| If you're checking to see if it's legal, and how you | | | | I fully appreciate that not every diver has a |
| plan to punish me, please allow me to explain. I'm | | | | passion for taking pictures of the new world that |
| a PADI Master Instructor of Scuba Diving, and I | | | | they've discovered. Many divers are more |
| spend my working days teaching scuba in | | | | fascinated by ship wrecks, perhaps diving deep or |
| Thailand. One of the most rewarding experiences | | | | making dives using nitrox (an increased amount of |
| for my diving students' is shooting great | | | | oxygen) but most of my scuba buddies have |
| photographs of aquatic marine life. | | | | admitted that they are very keen to share the |
| Making underwater photographs in Thailand has | | | | wonders on the underwater world by shooting |
| many advantages for divers searching for that | | | | pictures of fish and other marine life. With modern |
| 'perfect shot'; | | | | technology as a friend, it's now possible to store |
| - Clear blue water | | | | and share underwater images with your family, |
| - Warm water averaging 28 degrees centigrade | | | | friends and even the general public via social sites |
| - Pristine Coral Reef formations | | | | and the internet. The dive may have been the |
| - Established Diving Centers and Scuba Equipment | | | | most amazing experience that you've had, but it's |
| Shops | | | | so much more powerful to share the adventures |
| | | | | with those for whom it may not be possibly to |
| The most popular tourist areas for scuba diving in | | | | try scuba diving. PADI scuba courses teach |
| Thailand are Pattaya, Phuket and Koh Samui. | | | | student divers how to capture and share |
| These resorts offer great fun and excitement for | | | | underwater photographs, and the Digital |
| beginners and certified divers. Whether it's vibrant | | | | Underwater Photography course is now available |
| fish life, colourful corals or sunken ship wrecks, | | | | to all scuba divers from the age of ten. |
| the camera won't stop clicking while you're scuba | | | | Private scuba lessons are becoming more popular |
| diving in Thailand. I've captured pictures of | | | | now, especially in Thailand. Taking a dive course |
| Seahorses and giant Gorgonian Sea Fans in | | | | with you own private scuba instructor offers |
| Phuket, Black tip reef Sharks in Koh Samui, and | | | | exclusivity, the personal touch, and usually more |
| World War 11 ship wrecks in Pattaya. | | | | flexibility. So to enrol in the shooting fish course, |
| Todays modern camera equipment has changed | | | | otherwise known as the PADI DUP (digital |
| the way that scuba divers 'shoot' fish underwater. | | | | underwater photography) course, you do need to |
| The traditional film camera is still used by many | | | | be a certified diver of at least ten years old. But |
| diving professionals, but digital underwater | | | | be prepared for some underwater fun that diving |
| cameras have made underwater photography | | | | in Pattaya has to offer. The coral reefs are |
| both accessible and affordable to the majority of | | | | shallower here than other dive sites in Thailand, |
| scuba divers. Learning to Scuba Dive is not difficult | | | | and the other advantage is that scuba diving in |
| for most people who are comfortable in the | | | | Pattaya is available year round because the Gulf |
| water, but snapping great photos under water | | | | of Thailand tends to be sheltered from the |
| takes novices some time to learn. One of the | | | | southwest monsoons that arrive in Phuket from |
| most important attributes is good buoyancy | | | | June until October. Pattaya is not a famous diving |
| control. Apart from all the obvious advantages | | | | destination, but beginners and experienced divers |
| that neutral, relaxed buoyancy has for scuba | | | | will be rewarded with some of the best wreck |
| diving, if you're trying to compose that image of | | | | diving in Thailand. So, clean up the lens, replace the |
| the tiny yellow blob, commonly known as a | | | | batteries and make sure that you have a |
| Frogfish, being able to hover almost motionless | | | | watertight seal, because when you dive in Pattaya |
| just centimetres away from your subject is what | | | | the camera never lies. You really can see Turtles, |
| sets you apart from the norm. Also, as | | | | Seahorses and Sharks, and the wreck dives will |
| recreational scuba divers descend, water absorbs | | | | leave you breathless (pardon the pun) as you drift |
| colour. Starting with Red, Orange and then Yellow, | | | | along US Landing Crafts from the Second World |
| and as you dive deeper, you'll lose Green and Blue. | | | | War that were intentionally sunk by the Thai |
| Strobe lights help to restore some of the colour | | | | Navy for the local Thai divers and tourists on a |
| that's lost, which is how the professionals obtain | | | | scuba diving holiday in Pattaya. |
| fantastic vibrant colours from their images. | | | | |