News
NUPG hears the confessions of an ex-critter-fiddler, Alex Tattersall
The Northern Underwater Photography Group gathered en masse in March to hear from acclaimed underwater macro photographer, Alex Tattersall. The group meet at a curry house in South Manchester and it was great to catch up with such a lovely bunch of underwater photographers over some spicy food before the talk started in the function room upstairs.
Alex’s talk attracted a large crowd, as he is an award winning photographer, great speaker, is the Nauticam distributor in the UK and his talk subject was about a hot topic that we all care about. Alex’s talk focused on macro photography subjects, and how it seems that more and more competition winners seemed to have moved or manipulated their subjects. Alex confessed to having done this himself in the past, but he is now a reformed character and is championing the cause to stop underwater photographers from being tempted to cause distress and harm to marine life, just for a photograph. He also is calling for judges to stop awarding huge prizes to photographers shooting animals out of their natural environment.
Dolphins hunting on the Sardine Run by Nick Robertson-Brown
The NUPG holds a competition each month for the members and those attending the meeting to enter. This months theme was “schooling” and was obviously a tricky subject for the members, as there were fewer entries than normal, but there were some great shots. Two of the images could not be separated and so joint winners were announced: Nick Robertson-Brown with a shot of dolphins hunting in a school of sardines on the sardine run in South Africa, and John Spencer with a shot of a lionfish hunting in the shallows in the Red Sea. Maggie Russell took the compact winner, with a shot of a school of sweetlips in Raja Ampat in Indonesia, which also came third in the overall competition.
Lionfish hunting in the Red Sea by John Spencer
Alex’s second half of his talk moved on to finding ways to create stunning underwater macro images, without having to manipulate the subject. He talked the group through using techniques such as depth of field and lighting to create images that stand out from the crowd, as well as gear available to make photos stand out, such as snoots and wet lenses. He showed off some of his outstanding macro images to the group and shared how he got those shots.
Schooling Sweetlips by Maggie Russell
It was a great meeting, with plenty of great tips for macro photography from Alex, plenty of discussion about how we all abhor “critter-fiddling” and how we thought it could be tackled going forwards, as well as a great chance to meet up with others who share a love for underwater photography.
The next NUPG meeting will be on Monday 9th April at the Gurkha Grill from 8-10pm. Joseph Litt will be speaking about his new book Galapagos.
For more information about the Northern Underwater Photography Group visit their website by clicking here or their Facebook site by clicking here.
For more about Alex Tattersall, visit his website: Underwater Visions.
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
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SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
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More information available on www.scubapro.com.
Jake Davies boards Ghazala Explorer for an unforgettable Red Sea diving experience…
Overnight, the wind picked up, making the planned morning dive a bit bumpy on the Zodiacs to the drop point on Thomas Reef. There, we would dive along the reef before descending through the canyon and then passing under the arch before ascending the wall with a gentle drift. The site provided great encounters with more pelagic species, including shoals of large barracuda, tuna, and bigeye trevally.
Once back on the boat, it was time to get everything tied down again as we would head back south. This time, with the wind behind us, heading to Ras Mohammed to dive Jackfish Alley for another great gentle drift wall dive before then heading up the coast towards the Gulf of Suez to moor up at the wreck of the Thistlegorm. This being the highlight wreck dive of the trip and for many onboard, including myself, it was the first time diving this iconic wreck. I had heard so much about the wreck from friends, and globally, this is a must on any diver’s list. Fortunately for us, there was only one other boat at the site, which was a rarity. A great briefing was delivered by Ahmed, who provided a detailed background about the wreck’s history along with all the required safety information as the currents and visibility at the site can be variable.
Kitting up, there was a lot of excitement on deck before entering the water and heading down the shoreline. Descending to the wreck, there was a light northerly current which reduced the visibility, making it feel more like the conditions that can be found off the Welsh coast. At 10m from the bottom, the outline of the wreck appeared as we reached the area of the wreck which had been bombed, as our mooring line was attached to part of the propeller shaft. Arriving on deck, instantly everywhere you looked there were many of the supplies which the ship was carrying, including Bren Carrier tanks and projectiles that instantly stood out.
We headed around the exterior, taking a look at the large propeller and guns mounted on deck before entering the wreck on the port side to take a look in the holds. It was incredible to see all the trucks, Norton 16H, and BSA motorcycles still perfectly stacked within, providing a real snapshot in time.
Overall, we had four dives on the Thistlegorm, where for all of the dives we were the only group in the water, and at times, there were just three of us on the whole wreck, which made it even more special, especially knowing that most days the wreck has hundreds of divers. Along with the history of the wreck, there was plenty of marine life on the wreck and around, from big green turtles to batfish, along with shoals of mackerel being hunted by trevally. Some unforgettable dives.
The final leg of the trip saw us cross back over the Suez Canal to the Gobal Islands where we planned to stay the night and do three dives at the Dolphin House for the potential of sharing the dive with dolphins. The site, which included a channel that was teeming with reef fish, especially large numbers of goatfish that swam in large shoals along the edge of the reef. These were nice relaxing dives to end the week. Unfortunately, the dolphins didn’t show up, which was okay as like all marine life they are difficult to predict and you can’t guarantee what’s going to be seen. With the last dive complete, we headed back to port for the final night where it was time to clean all the kit and pack before the departure flight the next day.
The whole week from start to finish on Ghazala Explorer was amazing; the boat had all the facilities you need for a comfortable week aboard. The crew were always there to help throughout the day and the chefs providing top quality food which was required after every dive. The itinerary providing some of the best diving with a nice mixture of wreck and reef dives. I would recommend the trip to anyone, whether it’s your first Red Sea liveaboard in the Red Sea or you’re revisiting. Hopefully, it’s not too long before I head back to explore more of the Red Sea onboard Ghazala Explorer.
To find out more about the Northern Red Sea reef and wrecks itineraries aboard Ghazala Explorer, or to book, contact Scuba Travel now:
Email: dive@scubatravel.com
Tel: +44 (0)1483 411590
Photos: Jake Davies / Avalon.Red
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