Capturing the Moment

Scuba Diver Silhouette Entering Cathedrals Diving Cathedrals I off Lanai   Cathedrals is one of the best dive sites in Hawaii. Not only do you get an incredible cavern experience, with eerie blue light illuminating this underwater 'cathedral', but once you are outside there is wildlife everywhere, from rare nudibranchs to bandit angelfish. Divers Exploring Cathedrals Cathedrals Dive Site, Lanai, Hawaii   This is also one of the best places in Hawaii for underwater photography. It takes some time to balance your camera settings for the low blue light but the rewards if you get it right can be amazing. And while the empty cavern looks cool enough, having some of your dive buddies swim under some of the skylights brings a better perspective to the different rays of light flooding the chamber.   Luckily our dive guide was pretty laid back about Heidi and I hanging back from the group to continue getting pictures inside. And being the first group in i...

Frogfish Camouflage   I've been so busy the last week and a half working my new gig as expedition leader on the Un-Cruise Hawaii itinerary that I have just now gotten around to going through some of my last dive photos from my week in Maui. I took my friend Jackie out for a stellar dive at one of my favorite spots, 5 Graves, off the South Maui coastline.    I was pretty shocked that I didn't find any nudibranchs, usually it is a hotspot for those marine treasures, but we lucked out with two great frogfish sightings. It was funny watching Jackie shake her head, telling me she doesn't see what I am point at, until the last second when she separates the camouflaging frogfish from its environment. We see frogfish in all colors and sizes here in Hawaii, but these two were particularly beautiful. Since they trust their camouflaging ability so much they let me get very close in for a couple of good shots.    The rest of the dive we focused on the charismati...

Dauin (Dumaguete), Philippines Scuba Dive Destination Wide angle madness! Apo Island's clear waters Stilted bungalows of our resort   Dauin is a tiny municipality of Negros Oriental, Philippines. Except for tourists coming in for scuba diving the small fishing village vibe still rules here. Ladies set up stalls by the road in the afternoons with all the fresh catch of the day. The men and some women too take out big seine nets right around sunset time and drag them along the shallows. Ten villagers hauling in these huge nets on either side made me wonder how any fish are still out there in the shallows. I got my answer when they pulled the net in the first time and I overheard someone say, "stonefish....we got 1 stonefish." They are hoping to get tiny little fish about the size of anchovies on our pizza here in the States to make little fish pancakes and rice for the next mornings meal. I couldn't believe all the work that went in to such a small...