News
Take Better Underwater Pictures and Make a Difference
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INON UK announce free Open Day in Manchester, Saturday, January 21st
Four specialist underwater photography companies from the fields of equipment design and manufacturing, training, conservation and dive photojournalism will be giving six presentations to help you take better underwater images on your next trip. But they will also show you how to go beyond social media likes and, even if you are a beginner, start putting your pictures to work by publicising environmental causes and supporting marine life monitoring and outlining how to share your diving photo-stories in the media.
Understanding the INON Underwater Photography System with Takuya Torii of INON Inc.
INON Inc of Japan provides one of the most respected, comprehensive and best backed up ranges of underwater photography equipment in the world today. The line-up spans premium quality wet wide-angle and bug eye lenses for compact and mirrorless users, four strengths of close up lens, pro -level housings, trays and arms, plus probably the most popular strobes for enthusiasts and working professionals alike. Takuya will be demonstrating some of the latest products INON has released and explaining how using INON kit can advance your own underwater photography achievements.
Not Quite 101 Tips for Better Underwater Photos with Alphamarine Photography
Alphamarine’s Anne and Phil Metcalf will take you through some of the best ways they’ve found to improve your underwater pictures, from which diving courses will give you the most help to why some equipment is a better use of your budget than others.
They’ll look at the mistakes they made when starting out and what techniques and knowledge took their photography to higher levels.
Whether you are just beginning to take images underwater or have been doing it a while and want to up your game, this rapid-fire collection of hints will give you some inspiration.
Photographing Sharks and Rays Around the World and How Your Underwater Images can be Used for Marine Conservation with Frogfish Photography
Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown take you on a global underwater tour of some of the very best places to photograph sharks and rays. From diminutive pyjama sharks to the majestic tiger shark, from the UK to Australia. Learn about the places, techniques and equipment used. Also find out how your images can help shark and ray conservation projects in 2023 and beyond.
Five Fast Tips with INON UK
Steve Warren from INON UK is going to briefly cover five annoyances that needle underwater photographers and offer tips to help counter some of the problems each can inflict from happening to you. He’ll be discussing how to avoid floods, prevent invisible backscatter, when and how to use manual focus, buoyancy control for your camera and packing for air travel.
Buyer Beware – Avoiding a Housing Crisis with INON UK
In a switch to the original program, Steve is going to talk through some of the all important gotcha’s you need to consider when purchasing a compact, mirrorless or SLR housing. With over three decades experience advising clients from those just getting started to top professionals shooting for National Geographic Magazine, Steve has lots of insights to help ensure your system is an investment in your underwater photography, not a costly mistake. Steve will also explain INON UK’s decision to add Fantasea and Marelux housings to its existing INON X2 housing line up. Topics include optics, viewfinders, ergonomics and back up.
An Introduction to Dive Photojournalism with INON UK
After the main event, Steve will be giving a free additional talk on how to get started in dive photojournalism. INON Uk partners Lisa Collins and Steve have worked extensively in dive and non–diving media, from scuba magazines to newspapers to books and TV.
Based on their extensive combined experience, Steve is going to explain that the field of dive photojournalism is open to anyone with a basic compact camera system (it’s all some dive magazine editors own) and a bit of imagination and some of the insider intel this talk will provide.
Steve will be discussing what features magazines want, how to find your niche, constructing a photo story, writing styles, picture requirements and collaborating with other writers and photographers.
Venue: Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel.
No Spaces: 40
Register for your place at info@inonuk.com.
News
Book Review: Fire on Monroe Bravo by Fred Lockwood
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Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
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As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
Blogs
Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 1)
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In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
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The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
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Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
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In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
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Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
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Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
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The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
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The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
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Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
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