Image of the Day - Kuda Huraa Wide Angle

Finally had an opportunity to test out the fisheye lens. Starting out with some easy stationary subjects.



One of our divemasters Nihad with a resident honeycomb moray eel. Not something that I'd condone, but it made an interesting photo.

Image of the Day - Landaa Giraavaru

Just spent 5 weeks at another Four Seasons Maldives property on an island called Landaa Giraavaru in Baa Atoll. Got a new lens just a few days before leaving and managed to get a few shots that I was happy with. The photos are of the dive centre area of the resort. The fisheye lens distorts the image a lot, so it was tricky finding interesting angles and perspectives. The lens is so wide that in many of the images, I accidentally caught my feet in the bottom of the frame.

The Explorer

A few photos of the liveaboard that we work on every few weeks for 3-4 weeks at a time. Truly the best liveaboard I've ever been on by far, even if it means working on it rather than living it up as a guest. Great crew who are always a laugh make the experience really enjoyable.

Random

A snapshot of the reflection on a beer tap.


Seok busting some moves with her glow poi.


Adam with a smoothie?


Jo looking a little smug with her 'crown'.

Popping My Whaleshark Cherry!

I'm happy to announce that after 7 years of diving, I'm no longer a whaleshark virgin!

At first, it was awkward. We both didn't quite know what to do during our first time alone together. She came to me. I fumbled around quite a bit. She went on top of me, but I didn't know if it could fit. She was going faster and faster. I could barely keep up. Breathing hard, I didn't want it to end too quickly. I paced myself and after 10 minutes of our intense encounter, I withdrew and i was then seeing stars. What an incredible moment!!!

OK if you're the pervert I think you are, let me re-word that!

At first, it was awkward. We both didn't quite know what to do during our first time alone (in the water) together. She came (swam slowly) to me. I fumbled around (with the camera controls) quite a bit. She went (swam right over my head) on top of me, but I didn't know if it could fit (meaning it's head into my camera frame). She was going (swimming) faster and faster. I could barely keep up (again, swimming). Breathing hard (while chasing it), I didn't want it to end too quickly. I paced myself and after 10 minutes of our intense encounter, I withdrew (from the chase) and i was then seeing stars (from too little oxygen). What an incredible moment!!!


This whaleshark had been previously identified a couple years ago and at the time, measured 8m from head to tail. No doubt it would have grown some in the last few years. The location - Maamigili, South Ari Atoll, Maldives.

Amazing, amazing encounter. Special thanks to Guy Stevens for the photo.

And You Thought Life Is Short as it Is.

Joelle and I were having a discussion about the mundane thing we do everyday and got to thinking about how much time we spend in our lives doing them. Which became a whole mathematical calculation based on very general assumptions, with numbers scribbled down and tallied up on a napkin at cafeteria table during lunch. We ended up being freaked out by how we end up spending our time LIVING or NOT LIVING your life. But it did put things into perspective.

Let's assume that average lifespan is 70 years regardless of gender.

On average (and in very general terms):

I sleep on average of 8 hours a day = 8517 days in a lifetime
I brush our teeth for 6 minutes a day = 106 days in a lifetime
I have a shower for 10 minutes a day = 177 days in a lifetime
I pass motion (No.1 & 2) for 8 minutes a day = 142 days in a lifetime
I take 4 minutes a day to select, dress and undress = 71 days in a lifetime

So far, in a lifetime, I would have spent 24.7 YEARS doing absolutely mundane things.

If one were to spend the same amount of time working in a job (which he/she sees as equally mundane) as sleeping , that would mean spending 48 years NOT LIVING.

This means, that if you love what you do for a living, you'd have 45.3 years to live your life. And if you despise your work and workplace, you'll only get 22 years to live your life.

This isn't even including things like eating, waiting at traffic lights, waiting for your toast to pop up from the electric toaster, etc etc etc.. You could easily do the math and find out that even MORE time is spent on idle things. But I consider eating something enjoyable, hence being part of 'Living'.

By LIVING, I mean enjoying the pleasures of life :
- Spending quality time with loved ones
- Eating
- Having sex
- Traveling
- Shopping
- Discovering new things
- DOING WHAT YOU LOVE and ENJOY

Life is short! And we make it shorter having mundane things fill our lives.

So our conclusion was to stop brushing our teeth. It would give us an extra 106 days to LIVE.

*lights up a cigarette*

ps. smoking a pack a day at 7 minutes per cigarette would take out 1775 days out of your "Living" time in a lifetime (assuming you start smoking at age 20). THAT'S 4.8 years!!!! @#$%^&@@#!!!!!!!

Spare Time, Itchy Hands

Had some spare time and managed to twist Adam's arm into letting me try out his DSLR underwater without his supervision. He was also kind enough to give me some photoshopping tips; because we all know, a good photo is attributed to BEING LUCKY and if that fails, there's always Photoshop to make a crap photo look good. LOL. (OK, its just a theory).

Messing around with the stobes to light the subjects was really tricky and using a 10.5mm Fisheye lens was way wider than I ever imagined underwater. Must've spent more time fidding with the strobes more than actually looking through the viewfinder or composing the shot.

Before
After
Before
After

Photoshop works wonders. :D