's small one - William Alexander Alvarado born on 7th September (see our Facebook page for photos!)

If you've been diving with us recently, it's likely that there are photos of you somewhere on our Facebook page...feel free to tag yourself and use the photos, we keep it up to date on a daily basis (but please join our page and the blog, or contact us!)

Recent Sightings

Flamingo Tongue @ Blue Channel

Pea

Seahorse @ Mandy's Eel Garden

And lastly....What am I holding up?  ID it by commenting on this post, or on the photo on Facebook and win a free dive!

What is it??

Half Moon Bay Weather Report

Awesome, hot and why are you not diving???

Top 5 Underwater Photography Tips

Now many of us like to take our cameras and housings on dives to take photos of all the wonderful things we see.  We see a variety of different systems, from little compact point and shoot cameras to large SLR systems with multiple strobes.  No matter what you have, here are 5 top tips for photographers as suggested by Tree, our former in-house photographer.

Before you even touch the camera...Buoyancy

Before we're even looking at the camera, buoyancy control is the number one thing you will need to master.  If your buoyancy is off, you will have a hard time getting the camera to stay where you want it to be pointing.

Solution: practice buoyancy control in shallow water with your camera e.g. taking pictures of fixed objects from various distances without touching the bottom, holding the camera as still as possible.  Examine your results afterwards to see what improved and what didn't.  If your buoyancy needs more work than that, we offer the PADI Peak Performance Buoyancy specialty, where you spend two dives REALLY fine-tuning your buoyancy control.

Camera Controls

If you are using anything more powerful than the most basic point and shoot, one of the first things to master is your camera controls.  For different types of photo, you will undoubtedly be switching between modes on the camera - using different settings.  Ideally, you should be able to switch between the modes that you use blindfolded.  Why?  Imagine this: you have just been taking a macro shot of a very small pederson cleaner shrimp, when you back away from the reef and turn around, you are faced with a spotted eagle ray cruising by...Better be quick on those settings!

Understanding Exposure: White Balance and strobes

Colour at depth.  You may remember the colour comparison exercise from your PADI Advanced Open Water deep dive - you lose colour with depth.  That's why many people's underwater photos have that blue/green cast…White balance is your solution!  The other way to overcome this problem is of course to use strobes, but that isn't always an option (depending on your camera/luggage allowance/budget).  At the very least, having the option to set custom white balance on your camera is a MUST if you're intending to capture the best of our reef.

Understanding Exposure: Depth of Field and ISO

Having a basic understanding of some photographic principles will help you get the most out of your shots, rather than just leaving your camera fully automatic.  The PADI Digital Underwater Photographer course that we offer teaches you some of the theory behind some of these concepts.  When you understand those, you will start to take photos on different settings - and you will start to get results.  Digital cameras actually record all this information (EXIF data) so you can actually check what settings you used to take the photo.  Essential for knowing what works and what doesn't

And finally...Practice!

Take photos, take more photos and take more photos again!  Keep taking photos, and you will start getting some serious results!!

Destroyer of Conch is watching YOU!

Half Moon Bay Weather Report

Hot and humid, with a hint of a breeze.

Recent Sightings

Seahorse @ Dixies

Leopard Flatworm @ El Aquario (Deep)

Pea (Post-larval trunkfish) @ Overheat Reef (and various other places)

4 Spotted Eagle Rays together!!! @ Seaquest (Deep)

PS: Join the blog if you are reading this page!